Cork city shop owner calls for action on antisocial behaviour

A business owner on Cork city’s MacCurtain St has spoken of what he says are reoccurring instances of antisocial behaviour on the street, claiming nothing is being done about it.

Michael Wall, owner of Salvagem furniture and antique store, told The Echo that antisocial behaviour was constant.

“Every shop, cafe, and pub owner knows it, but there’s nothing being done,” he said.

Mr Wall was speaking in the wake of an incident last Wednesday.

“A group of seven young teenagers aged between 12 and 15 started playing around with the furniture outside — sitting on it, kicking it.

“When I approached and asked them not to, a tirade of verbal abuse started,” he explained.

Following this, he went back into the shop, but they began kicking the door and yelling, so he returned outside.

“Everyone acted innocent; said they hadn’t done anything and that I should mind my own business,” Mr Wall said.

The youths then began moving terracotta pots, ripping leaves off plants, throwing stones at the windows and banging on them, he said.

Mr Wall went out again and warned them he had CCTV cameras.

“The threats started again — windows were going to be broken, I was going to be ‘stuck’ — with what, I didn’t know. Then they took off with mad haste.

“What really upset me is when I brought the pots in there was a hypodermic needle in one pot, a used syringe with an exposed needle.

“I wouldn’t have assumed kids that young would be near or have needles, I wonder if he found it and picked it up to threaten people with.

“When a child threatens to ‘stick you’, you don’t think the child will have a needle.”

Mr Wall said he has contacted gardaí about the matter.

He called for additional gardaí to be allocated to Cork city.

“The gardaí are stretched to the max; we all know the number of gardaí sent to Cork in the last 10 years is minimal,” he said.

He stressed the need for more gardaí on the beat: “If kids that young are playing around with drug paraphernalia, it’s extremely serious.”

He said: “Rubbish is thrown around, kids are kicking each other at a bus stop while younger children and elderly people are waiting; begging has become more aggressive.

“Widening the footpaths, putting in new pavement, is a lovely idea, and the street planters are great, if you like a mixture of flowers, weeds, chewing gum, vodka bottles, cigarette packets, and needles.

“The whole thing with the revamp seemed to be smoke and mirrors, because it’s not being maintained.

“I work hard keeping the outside of my shop pretty, but you see everything around you falling into disrepair and you ask: ‘Why am I even doing this?’”

Local Labour councillor John Maher told The Echo that what Mr Wall had experienced was “sad and shocking” .

“It’s important to recognise that most young people are good ambassadors and citizens of Cork city and that the city itself is a great place to visit and live in,” he said.

“The Garda Commissioner has failed the people of Cork city by not allocating sufficient garda numbers.

“Additional gardaí on the beat, and the knowledge that around the corner you could run into a garda on the beat, will help to eliminate the type of behaviour Michael experienced.”

The Echo contacted An Garda Síochána and Cork City Council for comment.