Taoiseach says people being attacked ‘all the time’ on Irish streets

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said people are being “attacked all the time” on Irish streets as he acknowledged it will be “very hard” to meet the target of recruiting 1,000 gardaí this year.

His comments come after a number of high-profile assaults in Dublin, including on a US tourist and a Ukrainian actor.

Mr Varadkar said that when the victim is from overseas, it “sometimes” gets more coverage than when it is an Irish person who was assaulted.

However, he added: “Sadly, there are Irish people residents in the country being attacked all the time on our streets – and that’s not something we can accept.”

The safety of Ireland’s streets has come into sharp focus following the assaults, with the Taoiseach saying people feel that Irish cities deteriorated during Covid-19 and did not recover.

He said: “We shouldn’t be telling people that X area or Y area is dangerous, they shouldn’t go there.

“That’s totally the wrong approach, in my point of view. We have to make sure that all public places in our cities and towns are safe for people to walk.”

The Taoiseach said the recent assaults show the need to be “tough on public order offences”.

He said this would involve increased use of CCTV, a more visible Garda presence on streets, tougher sentences, and increased resources for courts and prisons.

Mr Varadkar said part of the response also needs to tackle underlying issues of poverty, addiction and deprivation.

“People should feel safe in our towns and cities and at night-time and shouldn’t be afraid that if they go out at night, that they’re going to be subjected to a serious assault or perhaps even worse,” he said.

The Taoiseach said Ireland is “a safe place” relative to other countries but added that more needs to be done to improve public order.

He said: “A lot of people don’t feel safe on our streets because they’ve heard things that have really happened.

“It’s not just a perception, it’s rooted in reality.”

Mr Varadkar said new classes of Garda recruits are regularly entering the Templemore college.

He said a “significant number” of the latest graduating class will be assigned to the Dublin inner-city.

However, Mr Varadkar said there were fewer than 100 Garda recruits passing out this week despite a target of 200.

The Taoiseach said: “It is going to be difficult to reach the 1,000 target.

“We’re not departing from it and part of my meeting with the Garda Commissioner next week will be seeing what we can do to improve recruitment.”

He said there are suggestions around improving the training allowance, earlier retirement, and allowing people to enter the force after the age of 35.

Mr Varadkar said there was anecdotal evidence of delays within the Public Appointments Service also.