Vacancy Watch: a big site near Fatima Luas stop
Even as the government casts around for new land to zone for homes, it is unclear when this plot will be built out.
“It is regularly used for intravenous drug use and is littered with needles and other drug paraphernalia,” says a council report.
In 2021, Justice Minister Helen McEntee announced a “community-safety partnership” for the area. It hasn’t yet finished its plan for what to do.
Since February, Superintendent Seán Fallon has been supervisor of the Garda National Diversity and Integration Unit.
Hirantha Pereira says he mostly tries to forget his sister Belinda’s murder in Dublin in 1996, but sometimes he daydreams about what it would be like if she was still alive.
“You can’t have people living in that psychological fear all the time,” says Lucy Michael, who co-authored the report from the Irish Network Against Racism.
They’ve heard about – and witnessed – violent attacks on queer people and feel the Gardaí aren’t doing enough, members of the newly formed group say.
There is no “silver bullet” to transform safety on the streets, but small changes can improve the city over time, says chairperson Cormac Ó Donnchú.
Others say they’d like to join An Garda Síochána, but find they cannot due to the cut-off of 35 years of age.
The new “local community safety partnership” for the area brings together the HSE, Tusla, Gardaí, public and community reps, business people and others.
At a recent meeting, six people told stories of times people had assaulted them, they believe, because of their skin colour – and what followed, or didn’t.
“If I say I’m concerned, that’s an understatement,” says Grace Ogunsanya, a Blanchardstown mother of three.
The bump in investment was down to the need for extra equipment to help gardaí at Covid checkpoints, said an FOI response.