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Joe Giltrap : Dublin’s fair city is changing for worst
DUBLIN city centre is turning into a horrible, dirty dump.
I was there a few days ago and it did not make pretty viewing.
I have always had a soft spot for the old city because I worked there
for many years both in a proper job and playing music.
I have really fond memories of some great nights with some great people
in some great venues.
Most of the people I know at home say they very rarely go into Dublin
now and most certainly never do so at night.
You cannot walk very far before some young beggar from Eastern Europe
stands in front of you and shoves a box under your nose looking for money.
This has happened on every occasion when walking down O’Connell
Street.
If you think I am exaggerating let me recount my experience last week.
I got off the airport bus at Aston Quay and walked around the corner to
pick up another bus.
In the doorway of a nightclub there were a couple of teenagers lying around
on open sleeping bags surrounded by empty fast food cartons and cans and
holding court with a few more youngsters.
They were clearly living on the streets. As I stood at the bus stop a
young foreign national begging for money approached me with a small cardboard
box in his hand.
I guess this lad was no older than 13 or 14 but streetwise and hard looking.
I refused and he then turned his attention to a slightly-built young girl
standing beside me.
He shoved the box under her nose and said: “Money.”
The girl was fumbling with her MP3 player and busy trying to put earphones
on and ignored him.
He persisted and she took off the earphones and said politely in a strong
Dublin accent: “Sorry I have no money.”
She put back on the earphones but he would not leave and kept asking for
money as if he had not understood her, still shaking the box in her face.
She stopped and stated her lack of cash again.
He still persisted and finally she took off the earphones and put her
face up to his and shouted: “F…k off.”
Strangely enough he seemed to understand this perfectly. |
