We received an invitation to attend a special meeting at The Skylon Hotel last Monday night to discuss a recent wave of anti-social behaviour centred around the Extramart shop on Homefarm Road. The meeting was attended by about 1 dozen people including Drumcondra Triangle Residents and interested parties from Griffith Avenue, Glandore Road/Mobhi Road areas. It was also attended by a few local counsellors and two members of the Garda Síochána – Sergeant Aidan Monaghan and Inspector Mark Fitzpatrick.
The shop was targeted several times and the owner, Ash and his wife and other employees were frightened and upset by events. Thankfully nobody was actually hurt but great upset was caused. Gardaí have since dealt with the situation and all is calm now and the store has been flagged so they’ll be keeping an eye on it.
The Gardaí, extremely impressive men, explained how under resourced they were but assured us that all anti social behaviour was being dealt with in an inter-agency way – courts, Tusla etc. They emphasised the importance to REPORT EVERYTHING as this helps to build the allocation of more resources to our area. They also underlined the importance of not looking for the number of local Garda station but rather, to use the 999 number as this will achieve a faster response.
They advised vigilance in the run up to Halloween – not leaving timber around, keeping an eye on the park for any activity and again, to report anything quickly.
The Gardaí still host their weekly Clinic at The Skylon Hotel every Monday morning from 10-12 and they encourage people to call by to chat about any issues.
