Drunks, drugs, delinquents...
IT’S first thing in the morning on a busy weekday. Commuters are swarming round Connolly Station, racing to work in and out of the city centre. But there are other people there too, trying to avoid the eyes of the station security as they organise their day on mobile phones.
These are people with severe addictions, sometimes to drink but mostly to drugs, mixing with the tourists and office workers, riding the trains to various parts of Dublin. Some are setting up meetings with their dealers within earshot of the public.
Passing on the platform, a woman grips her handbag more tightly as two men, under the influence of either drugs or alcohol, lurch around unsteadily on their feet.
As the Dart pulls in, a homeless man helps another passenger with her pram. He’s also hoping to while away the hours travelling undetected from station to station.
Most commuters would tell you the escalation in anti-social behaviour on the Dart line is nothing new. Nor is it confined to the stretch of track between Howth and Connolly.
And as the weather turns good, passengers like me will be dreading the influx of beachgoers, rowdy teenage drinkers, and the sight of parents who have been boozing on the beach all day and are too drunk to be in charge of their children.
There is no doubt the recent gigs at Malahide Castle ramped up bad behaviour a few notches. As the crowds travelled to the gig – many of them coming from south Dublin – a gang of youths ranging from late teens to early 20s were shouting loudly but in a good-spirited way. There were cans, there were songs, but then there was also a huge bag of drugs, pulled out from the pocket of one of the lads and snorted like snuff by a pretty, blonde teenager in full sight of the other passengers.
Men were using the sections in between the carriages as a toilet, urinating in full view of the rest of the passengers.
At the concert gates there were thorough searches and anyone in possession of drugs was being marched away by gardaí on duty.
As the crowds flooded out of the gig, it was difficult enough to get down to the station and onto a train. Carriages were rammed with people and it turned out we were lucky as ours managed to make it out of Malahide without any trouble, and people were generally in good spirits. But others weren’t so lucky as a later train was delayed due to a huge fight breaking out.
I can imagine how petrifying that felt, to be trapped in a carriage with fists flying and windows smashing. This is not the fault of a concert as many of us went and enjoyed the night, without causing any kind of chaos.
And other recent incidents where masked youths have boarded the trains to fight, and one felt confident enough to flash a gun at a group of Italian students, shows just how lawless our society has become.
This isn’t just confined to Dart lines – the summer sun now all too often brings out warring factions of out-of-control teens to our beaches and parks. Who could forget the Portmarnock showdowns of recent times when youths ran riot as frightened families fled? It just seems that this scourge is now spreading to our public transport system, too. The Dart is the quickest way to get to beaches on the north and south sides, so days of good weather are unfortunately now bringing bad crowds to the train lines.
As a regular public transport passenger, I know all too well that creeping sense of unease when you’re stuck on a journey beside drinkers and drug takers, that feeling that you’ve got nowhere to run if things kick off. Although it may be tough for the drivers, pity those poor passengers who can’t escape their unsavoury carriage companions until the Dart stops.
Added security is unlikely to have much of an impact – the only thing that will deter these young thugs is feeling the full force of the law.