Unruly teens behind foiled raid on shop
A RISE in anti-social behaviour which culminated in an aborted social media-organised teen raid of a shop in Cork city on Friday night needs to be combatted by more police on the ground, locals have urged.
There has been a marked rise in theft and looting over the last number of months around Cork’s main shopping district, according to the owner of three Centra stores in the city centre, Kevin Herlihy.
An anonymous call to action on Twitter last Friday resulted in a large number of teenagers congregating outside the JD Sports outlet on Patrick Street.
The post called on individuals to dress in black, wear balaclavas and meet at the nearby McDonald’s on Winthrop Street. The post also said: ‘You only have one minute to yam that shop.’
Around 100 youths allegedly arrived at the scene at around 6pm but gardaí had been alerted to the post circulating online and managed to foil any attempt to loot the store.
Mr Herlihy described pubs and shops in the area as ‘sitting ducks’ for criminals and he now forks out thousands annually to hire a private mobile security firm to prevent theft in his stores and, in some cases, threats and assaults against staff.
According to Mr Herlihy, who is also a spokesman for the Cork Business Association, there is huge concern among business owners at the lack of policing in the area.
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘There is zero police presence on the streets of Cork city. We’re experiencing a massive increase in anti-social behaviour. There is constant racial abuse against staff.
‘We have had to hire a mobile security company. They come to the store when there’s an issue because the response from the gardaí is just not up to standard.’
A number of publicans and shop owners have hired Cerberus Security to protect their businesses and staff, according to Mr Herlihy.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath said: ‘It’s very concerning when a large group of youths can assemble in such a quick manner.’
When asked about increasing Garda numbers on the streets of Cork, a Garda spokesman said: ‘The local Superintendent has overall responsibility to combat crime in his/her area and will divert local resources to address any particular crime trends, and this will be constantly assessed and reviewed.’