Anti-social behaviour in Cork City centre has “really escalating” and means people feel increasingly unsafe, a local business woman has complained. 

Aga of House of Nails salon, which is located near Bishop Lucey Park, has worked in the area for the past 16 years. 

However, on Lunchtime Live, she said that it has not been “safe for a while now”. 

“In the recent few years, I think the level of drug and drink abuse - especially in the city centre - it's really escalating and it's getting way bigger than it was before,” she explained. 

“That basically just contributes to people not to feel safe in Cork City. 

“Especially, like salon owners - any kind of girl related businesses; people would be coming up like our customers or clients, they come across people drinking right outside our door. 

“There's like a couple of benches there and it's just very intimidating.”

Aga continued that frequent fights break out outside her shop and that things get worse during winter when the days are shorter. 

“It's more the evening times, especially coming up towards Christmas after four or five pm, it gets darker and then it feels a little bit insecure there,” she said. 

“Especially [as] you do see less Garda presence for the last month, month and a half since the summer has finished.

“I just didn't see as many patrols on our streets.”

Overall, Aga worries that Cork City centre is now a less attractive place for people to visit than was only a few short years ago. 

“Two years ago, one of our staff was attacked on Torquay Street,” she said. 

“There was a couple tried to rob her phone from her hand; she did retrieve the phone back, but she finished in the A&E with a strained wrist.” 

The solution, Aga believes, is for there to be more Gardaí on the beat, which she hopes would “definitely discourage people” from committing anti-social behaviour offences.

Main image: Cork City centre. Picture by: Peter Zoeller/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire/Alamy.com.