Undercover gardaí have been stationed on DART services across Dublin.
It comes after a young woman fell under a train at Howth Junction Station last month after she was intimidated by a group of young people.
Three teenage boys, - one aged 13 and two aged 16 – were later arrested on suspicion of violent disorder before being released without charge.
Newstalk reporter Henry McKean visited the North Dublin station this morning to talk to passengers – and find out whether they feel safe on the train.
One man told him gangs of young people are getting on the train just to “act the bollox” and noted that they “only go for the people that wouldn’t be able to defend themselves.”
“What you want is a big Alsatian dog or a Rottweiler,” he said.
“Certainly, older people are a bit scared now because of what happened at Howth Junction. I got the train to Howth and it was empty. People are afraid to go on the train.”
“I don’t feel safe.” Do you welcome undercover Gardai on the Dart, does it make you feel safer? @NTBreakfast @NewstalkFM from 7am #HowthJunction pic.twitter.com/fwWoJhxGcQ
— Henry McKean (@HenryMcKean) May 20, 2021
One woman said the trouble tends to start when the sunny weather kicks in.
“There is that kind of tribal mentality where a lot of teenagers from far and wide come and they will use the beaches in say North County Dublin,” she said.
“It has been going on for years and, definitely on a sunny day when I am on my way home from work, if it’s early, I will always kind of gauge that there will be lots of a certain category of teenager out to make a little bit of mischief.
“So that can be very intimidating, no matter what age you are, if there is a crowd of teenagers and they all want is to be heard and they are shouting and screaming.”
She said increasing patrols on sunny days would be more effective than placing undercover officers on the train all the time.
“It would be good to have some foresight for those days to put some extra protection on the trains,” she said.
“Yeah, that would be good. I suppose though 90% of the time I feel safe so it is hard to know if it is a waste of resources to have it continually there.”
'They use it as a toilet'
This lady told Henry she now gets off a stop early for fear of what might happen at Howth Junction.
“You can’t go down to a train now and get on to a train but there is somebody at you,” she said.
“I get off at Raheny; I never get off at Howth Junction. I get off a stop before and get the bus up. I don’t feel safe at Howth Junction. They are just a gang and that’s it. Fella’s gather; they use it as a toilet – no.”
Security
Meanwhile, local Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron said Gardaíneed increased funding to police DART stations around the city.
“You know, in fairness to the security guards and the police they are doing their best to handle the situation but there has to be a stronger approach at the DART stations to making sure they are not on the DARTs themselves,” he said.
“Because they are not paying for their tickets, you can see that they are bunking off.
“We need to make sure we have reinforced security at the stations consistently all around the city.”
Gardaí and Iarnród Éireann were both contacted for comment.
