Gardai Ignoring Drug Addicts

M

MANTO

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Hi All,

I work in Central Dublin and i am disgusted at what i just saw.

There is a methadone clinic accross the road so there are plenty of addicts that hang around the area. A few moments ago there were 2 addicts sitting at the side of our building drinking Blue WKD with a four year old child with them.

2 Gardai walked up to them, just looked at them and kept walking - our hard earned tax payments are for a public service that was blatently not enforced - i can guarantee if it was me or you sitting at the side of a building with our child drinking alcohol they wouldnt pass us by!!!!!!!!
 
Well hardly the worst of crimes. I'm not condoning it but this can be seen in every city, town and village in the country.

The gardaí pass them by all the time unless they are causing trouble.

Is it that they are 'drug addicts' that upsets you more?
 
Would the fact that they were in charge of a 4 yr old not make it a bit more serious?
 
liaconn said:
Would the fact that they were in charge of a 4 yr old not make it a bit more serious?
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Not sure what you mean - 1000s upon 1000s of parents openly drink in front of their young children every day of the week. I'm not saying it's right but it's extremely common.

It's not illegal to be addicted to heroin, to sit on a wall or to drink in front of a child. The only law being broken as far as I can see is the 'drinking in public aspect.'

It's irresponsible, bad parenting and I certainly fear for the development and future of the child in question but I think the OP is overreacting a bit.

I can also be fairly certain that if I grabbed myself a can, sat on a wall and took my niece to accompany me the gardaí would ignore me too.
 
liaconn said:
Would the fact that they were in charge of a 4 yr old not make it a bit more serious?
Click to expand...

This is an interesting point. I happen to know a couple who (both alcoholics or at least on their way to it if not currently) would bring their children to the local pub every evening and stay there til closing. Pub had a rule on children after certain hours but ignored it in favour of the money being spent by the parents. Both children were allowed to fall asleep in their buggies and brought home later that night. As they grew older they were woken and walked home - it was tragic seeing both kids staggering up the road in the dark at a late hour (maybe 10pm) with both parents staggering along beside them.
Eventually someone reported it. The couple were investigated by social services. A week later they showed up in the pub earlier than usual, kids in tow, and loudly announced that if the 'rats' were going to report them for staying late with the kids, theyd have to abide by the rule and leave at the correct time (cant remember what it was, maybe 8pm).
Then ensued the same amount of time and drink consumption in the pub, followed by the same stagger home at an earlier hour - this time with a bag of cans, probably for at home seeing as it was earlier.

That was it. Seemingly its ok for parents to be drunk in public with kids - so long as they are not bothering anyone. The investigation simply regulated the time the kids could be in the pub until.
There seems to be no restriction on how much you can drink or how often you can bring your kid to the pub with you.

I dont think the state should be allowed to regulate every aspect of peoples lives with regards to alcohol consumption, child rearing or otherwise - but surely there should be some way of preventing such a horrible situation?
 
Unbelievable, isn't it? Surely those kids should be put on some kind of a register and the parents should be visited regularly and, if necessary, the children put into foster care until the parents sort themselves out (although I know children will often prefer to stay with the most negligent parents than be taken away from them, which is heartbreaking as well.)


Caveat, I take your point about parents drinking in front of their kids at home. However, is it not illegal to drink on the streets anyway? Or have I got that wrong?
 
liaconn said:
Unbelievable, isn't it? Surely those kids should be put on some kind of a register and the parents should be visited regularly and, if necessary, the children put into foster care until the parents sort themselves out (although I know children will often prefer to stay with the most negligent parents than be taken away from them, which is heartbreaking as well.)
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Im really not into 'nanny' state interference but with such a scenario being played out so publically I was astonished that it was allowed to continue unchecked.
 
truthseeker said:
Im really not into 'nanny' state interference but with such a scenario being played out so publically I was astonished that it was allowed to continue unchecked.
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I agree re 'nanny' state but, in this instance, the children are clearly not being properly looked after. Years ago there would have been aunts, grannies, concerned neighbours etc stepping in to fill the breach but nowadays we don't have that kind of a fall back and kids can end up seriously at risk.
 
liaconn said:
Unbelievable, isn't it?
However, is it not illegal to drink on the streets anyway? Or have I got that wrong?
Click to expand...

It is illegal to drink in public although you'd be forgiven for thinking it's not, the amount of people in the city that walk the streets with cans, sit at the luas stops drinking, on the liffey boardwalk drinking and having a great old time. It's not very nice walking by them in the middle of the afternoon, rightly or wrongly i find these situations intimidating.
 
A friend of mine was on the Luas a while ago and a young couple were so out of it that they forgot to bring their two year old with them when they got off. A woman had to run after them with him! There really are some people who are just not capable of looking after their children.
 
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