Dublin is becoming safer as a city despite the attack this week in Temple Bar, which left an English tourist struggling for life, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has claimed.
Mr O’Callaghan said he would be happy to walk around the city at any time of the day or night.
“A large capital city will always have incidents of criminal behaviour, but my own view is that Dublin is getting safer. I would like the message to go out to people that Dublin is a safe place.”
Speaking before the graduation of 154 recruits at the Garda College in Templemore, Mr O’Callaghan said data do not bear out the perception that crime is on the increase.
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Latest crime figures show assaults are down in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year.
Mr O’Callaghan said he met representatives of the Indian embassy following recent attacks on members of the community in the Republic.
He described the attacks as “cowardly and senseless” along with being “abhorrent to the values of our Republic and are condemned by all right-thinking people”.
Outgoing Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the attacks on the Indian community were motivated primarily by racism.
Similar incidents had occurred north of the Border as had been acknowledged recently by his counterpart in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Jon Boucher.
Mr Harris also said members of An Garda Síochána had engaged with the Indian community to ensure that racist attacks were reported in a timely fashion.
He said there was an element of picking on the vulnerable.
“All citizens who reside here know that An Garda Síochána is there to protect them. We have engaged in considerable outreach programme with the Indian community as well so that when incidents happened they are reported promptly,” he said.
“You can rest assured that these matters can be supervised at the highest levels within An Garda Síochána.”
Mr Harris said there had been a surge of gardaí into Dublin which had created a more visible policing presence. This scenario will be replicated in other areas where there are specific crime problems.
He described the strength of the garda force, now at 14,408 members,as a welcome development.
Of the latest recruits, 45 are being allocated to the Dublin region, 22 to the eastern region, 66 to the southern region and 21 to the northwestern region.
Mr Harris presided over his last graduation as commissioner before Justin Kelly takes over on September 1st.
