Drug addicts are bringing their children with them to purchase crack cocaine and heroin in Ireland’s most dangerous flat complex, distraught residents have claimed.
Locals living in Oliver Bond in Dublin’s south inner city, which was once home to mob boss Daniel Kinahan, say brazen gangs terrorise the community by selling narcotics from early in the morning until late into the night.
Residents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said while the area has always had a problem with drug-dealing and anti-social behaviour it has spiraled out of control in the last three years. They said drug addicts regularly loiter, take drugs and stumble through the complex on a daily basis.
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One told The Irish Mirror : “Children can be seen playing just feet away from where these dealers sell crack cocaine and heroin. Some of the dealers who are underage have no problem selling these drugs in the direct view of young children. This happens on a daily basis.
“These dealers will also sell drugs to mothers and fathers who come into the complex with their young children, some as young as newborn babies.
“Some users will leave their children as young as four or five outside the complex on their own, while they walk into the complex and buy their crack or heroin.”
The resident said children who live in the area also have a right to not have “some strange man completely out of his head walking past where they play”.
They added: "The area is an absolute disgrace and is overrun with drug users and drug dealers. The complex itself is destroyed with these people, Bridgefoot Street is full of drug users and beggars, the back road is full of drug users smoking crack.
"Thomas Street is full of drug users also. It is an utter disgrace that innocent people are allowed to live in such disgusting conditions.
"All while these drug dealers make huge profits from selling crack cocaine and heroin in their communities."
It comes as Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn blasted Dublin City Council and said Oliver Bond residents have been abandoned.
The councillor said that Dublin 8 has changed and has become “cooler” with trendy bars and artisan coffee shops but working-class people from the area live a very different life.
He told The Irish Mirror: “This is now the gentrified area. All the hipsters want to live in Dublin 8. They all want to hang out around Francis Street … it’s all really super cool.
“But in the meantime, there’s a festering cancer in Oliver Bond and surrounding areas … it's gotten worse. The rest of them are drinking five euro cappuccinos and thinking it’s ‘amazing’ and ‘it’s all really fantastic.'
“But walk down Thomas Street during the middle of the day and see the level of poverty and dilapidation. People are in an awful state on the streets. Look at all the addicts on the streets.
“But law-abiding people living in Oliver Bond trying to rear their children are totally abandoned. It’s okay for the ones on the drugs because they’re sedated or they’re on a high and it’s okay for the ones doing the dealing because they’re making a profit, but the vast amount of people living there just want to get on with their lives.
“They’re trying to do a day’s work and they’re coming back to a place they’re dreading.”
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Mannix also said tackling Dublin’s drug problem isn’t on anybody’s agenda anymore. He explained: “The vast amount of people that are showing up for rehabilitation are children. We’re still fighting for more rehabilitation and detoxing centres.
“There’s simply no information in any particular block of flats or in schools about staying away from drugs. It’s just simply not on the agenda anymore. It’s not cool and sexy, what’s cool and sexy is cycling lanes and pedestrianisation.”
He also said if the HSE is able to warn members of the public about the dangers of drugs at this weekend’s Electric Picnic festival they can do it in the south inner city.
Mannix added: “They’re all going to Stradbally for Electric Picnic. The HSE is down there with a big tent warning people about the dangers of drugs. Why isn’t that tent in Oliver Bond?
“For the many men, women and children in Oliver Bond flats, they’re simply abandoned. You had Micheal Martin jumping around the place for a photograph and he’s abandoned the place since.”
Meanwhile, the petrified local, who is part of the Oliver Bond Resident’s Group, stressed that the high levels of drug dealing in the area have led to a sharp increase in violence.
They said drug gangs operating within the complex attack addicts and residents on a daily basis while also revealing robberies have been on the rise too. The resident said while gardai do respond to callouts they need a bigger presence within Oliver Bond.
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They explained: “Kevin Street Garda Station does respond to calls and complaints to drug dealing and anti-social behaviour but nowhere near enough.
“Their presence inside the complex is nowhere where it needs to be hence why all of these issues are allowed to continue.
“The level of Garda presence is totally unacceptable for residents. Violence in the area has also seen a rapid increase, this is also a consequence of the level of drug dealing that is going on within the complex.
“This gang is full of very dangerous and volatile individuals who attack and intimidate drug users and residents on a daily basis.”
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The resident said the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t stop the thugs either. They explained: “During the Covid pandemic the drug dealing did not stop, in fact business was absolutely booming.
“There were gangs of dealers inside the complex selling these drugs non-stop just as they do now during the height of the pandemic.
“The drug dealing and anti-social behaviour has been going on for years inside this complex. I am from here all my life and it was always bad but the past three specifically has seen a very worrying rise in these issues.
“The drug dealing has gotten completely out of control in the past couple of years. There are many different drug dealers who operate now within the complex and there are always different people coming in and out all the time selling these drugs.
“We would all agree that definitely over the past three years the drug dealing has gotten way worse than it was years ago. The anti-social behaviour comes as a consequence of these dealers and has also rapidly increased over this time.”
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The resident stressed Oliver Bond has fallen “desperately into the grips of a crack cocaine epidemic” and said the area is awash with crime.
They called for urgent action to tackle the growing problem and said children living within the complex have a right to feel safe and not witness drug deals on a daily basis.
A Dublin City Council spokeswoman said: “Dublin City Council works closely with the Gardaí, local community and other agencies to address antisocial behaviour in Oliver Bond House.”
The Irish Mirror contacted the Gardai for comment.
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