Gardai are now carrying out regular patrols in one of Ireland’s largest hospitals after a dramatic spike in anti-social behaviour, The Irish Mirror can reveal.
Senior management at the Mater Hospital in Dublin met with cops and a plan was put in place to tackle the issue. In an email, which was viewed and verified by the Irish Mirror, staff were told earlier this week the patrols have already had a positive impact and will continue on “a regular basis”.
Chief Operating Officer at the Mater Hospital, Josephine Ryan said: “It has recently come to my attention that there has been an increase in anti-social behaviour throughout the hospital campus.
“Staff and patient safety is our priority. With this in mind, we met with An Garda Siochana to discuss these issues and to put a plan in place to increase safety across the Hospital.
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“An Garda Siochana, from Mountjoy Garda Station, have commenced regular patrols throughout the Hospital. I am pleased to inform you that these patrols have had a positive impact and will continue on a regular basis.”
The email did not mention the exact locations within the Mater Hospital that gardai would be patrolling. But Independent Councillor Cieran Perry said he regularly hears about high levels of anti-social behaviour in the hospital’s emergency department. He blasted the agreement and said it wasn't the responsibility of the gardai to do regular patrols inside the building.
Mr. Perry, who is also the Chair of the Dublin Central Joint Policing Committee, said security guards who work there are regularly racially abused. In one incident, he told how a patient waiting to be seen by a doctor had to intervene when a member of the hospital’s security team was on the receiving end of vile slurs.
The Irish Mirror understands drug addicts are regularly the source of anti-social behaviour in the emergency department.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Mr. Perry said: “I get constant complaints about the anti-social behaviour down there.
“Some of the people with addiction issues tend to both use the place but also hang around down there. A lot of the lads down there would be foreign and they’d get a lot of racist abuse. It’s a regular enough thing, that's what I’ve heard.”
Mr Perry stressed if gardai were called to a specific incident that’s different. He explained: “The gardai shouldn’t have to do regular patrols in there. If they get a call to a specific incident, that’s understandable - that’s their job.
“But the onus really is on the Mater to properly secure their premises and properly police their premises. It shouldn’t be falling back to the Gardai. They’re going to need to either employ more security or pay them better.”
Mr Perry added: “We don’t have the numbers to be policing the streets of the area let alone the Mater and doing the Mater’s work for them.
“I’ve a huge issue with this. The already unacceptable level of resources in the area will be further stretched. This is clearly an issue for the Mater … The Mater is an organisation that can well afford to properly police their own properties.”
The councillor continued: “It’s absolutely unacceptable that sick people going into A&E are being harassed and terrified with this carry on … and for the staff not just for security any sort of abuse of frontline staff is absolutely unacceptable.
"I suppose the situation speaks for itself, if the guards who are already seriously under-resourced feel the need to patrol the premises, the level of antisocial behaviour must be outrageous.”
When contacted, a spokesperson for the Mater Hospital said: “The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital’s number one priority is the safety of our patients and our staff.
“Prior to the onset of Covid-19, An Garda Síochána had a visible presence on our campus as part of our endeavours to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for everyone at the hospital.
“Since the lifting of the last of the Covid restrictions on visiting at the hospital, this has now been reinstated.
“The Mater welcomes this important partnership with the Gardai and their support in ensuring a safe environment for all who work, visit, or are patients at the hospital.”
Meanwhile, gardai said: "While An Garda Siochana does not comment on operational matters, we are satisfied there is an appropriate policing plan in operation in the Mountjoy District.
"Hospital Watch is a Crime Prevention and awareness initiative operated by 31 individual hospitals in conjunction with An Garda Siochana. One of those hospitals is the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin 7.
"Hospital Watch is designed to provide hospital staff and hospital users with crime prevention advice. Hospital Watch is not a security operation."
"The HSE and hospital staff in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital have ongoing liaison with the local Community Garda and the local Crime Prevention Officer."
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