A woman was seen shooting heroin into her arm while caring for a child in a pram who was few feet away on a city centre side street, a Councillor has said.
The alley is a stone's throw away from major tourist attraction the Ha'penny Bridge.
Crack cocaine and heroin use and dealing are so common on North Lotts that a local Councillor compared it to an open market for drugs.
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The alleyway just off Liffey Street Lower has become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour over the past eight weeks and there are also fears forced prostitution or prostitution is taking place.
Residents living on the lane are living in fear of those occupying the laneway who regularly "intimidate" them.
A garda operation has seen some success in tackling the issues recently but Councillor Christy Burke told Dublin Live "it is kicking off again".
Councillor Burke said: "It is a nightmare. My heart goes out to the residents out there, apart from the noise and the mayhem and intimidation, even to look out at such mayhem and anti-social [behaviour] is enough to put you off."
"It is unacceptable what the residents there have to put up with."
Cllr Burke has been inundated with representations about the laneway and has even gone down to observe it himself.
He said: "I wouldn't even walk down there on the evenings I was down there because there is a whole crowd and they are shooting up openly. There is no doubt they are shooting up.
"I have gone through every avenue possible open to me in order to try and alleviate that problem. It eases off for a couple of days but then it comes back to normal."
Cllr Burke says the issue has been ongoing for the last eight to 10 weeks if not longer.
He said: "At the start I thought this is the usual stuff of [people] coming from the boardwalk into the shadows to shoot up but then I was getting pretty strong representations from residents.
Litton Lane, which connects North Lotts to the Bachelor's Walk, is where a lot of the drug use happens, Cllr Burke said.
He said: "There is an apartment block that overlooks [Litton Lane] and that is what they are looking at.
"I have seen women with children shooting into their arm with their kid in the pram. It is not pleasant. It is off the beaten track.
"It is out of the way. It is a back lane. They get into huddles there."
A garda operation did quell the issue over the last number of weeks but it has picked up again in the last week or so, said Cllr Burke.
"It was working but it got back out of hand... it is kicking off again."
"It is like, put out a stall, what do you want? There is no fear of authority.
It is believed that many of those congregating in the lane come from the boardwalk area to use and deal drugs.
Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam told Dublin Live crack cocaine use is common and that there are fears forced prostitution is taking place.
He said: "There is very clear crack dealing and crack cocaine use occurring. There is a real concern about the amount of women that are in there and there may be an element of either prostitution or forced prostitution occurring."
Cllr McAdam has been working with the Ana Liffey Drug Project on the issue who are concerned that they don't recognise any of the women frequenting the lane.
He said: "What they are saying to us is they would [usually] recognise a lot of individuals because of their outreach work but they don't recognise any, particularly of the women who are using on the lane and that are involved in the anti-social behaviour and criminal behaviour."
A garda spokesman said "increased patrols" have been rolled out to tackle the issues.
He said: "I refer to your query and can confirm that Gardaí attached to the Store Street District have increased patrols of the North Lotts Lane / Liffey Street area and environs under Operation Citizen and Operation Boardwalk to counter antisocial activity in this area."
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