Elderly residents of a Dublin City Council complex have said they continue to feel “unsafe” despite a large security gate being erected there in recent weeks.
Residents of Robinson’s Court off Cork Street in Dublin 8 campaigned for years for the gate alongside local politicians, following three murders in the complex, which has 41 units and houses mostly older people, some with disabilities.
A large security gate was installed by the council over recent weeks, with the area also covered by CCTV.
Despite this, Sinn Féin TD Máire Devine said she was informed of two incidents since the installation of the gate, including a gang of youths getting over it and targeting an elderly man in the complex with dementia over the May bank holiday weekend.
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“I was told that they took his bank card, €1,000, his keys to the house and his wallet, and I think they threw his keys back,” she said.
“He’s a target because they know he’s vulnerable. There was another incident where a man who lives here was coming in on his bike and he was apparently followed in by a gang of youths who tried to take his bike.”
The Dublin South Central TD said she would be contacting the local authority regarding the alleged robbery and time frame of it so they could check CCTV.
“If there are breaches happening, there needs to be something put in place,” she said. “Dublin City Council have cleaned up the complex, but there are people who are still nervous here. It’s almost like that feeling of ‘if I live here, I have to put up with the torment’. That’s just not good enough.
“There has been increased Garda visibility, I know for some of the residents it doesn’t feel that. Of course, we would always love more gardaí for the area. I asked about anti-climb paint [for the gate] but I‘m not sure how the council feel about that.”
An elderly man who has been living in the complex for six years, who wished to remain anonymous, said “it’s a disgrace the way we’re being treated”.
“There are young fellas climbing over the gate,” he said. “I was banging on the window at them. One of them came over the gate and pressed the green button letting another woman in.
“There was another occasion when a resident was coming in through the gates on his bike and a gang of youths came in behind him trying to rob his bike. I ran out with my walking stick to them.”
The man has requested a transfer to alternative social housing.
“There’s a few of us looking to get out of here,” he said.
An elderly woman, who has been living in the complex for a number of years, said: “You’re not safe here. They put the young fellas up over the gate and they’re still coming in at times. I am nervous here.”
An older man who has been living in the complex for seven years said he had secured his home “to the best I can”, which included extra bolts and double locks on his front door.
“If you put a wet paint sign up saying ‘don’t touch it’, people are going to touch it. If you put a barrier up, they’ll say ‘what’s the barrier there for?’ They’ll say ‘to climb over’,” he said.
“There are kids in here all the time. They’re kicking down the bus stop over there [on Cork Street] and there’s no police present late at night. It’s happening every night, really, gangs of young people around the area. They’re getting chased in and out of the place. There’s guards around in the daytime, but it’s night-time when vampires come out.”
Two male residents said they feel more secure since the gate was installed, but spoke of how antisocial behaviour was affecting the area, in particular in Weaver Park, situated across the road from the housing complex.
“My flat faces on to Cork Street and the kids are hanging around the bus stop there and their main aim most nights is to break the bus stop,” one of the men said. “They’re throwing bikes at it and everything, and they think it’s great fun, and they’re only kids.”
The council said it did not believe the new gates had been breached by intruders since installation, with no CCTV evidence to show they had been.
However, it also said it had been made aware of two recent incidents, one of which is under investigation by gardaí, and the second “we are following up with”.
“The city council were made aware that one of our residents from Robinson’s Court had a verbal exchange with a number of children as he was entering the complex on May 2nd,” a spokesman said in relation to the incidents.
“The second incident involves an allegation of theft and is under investigation by the gardaí.”
Kwok Ping Cheng (76) was killed in his flat at Robinson’s Court in April 2021, and died as a result of “multiple traumatic injuries”, including a fractured skull and arm, chop wounds, bruises and lacerations.
Mr Cheng was originally from China but had lived for several years in the flat, with Oliver Doran sentenced to life in prison for his murder in 2023.
Anthony Rogers (61) was murdered in his home in 2016. His murder trial collapsed in May 2021 at the Central Criminal Court, with the Director of Public Prosecutions dropping the charge against Alan Harte after the judge ruled that gardaí would not be allowed to identify the accused on CCTV.
Vincent Plunkett (80) was also killed in his flat in 2006, with his inquest later told that he was found lying in a pool of blood on his livingroom floor by his home help. His throat had been slit and he had been stabbed in the chest.
Gerard Cullen Brady, of no fixed abode, was charged with murdering Mr Plunkett. However, the trial never went ahead, as Mr Brady died in custody in the Midlands Prison in March 2007.
