Pat Kenny stokes fears of dystopian Dublin with accounts of rampant criminality

If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime: there’s wisdom to the cautionary adage, but it’s not always applicable. No matter how law-abiding are listeners to The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk, weekdays), they still face the grim prospect of a full hour devoted to the reliably spirit-sapping topic of crime in Dublin, replete with contributors so pessimistic they make your average prophet of doom sound like a wellness counsellor. When it comes to being assailed by stories of rampant criminality, innocence is no defence for Kenny’s audience.
In fairness, street crime in the centre of the capital is a serious issue. The Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie kicks off Kenny’s special segment by speaking to shopkeepers and residents, who paint a bleak picture of antisocial behaviour perpetrated by feral teens and desperate addicts, exacerbated by lack of policing and amenities. (That said, Crosbie also hears from tourists effusive about their experiences in Dublin.) Richard Guiney of the business group Dublin Town tells Kenny that many people feel unsafe in the city, and not without reason: rates for crimes such as minor assaults and muggings are nearly twice those of Copenhagen. “We’re not the worst, but we’re certainly not the best,” he says.
None of this is particularly cheery, but it’s fairy-tale stuff compared with the scenario evoked by the Dublin councillor Mannix Flynn: “The climate in Dublin at the moment is one of absolute fear and foreboding.” He goes on to describe a catastrophic urban landscape where residents are trapped in crime-ridden apartment blocks, abandoned by an under-resourced Garda and indifferent authorities.
The mood is further dampened by the crime journalist Paul Williams, who’s even more luridly downcast in tenor. “I feel this dystopian depression coming over me,” he says, expressing a sentiment surely shared by many listeners by this stage. Thankfully, the criminologist Triona Campbell injects some equilibrium into proceedings, before there’s a rush to stock up on ammo and tinned goods for the bunker. “To listen to some of the contributions you’d think we were at war,” she says, “A lot of the problems are very solvable.”
Amid the alarming talk, it’s tempting to cast Kenny as a latter-day Omega Man, single-handedly standing athwart the criminal apocalypse. He occasionally returns to his signature gripe about contemporary mores rendering gardaí powerless: “Why has punishment gone out of date?” Equally, he largely conducts the segment in level-headed fashion, pointing out intergenerational problems of poverty and addiction when Williams complains about the culpability of young offenders’ parents. Even so, Kenny’s deep dive into the issue is more likely to raise fears than understanding.
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The host does well to maintain his calm demeanour when interviewing the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich. Marking the first anniversary of the October 7th attacks, Erlich, who is currently recalled from her Dublin posting, describes Israelis feeling unsafe in their homes and highlights the plight of hostages kidnapped by Hamas a year ago. She also criticises UN bodies for not calling for the captives’ release. “It’s part of their mandate to make sure that all children around the world are safe,” the ambassador states, without apparent irony.
It’s only one instance of stunning tone-deafness. Erlich terms the lopsidedly destructive conflict as “a war for our survival”, pointing to Iran’s denial of Israel’s right to exist as a state. “The international community needs to step up and help us when a UN member such as Iran calls for the destruction of another country,” she says, displaying a chutzpah that would be breathtaking if it weren’t so callous.
When Kenny mentions the number of Gazan children killed by the Israeli military, Erlich indignantly replies that such figures come from Hamas, instead claiming that 80 per cent of Palestinians killed are Hamas members. This is too much for the host. “People listening will think that’s deluded,” Kenny sharply retorts, though “deluded” isn’t necessarily the word that springs to mind.
Still, it’s revealing to hear the Israeli diplomat, if only because she exemplifies a blinkered mindset that seems capable of acknowledging only her side’s suffering. That said, Erlich also raises a pertinent if uncomfortable point when she expresses worry about rising anti-Semitism in Ireland, saying Jews here now feel afraid to speak Hebrew in public. Kenny, who is still one of the most compelling interviewers around, for all his quirks, deserves credit for giving his guest the airtime to voice these valid fears of age-old prejudice. It’s a shame Erlich doesn’t evince the same sympathy for those lives shattered by Israeli forces.
All of which puts Dublin’s problems in perspective. On The Last Word (Today FM, weekdays) Matt Cooper hears a more positive take on the capital, when he talks to Dublin City Council’s night-time-economy adviser, Ray O’Donoghue, and the nightclub owner Ian Redmond about plans to rejuvenate city-centre nightlife. Cooper is alive to the pitfalls of the scheme, pointing not just to street crime but also to street rubbish: “The place was filthy,” he says of a recent morning visit. But the host ultimately maintains a positive attitude, inviting his guests to outline ways of attracting more people into town after dark.
Among the proposals are increased policing (a familiar refrain) and licensing-law reform. Not all the ideas seem feasible: Redmond bemoans the demise of Arthur’s Day, Guinness’s manufactured corporate boozefest, not an obvious blueprint for a welcoming nocturnal environment. O’Donoghue hopes for more cultural events, pointing to the impact of Culture Night and big concerts like Taylor Swift’s recent run at Croke Park, and talks of creating “welfare areas” to deter antisocial activity. Vague though such aspirations can sound, it’s encouraging to hear Dublin described in optimistic terms. “We do have a great city,” says O’Donoghue. “I firmly believe we’re going to get to a better place.” Amen to that.