Ireland -Safe??

[whoam]

Can someone tell me if Ireland is fairly safe? I remember a few years back about vilonce in Dublin among the Catholic and Protestants I think it was. Is there still vilonce like that.
Also are there a lot of crimes in general?
Thanks for your help.

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[medgirl20]

Northern Ireland is where the conflict between the two communitiess occured however there is now a ceasefire there. The whole history is far too complicated to explain but you'll come across no more violence or crime in Dublin than you would going to medical school in any other major city. There are parts of the city you wouldn't go wandering around alone at night but I've lived in Dublin all my life and have never had any problems.

 

[leorl]

You'll be fine, I've walked home alone at 4 am before completely off my face drunk. Not that I advise it, but just carry yourself the same as you would in any other city. If you live in city center and don't have to worry about transport issues, all the better.

 

[person2004]

On the whole I would say it is safe. But... I did have 2 thugs enter my appartment once with the purpose of attacking my roommate who wasn't home fortunately. They threw his stuff around and left. We caught them, then Guards tried to tell us we shouldn't bother pursuing the matter since nothing would come of it anyway. Five seconds after we said we wanted to pursue it, the guards admitted that the guys would almost certainly just plead guilty since they obviously were. I don't know why they were trying to protect these total sob's.
Another time my roommate (not the same roommate) was beaten up a bit by 7 guys who went into his friend's apartment. Apparently the previous occupants would sell the guys weed and when none was for sale by the new occupants, they decided to just beat them up.
Nothing like that has ever happened to me in the US, and I live in one of America's more dangerous cities. I'd say Ireland is safe in that if you do get into trouble, it'll just be a fist fight and not a shooting probably; but it's not some imaginary dream realm of safety either. Everyone should be careful.

 

[Jammer]

Or you'll be walking along, minding your own business and a group of 12 year olds with head lice will gang up on you and hit you over the head with a glass bottle or if you get really lucky, they'll stab you in the back. Although the Gardi witness it, they'll say that they can't do anything because it wasn't caught on CCTV.

I'd say Ireland is safe in that if you do get into trouble, it'll just be a fist fight and not a shooting probably; but it's not some imaginary dream realm of safety either. Everyone should be careful.

 

[f_w]

> You'll be fine, I've walked home alone at 4 am before completely off
> my face drunk. Not that I advise it, but just carry yourself the same
> as you would in any other city.

You mean when you are wasted ? I believe that beeing toasted actually affords some protection from getting assaulted.

I used to make my living driving a cab in one of the major european cities. Over the years I noted that the irish and the finns when they got wasted had a tendency to get somewhat aggressive (unlike the spaniards or italians: they just started to sing in the most irritating way). So, if you are out at night in dublin, you might want to stay away from drunk crowds.

 

[leorl]

Yeah, the drunk crowds are annoying and rowdy, but for the most part, they won't bother you. Usually everyone who is even up at that hour is drunk anyway.

 

[johnny_blaze]

I study in England (and have visited Dublin for a night out) and I think this is one of the safest places in the world. There are crimes here but I generally feel safe walking around downtown at night… this is something I would never do back home in north america. I’ve seen bad areas in London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham and they’re really not that bad.

There is a strong drinking culture here in the U.K and you will often find yourself in the middle of a drunk crowd but if you don’t start with them and just have a laugh it can be pretty fun… plus if you’re wasted you’ll just fit right in!

 

[f_w]

Nothing wrong with beeing part of a drunken crowd.

 

[roo]

Safest city I've seen that is a million+ people.

Not much Catholic vs. Protestant issues in Dublin, since populace is >~93% Catholic.

There are some IV heroin users that are off doing their own thing, and there are some usually bar brawls that get written up in the paper every once in awhile, and every once in a while someone tries to rob a cellphone, etc.

I lived in Dublin, downtown for 5 straight years. Zero issues.

Notable disclaimers:
I was a guy. (I knew some girls who didn't like to go out alone at night--reasonable for any city that size).
I look very much like an Irishman, so avoided the racial goings-on.
I usually dressed pretty 'tough' on my social hours outside the hosptial. There was actually a tendency for people alone coming towards me at night to suddenly flip on their cell-phone and pretend to talk to people (a common ploy to try to not get assaulted, since the party on the other end would be able to hear the attack).

Best wishes,
roo

 

[whoam]

I look very much like an Irishman, so avoided the racial goings-on.

What type of racial goings- on is there? Are they against others of different religions, or races?

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

Yes, there is one group that we despise in Ireland. In fact, when I see one of them, I start frothing at the mouth and start hurling abuse at them.

I'm talking about squirrels. Hate them so much with their bushy tails and stupid twitchy noses. Where's my gun?



Seriously, almost every minority will get some sort of hassle in Ireland but not to the extent of lynch mobbing. Specific nationalities would be English (don't wear an english soccer/rugby jersy in Ireland. Club sides are fine though) and American (if you're American, just say you hate Bush and you'll be fine. Please don't take this as an anti-bush comment).

Dublin is a reasonably diverse city, especially with the influx of asylum seekers so most people are fairly relaxed about the colour of your skin but again you might get one or two comments.

The friction between Catholics and Protestants is non-existent because no one can tell if what your religion is and no one really cares. Muslims might have some trouble because they are more easily identifiable. Haven't heard many complaints from the Muslims in my class though. Ask around though, I might be wrong.

Basically, it's no worse or better than any European city. Just don't start shooting your mouth off in public (Americans have a bad tendency to do this) and no one will bother you (much). And don't be wander off drunk by yourself at night. This applies to everyone, even Irish people.

 

[Canadian Girl]

>>>Muslims might have some trouble because they are more easily identifiable. Haven't heard many complaints from the Muslims in my class though. Ask around though, I might be wrong.<<<<

Is there anyone here who could elaborate on this ? It would be much appreciated, i'm just wondering if muslims would face problems because they may look like they belong to another ethnic group or indeed because of their faith? I'm muslim and planning on attending UCD in the fall, and because I do practice hijab - I have been wondering what the atmosphere is like, I know Dublin is a big city and said to be really diverse - is it common to see people in headscarfs in the bigger cities, or is it a bit of an 'oddity'? Are people tolerant ?

 

[leorl]

People are pretty tolerant. I haven't heard of the muslims in our class having problems, and the other muslim students will be able to point you to places they hang out or where they can practice. Most hospitals have a prayer room, or they find accomodation close to the hospitals/schools so they can go home and pray if they need to. It might take a little longer to know your classmates just because muslims tend to be lumped together, but after awhile, you will. It isn't uncommon to see people in headscarves, especially in the med environment.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

>>>Muslims might have some trouble because they are more easily identifiable. Haven't heard many complaints from the Muslims in my class though. Ask around though, I might be wrong.<<<<

Is there anyone here who could elaborate on this ? It would be much appreciated, i'm just wondering if muslims would face problems because they may look like they belong to another ethnic group or indeed because of their faith? I'm muslim and planning on attending UCD in the fall, and because I do practice hijab - I have been wondering what the atmosphere is like, I know Dublin is a big city and said to be really diverse - is it common to see people in headscarfs in the bigger cities, or is it a bit of an 'oddity'? Are people tolerant ?

Sorry if I gave the impression that muslims would face problems. As I said, I haven't heard of any complaints from muslims in my class. I'm sure there are people who are better qualified than me (a non-muslim) to give an account of being a muslim in Ireland. Headscarfs are reasonably common here in Cork, especially around the college/hospital. People will probably assume you are a medical student/doctor. That also includes any person from Asia or the Middle-East. Again, might be different in Dublin. It's a much bigger place with an enormous diversity of people.

 

[melmusicmed]

Do they have a problem with asians in perticular?
I was planning on going backpacking through there

 

[leorl]

Not really. If you can speak English fine and communicate, it's not really a problem. They're also getting more used to the fact that you can be asian without having to be born in an Asian country (heh). It's changed quite a lot from when I went to dublin in 2000 vs. now.

 

[Badkarma25]

just to give people a different perspective, you should really be prepared for the fact that dublin is really not all that diverse, particularly if you're coming from a large, metropolitan north american city. the irish people THINK it's a diverse place but there are still strange ideas and goings on that you would never see happen in north america....overall it's not that bad but there are still pesky little incidents that go on that really make you shake your head and wonder what is up with some of these people....they are 30 years behind the times....this has never happened to me personally (i'm caucasion) but to several very close friends of mine.....overall though i would call dublin safe and i don't even live in a great area of the city (Dublin 8 near the coombe hospital) and i walk home after work at 4am without any problems