Officials will have their work cut out to repair damage after Dublin riots, business chiefs warn
Workers at Arnotts on Dublin’s Henry St as the clean-up operation got under way. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins
Government, gardaí and Dublin authorities will have to work hard to pick up the pieces after the city centre riots dealt a significant blow to Ireland's business reputation around the world, business and union leaders have warned.
Business chiefs also said their concerns about security in the city centre had long been ignored and they now feared for hospitality and retail sales through the key Christmas trading season.
The group that owns the large retail department stores Brown Thomas and Arnotts said it would talk to the city authorities and the gardaí in the city in the coming days about ways to ensure security in the all the centres where it has outlets.
Chief executive Donald McDonald of the retail group, whose Arnotts was attacked and looted on Thursday evening, said it was talking to "all relevant authorities and the gardaí to understand what actions they are taking to ensure nothing like this happens again".
Neil McDonnell, chief executive at business group Isme, said it had had for some time warned the authorities about the shortfall of policing in the city centre, as Dublin retail workers faced "thuggery" on a daily basis.
There was a need to increase the visibility of gardaí as retail staff struggled to cope with assaults and thefts led by 13- to 15-year-olds, Mr McDonnell said, citing a long list of problems in the centre that included street drinking and drug use.
Arnold Dillon, director of Retail Ireland, a business group, called for better policing of the city centre, highlighting the potential damage to trade at the start of the Christmas season.
"There is massive concern about the impact on staff, the cost of repairing damage and replacing stock, and the knock-on effect it will have on city centre trade over the coming weeks," Mr Dillon said.
"A strong, assertive and visible gardaí response is required," he said.
Dublin Chamber chief executive Rose Burke said gardaí, emergency workers, and transport staff had faced the disturbances with professionalism. Discussion in the coming days would seek to "ensure Dublin is a safe place for all", she said.
Richard Guiney, chief executive of city centre business group, Dublin Town, said businesses would not "be cowed" by the disturbances.
Small Firms Association director David Broderick said work would be done to make the city centre an inviting place again.
"The riots, looting, and attacks on An Garda Síochána that followed on the eve of Green Friday and the beginning of our busy Christmas trading period were abhorrent," Mr Broderick said.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the violence had significantly damaged Ireland across the world.
"We pay tribute to our wonderful Garda, firefighters, ambulance personnel, local authority workers and our transport workers in how they have responded," Ictu general secretary Owen Reidy said.
"We condemn the looting and vandalism and are conscious that this behaviour from violent thugs has the potential to damage business and leave some workers in the retail and hospitality sectors in the city centre laid off or possibly losing their livelihoods.
Ictu plans a demonstration on Monday lunchtime to protest the violence.
