Streams of urine, open drug dealing, threats and intimidation – letters to Dublin City Council from Portobello residents about anti-social behaviour

A city council shut down a popular plaza after local residents wrote to complain of “streams of urine” on their streets, people offering money to use their bathrooms, open drug dealing, along with threats and intimidation.

Dublin City Council faced a backlash after deciding to close down Portobello Plaza because of large crowds gathering in the area at weekends.

However, correspondence to the council reveals local residents wrote of “pure hell” living beside the canal harbour and one said they had been forced to sell their home.

The council also received a large number of representations from those opposed to the closure. You can read them all in full below: