Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

These places are dying. I will, however, turn to Dublin which is what this debate is about. I am honoured to speak on this because Senator Norris has, for as long as I can remember, been furthering the cause of Georgian Dublin. It is a matter of deep regret to me that our capital city's main street has become the burger king hurdy-gurdy of Ireland with slot machines and burger joints. The only decent store on that street that I can recall is Clerys. We have now closed that down and will no doubt open it up in the future as some sort of a franchise selling high-class burgers. We built a fantastic boardwalk along the Liffey. I walked along it once with my daughter and I was accosted every 20 yards by people begging, or by drug addicts or alcoholics on skid row. As Senator Wilson said, we have to resource the police. We have to have gardaí on their feet, on the beat, as it is the only way to solve the problem.

It was a great initiative to bring bicycles into Dublin to rent to cycle across the city. I agree with Senator Norris that it would be great if people rode them on the road or on cycle tracks. I wait for the day, however, when we hear the first High Court action over injuries received by someone not wearing a helmet on these bikes. The fact that there is no requirement to wear a helmet is a serious issue.

Senator Norris referred to the north-south divide in Dublin city. Some time ago a friend of mine from the United States visited me. I brought him into this House and he was totally amazed at the architecture and the wonderful buildings, although he did think Leinster House was in a pretty poor state of repair. As one walks across the corridor from the Seanad towards the Dáil the floors are creaking and falling away underneath.