Teenage gangs on rise in city, warns report

TEEN gangs who engage in underage drinking and drug abuse are on the increase in an affluent Cork suburb, according to a report by a leading academic.

A survey of teenage needs and attitudes in Douglas, outside Cork city, has uncovered a gang culture, with up to 10 teen gangs in the suburb, some of which are up to 50-strong.

The author of the report, University College Cork academic Bev Cotton, said he was told by teenagers that they were expected to join gangs, which congregate in out-of-the-way places, for both "protection" and "friendship".