Anti-social behaviour and drugs top community concerns

Anti-social behaviour is linked to the activities of criminal networks in communities, including open drug-dealing, as well as drug-debt violence and intimidation.

Anti-social behaviour is the most pressing problem for communities battling with persistent social issues, according to a new report.

This behaviour is linked to the activities of criminal networks in communities, including open drug-dealing, as well as drug-debt violence and intimidation.

A report by the Local Leadership Programme, which is attached to the University of Limerick, said other key issues were educational support for disadvantaged groups, and support services to children and families from marginalised communities.

The programme runs intensive workshops with community leaders and public officials to help them “rethink” how they can combat what are called "wicked problems”. These are complex social and safety issues that are “resistant to change” despite “significant” State, voluntary and community interventions.

The project, which has provided training to more than 150 people since 2019, was developed by UL’s Research Evidence into Policy Programmes and Practice, which is funded by the Department of Justice.

Programme leader Johnny Connolly said local leaders were often “overwhelmed” by big structural issues, which cannot be "solved" or "fixed" but rather need to be “managed better”.

Since the initial pilot programme in Dublin’s north-east inner city, programmes have been delivered in Limerick, Kerry, Galway, Cork, Dublin South Central, Wexford, north County Dublin and Longford.

“UL’s Local Leadership Programme is particularly suited to engaging with difficult community safety issues,” Mr Connolly said. 

“It brings participants together in a safe deliberative space away from their busy work and personal lives so that they have the time, free from distraction, to focus on complex social problems and develop innovative responses.” 

The report found anti-social behaviour emerged as “a persistent issue” in almost all programmes to date, with participants exploring ways in which communities can respond to criminal networks engaged in drug dealing and related community violence and intimidation.

The programme tries to identify a specific type of crime that is suitable to problem-solving rather than a broad category of crime.

“For example, while everyone may agree that drug-selling is a problem, what aspect causes the most crime or harm: the drug dealers selling in the vicinity of a school or playground? The younger children being recruited as lookouts or to deliver drugs?” the report said.

It identified education and disadvantage as a recurring issue, and highlighted the impact of homelessness on children, as well as widespread “trust issues” between participants from different agencies and groups.

Noel Wardick of Dublin City Community Cooperative, an alliance of 13 grassroots community development organisations in Dublin’s inner city, said: “The programme brought together people who, despite working in the same area, often did not engage with each other and, to be honest, may have even been suspicious of each other.

“The benefit of the programme was in breaking down barriers between people and organisations, highlighting the futility of siloed approaches to poverty alleviation and building strong bonds of trust between participants."