The anti-social behaviour was “identified as a barrier” for local residents in the area using the facility, according to Dublin City Council’s Active Travel Office.
Dublin City councillors have now unanimously supported a motion on how they are going to monitor and use the space, noting it as an area of “particular concern”.
This short stretch of the wider Royal Canal Greenway was opened in 2022, costing just under €31m, and provides 2.1km of pedestrian and cycle track, extending from Newcomen Bridge, North Strand, to Cross Guns Bridge and Phibsboro.
Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis, who raised the issue, was told Dublin City Council’s Active Travel Office is currently working with the community to “find ways of encouraging families to utilise the space more frequently”.
“The ActPro team are happy to engage with An Garda Síochána and Waterways Ireland to find a solution to the anti-social behaviour along the route,” they said.
Cllr Ennis said the response he received was similar to the one he got on the same issue last July.
“I’ve raised it on the local community safety partnership to no avail, and every day in the same three spots within that stretch of land, we see open, unopposed drug dealing,” he said.
“One neighbour described it as being like a scene from The Wire, and I completely a...
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