Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said she is willing to meet the family of Stephen Termini, the US tourist who sustained life-changing injuries a week ago when he was attacked by a gang of youths in Dublin’s north inner city.
Mr Termini (57), from Buffalo, New York, had been staying at a guest house on Talbot Street and was attacked on nearby Store Street last Wednesday night.
A teenage boy was charged in connection with the assault at a special sitting of the Children’s Court on Sunday.
The attack, which happened 100 metres from Store Street Garda station, has led to criticism of the Government and the Garda over safety in Dublin city, prompting moves to place extra frontline gardaí on the streets.
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Speaking to reporters on a visit to Castlebar Garda Station in Co Mayo, Ms McEntee noted that the Termini family are travelling at the moment but holding a meeting with them when they are available is something she “would be very happy to do”.
Earlier, the US embassy in Dublin issued a warning to American tourists travelling in Ireland to “keep a low profile” and avoid walking alone at night.
Ms McEntee replied by insisting that Ireland is a safe place to visit and is still at Level 1 in terms of US safety notifications, in common with other EU countries.
She said her message to prospective tourists would be that they were welcome in Ireland and that, for the most part, the country and its cities were very safe.
The Minister said she had lived in Dublin for a number of years in the past and was still out and about in the city regularly, without members of An Garda Síochána accompanying her. However, she added, this was not to diminish the concerns that people had about recent assaults, which she said were not acceptable.
The Minister said one of the best ways to respond was to have more gardaí on the beat. She promised there would be an additional 48 gardaí on patrol in the Dublin Metropolitan Region in the coming week when new members of the force are attested.
She acknowledged that staffing resources alone would not solve the problem and other measures, such as body-cams for gardaí and increased CCTV coverage, would be of assistance.
In a matter of weeks, Ms McEntee said, the Department of Justice would be unveiling a community safety partnership initiative for Dublin city centre. “There is a lot of work gone into it already,” she said. “The intention is that it will be replicated right across the country. It’s not just about Dublin. We want every town and village to be safe for people.”
Ms McEntee said generalisations that all young person had no respect for gardai were unfair and stressed the importance of engaging with children at a much earlier age in places where antisocial behaviour was emerging.
Defending her visit to Store Street in the wake of the attack on Mr Termini, Ms McEntee said she was there was to meet senior Garda personnel and have a discussion with them as to how the incident was being dealt with and to speak with them about policing in general in the city.
In its alert, the US embassy advised American citizens and tourists to “exercise good personal security practices” while travelling in Ireland. It said US tourists should safeguard valuables such as passports and credit cards.
“The US embassy Dublin encourages all citizens to be aware of their surroundings, especially when travelling in unfamiliar places, crowded locations, empty streets, or at night,” it said.
The embassy advised citizens to be “aware of your environment” and avoid walking alone, particularly at night.
“Do not wear or display expensive jewellery or watches and avoid carrying large amounts of cash,” it said.
The advice said people should “keep a low profile” and be mindful of how much alcohol they consumed.
It warned tourists to be aware of “snatch and grab” thefts of mobile phones while walking on the street. The alert said tourists should avoid putting passports, cash, mobile phones or other valuables in the outer pockets of bags, or leaving them on tables in public places.
“Most reported thefts occur at crowded tourist sites, at airports, car rental agencies, on public buses, trams, and trains, and at the major railway stations,” the embassy said.
The embassy told tourists to “avoid staring at your phone while walking in public areas” and to “limit earbud/headphone use when in public”.
