Council Briefs: More focus on inclusion, and more seizures of scramblers and the like

In future, a real focus on inclusion?

Next term, councillors on Dublin City Council should set up a committee focused on inclusion and integration in the city, said Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste at a meeting of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee on Monday.

“Strategic policy committees” are groups of councillors and interested parties who meet regularly to thrash out council policies and monitor their roll-out.

This last five-year term, there have been ones focused on housing, transport, climate – but not inclusion.

“I think now more so than ever how cities respond to hate and extremism is so so important,” said De Róiste, of Fianna Fáil. He pointed to harassment outside politicians’ homes, gallows outside the Dáil.

De Róiste’s suggestion came after a presentation from Allison Curtis, deputy executive director of the Strong Cities Network. Dublin recently joined the network of more than 230 cities, committed to addressing hate, extremism and polarisation.

Councillors at the meeting spoke of their concern at narratives of division being pushed in communities across the city.

It’s positive to be working on countering that, said Green Party Janet Horner. But how, she asked, would they guide this through the work in the council in the next term?

We don’t know how the next council is going to look, she says.

“We’re generally fairly united as a council this term in saying we want to resist this kind of stuff,” said Horner. “We don’t know necessarily that that necessarily will be the same dynamic on the next council.”

Joining the network has created a link and they need to build on this initial brief meeting, said Social Democrats Councillor Tara Deacy, who chairs the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee. “This is not something that people want to ignore, or kind of cover up or turn our back on.”

“Driving this is going to be reliant on the 63 people who get elected on 7 June,” said Deacy, who is not standing again for election.

Seizing more scramblers, and e-bikes

Gardaí in Dublin have massively increased the numbers of scramblers, e-bikes, e-scooters, bikes, and similar that they have seized, said Garda Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis at the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee meeting on Monday.

In 2023, they seized 75 of these kinds of bikes and scramblers, she said. So far this year, they’ve seized 175, she said. “So that’s I suppose a demonstration of our commitment to tackle this kind of behaviour.”

Also, on 20 May, the new Road Traffic (Electric Scooters) Regulation was brought in, she said.

Those prohibit the use of scramblers and scooters by children under 16 years in a public place, and they can’t go faster than 20mph. “A very important piece of regulations for us and we will be implementing that,” said Willis.

Horner, the Green Party councillor, asked for a bit more of a breakdown of what was being seized. The report says the figures include bikes, scooters, e-bikes, and quad bikes, she said.

She assumes they are talking more about scramblers, as the sort of more illegal one listed there, she said. “Instead of  just bikes or e-bikes?” she said. She asked for a breakdown.

Willis said that it was a mix of vehicles and at the moment, they record them altogether. They could look at filtering and seeing what is there in future, she said.