Andrew Montague

I think it varies.

I think there's two stories coming from Ballymun.

Like I live here, I have children growing up here.

And I do see progress.

I do see improvements, particularly with children.

They're staying longer in school, far more are staying on to do their leaving cert.

Big increase in the numbers going to college.

But this is a millstone, this crime, the drugs in the area is a millstone around the communities next that's holding us back.

We're ready to move on and we need help.

We need help from the government to get to the next phase.

And one big aspect is just

the amount of policing or the lack of policing that we have in the area, despite being one of the, you know, there's a very small number of communities with very high levels of crime.

Unfortunately, Ballymun is one of those with open-air drug dealing that occasionally spills over into this kind of violence.

That's less, you know, it's not that common to have gun violence, but it's there, it's a threat in the background, and we really need help from the government to move ourselves on because we are ready to move on.

Yes, they do.

There's no doubt about it.

And, you know, what's happened, people will be shocked about it.

And what we really need is, and what's been shown to work, is we need a guard of presence on the ground.

And we've been calling that for years, Conor, myself, all of the politicians in the local area saying,

And we're just not getting that.