‘Drug dealing is rife and some young people roam our streets intimidating local residents with impunity’ – new group set up to tackle anti-social behaviour in Galliagh
A new community group has been set up to tackle anti-social behaviour in the Galliagh area of Derry.
Galliagh Community Development says it aims to “instill confidence and empower” through “non-violent community action” to an area that feels “vulnerable and alone.”
A spokesperson said: “Hardly a day goes by without something on social media about stolen and burnt out cars or house robberies.
“Drug dealing is rife and some young people roam our streets intimidating local residents with impunity.
“We feel our community has been let down by the police, by not turning up or hours after the event, this shows where our community stand on their list of priorities, it is unacceptable and unfortunately we do not see this changing anytime soon.
“Likewise, the statutory organisations responsible for housing, health and social services are simply not doing enough.
“There are other community organisations doing excellent work in attempting to tackle these issues and whilst they have had some success we do not believe the proper resources are are in place.
“We feel as a community this is something we can overcome ourselves, the set up of this Facebook page is a small beginning to what we feel will be a positive community based alliance who are willing to give a little of their time to help make our community safer for all.
“We are aware that a lot of anti-social behaviour stems from a lack of jobs, lack of hope, low education attainment, poverty, circumstance and addiction issues and we would hope to engage with our youth with an aim to bring them back from the brink, to help them become productive members of our community.
“But these issues do not give those engaged in negative activities an excuse to attack vulnerable people within our community.
“Our intention is to instill confidence and empower our community through firm but non-violent community action. We are simply a group of residents and community activists.
“We seek no reward other than seeing a safer community for our families, friends and neighbours. We intend to have a visible presence on our streets when needed most.”
The spokesperson concluded: “We hope you will join with us as individuals under the banner of a Galliagh Community Empowerment.”
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