Staff and students in TBSI have been told to exercise caution around Pearse St and North Cumberland St car park, after reports emerged of harassment and drug dealing in the area.
Staff and students were harassed and witnessed open drug dealing and drug injection on Thursday morning outside the TBSI building, the building’s operations manager has said.
In an email to staff and students on Thursday, TBSI Operations Manager Dr Keith Alden said: “This morning outside TBSI on North Cumberland Street there were a series of incidents of obvious drug dealing, harassment of staff and students and open drug injection involving homeless drug addicts.”
“This is in addition to the car park break in and thefts that have occurred recently”, he said.
“I’m sure everyone has sympathy for those suffering from addiction and homelessness, but this causes a serious safety concern for us all.”
Alden explained that the purpose of the email was to ask people to exercise caution “when around Pearse Street in general and the North Cumberland St car park and pedestrian/bike entrance in particular, especially early in the morning or late at night and when you are alone”.
He also urged staff to report any incidents or “strange behaviour” in or around the building, and to “avoid letting unknown people tailgate you through security doors”.
Gardaí have sent a patrol to the area and Trinity security are aware of the incidents. Alden said that “efforts are also underway to change and improve security in and around the building”.
While coronavirus restrictions mean few undergraduate students currently have in-person lectures and lab practicals at the institute, postgraduate research is ongoing.
TBSI – one of Trinity’s most state-of-the-art science facilities – is home to the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, School of Chemistry, School of Medicine, School of Bioengineering and School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Pearse St is currently the busiest Garda station in the country. However, it saw a drop of 31 per cent in reported incidents of crime last year, with the number of thefts reported falling by half.
The Journal reported last month that Pearse St is currently one of the areas hit by two warring groups of teenagers, who are believed to be responsible for much of the anti-social behaviour in the area.
People involved in the feud range from 14 to 60 years old, and it is believed to be linked to the drug trade.
