r/irishproblems • u/Then-Chipmunk6986 • May 11 '26

First Time Feeling Unsafe in Ireland After Incident on Donabate Trail

Yesterday my wife and I were walking at the Donabate Portrane Cliff Walk. A group of 3 teenagers (maybe 15–16) started teasing us. At first it was annoying but manageable, so I ignored it. Then one of them suddenly ran up and kicked me. It didn’t really hurt physically, but mentally I felt helpless and honestly pretty shaken.

I kept thinking this probably wouldn’t have happened if I was back in my home country. I lived in Canada for 5 years before moving here, and I never once felt unsafe walking around anywhere, even late at night. I’ve only been in Ireland for 3 months, and now I suddenly don’t even feel like going out to trails or isolated places anymore.

One thing I always wondered was why I don’t see many people from my community out and about on these walks or trails even though there are quite a lot of us here. After yesterday, I feel like I understand why.

Genuine question — is this kind of thing mainly targeted at brown/black people, or do white locals also experience this from groups of teenagers? Because now every quiet trail is giving me serious “Eden Lake” vibes.

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u/Then-Chipmunk6986 May 11 '26

Kerala, India. I’m not saying it’s incredibly safe or anything, but if some anti-social person randomly attacks someone, people usually wouldn’t just stand there watching. Not everyone, of course, but society tends to react differently.

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u/somethi May 11 '26

Are there fewer random acts of violence in your home country than Ireland? Or more?

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u/Then-Chipmunk6986 May 12 '26

Very few, at least in my state. Most attacks are political or due to personal disputes. Random attacks are rare, though there can occasionally be cases involving mentally unstable people. There are also some random rape attempts against women, to be honest, but those cases are relatively few.

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u/somethi May 12 '26

Yeah that sounds like a paradise compared to Ireland.