Yeah definitely just best to stay away. Although in this case, he was actually walking along Cashel Street, right in the middle of town, and was dragged into the alley.

I tend not to go into town any more at night. Not particularly because of the dangers – I spent my clubbing years in Liverpool and I still think it’s much more dangerous there! But even so, it’s one more thing that can ruin a city’s image and make it an unpleasant place to be sometimes.

Know what? My friend and I got beaten up in the Square one night by a gang of girls. and another time, with another friend, we got attacked by a bunch of girls in a quiet end of the foyer at the town hall. Both incidents were in 1984!!

A few years later I started uni, where the wimin would hold “reclaim the night” marches, protesting that females can’t walk anywhere they want at night without getting attacked.

OK, so we should be able to go wherever we want, whenever. But actually, much as it pains me to say this: if you don’t want to get beaten up in a dark alley, don’t go there! It’s not just women who become prey for opportunists. Look after yourself, make it hard for them. The bastards are out there!