Community activist Damien Farrell. Photo by Mark Condren
Although there has not been a knife crime in the area recently, Farrell says he has seen some teens carrying blades. “I saw one young fella with a machete that was almost as big as he was. The worry is that if they’re carrying them, they could end up using them.”
He says the changing language around violence suggests that knives are increasingly part of the culture. “Before, if there was a row, someone would say ‘I’ll box the head off you’, now it’s stuff like, ‘I’ll cut you, I’ll slice you.’ Most of them don’t even seem to be locals this is a strong community but they’re coming here from other parts of the city.”