Solicitor for advice on nuisance/anti-social issue

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Salvadore

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Can anyone recommend a solicitor (preferably south Dublin) who could advise on best steps in relation to a nuisance/anti-social issue I’m experiencing with a neighbour?

Thanks in advance
 
You're welcome for the little it is. Not so sure as I have no personal experience of the situations you may be in. My tuppence worth, obviously IANAL, is that there is a world of difference between a "mere" nuisance and anti-social behaviour which might warrant criminal proceedings.

Maybe the legal eagles will chip in with more than I can offer. Key though is keeping meticulous records - who, what, where, when & how.
 
DeeKie said:
What sort of issues
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Difficult to say without being specific.

Neighbour looking for any opportunity for last several years to make life difficult for us. A lot of relatively minor adolescent actions that we reported to the Gardai, more to have on record than for any other reason.

The more recent issue is more serious however to the extent that it has the potential to cause harm to my car.
 
Salvadore said:
recent issue is more serious however to the extent that it has the potential to cause harm to my car.
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Having had to deal with antisocial issues before you have two options

Just sell up and leave ( i choose this one after banging my head against a wall after countless meetings with residents, politicians and Garda)

Or go full steam ahead solicitor Garda etc and accept your fate, and accept that it could get worse.
 
Salvadore said:
Gardai won’t really give a hoot
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It's not that they won't care, it's just that they don't really have the time to care, unfortunately antisocial issues are just not a top priority for them.

You say that your car is potentially at risk, straight away I would be ensuring that I had very good security cameras installed covering every single perimeter of my garden.

And lights as well, tons of them, make it as difficult as possible for them to be disguised.
 
I presume both parties own their houses, if it was a council let, first stop would be the local county council.
 
Salvadore said:
But getting back to the original post, any recommendations for a solicitor?
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I can't see what a solicitor can do as it falls under criminal justice act and therefore is one of these things that is a garda issue. If a solicitor sends a letter they will quickly find out there is little that can be done on a civil basis and will ramp up issues.

I'd make a compliant to gardai under section 114 of the criminal justice act as detailed in this FLAC document

https://www.flac.ie/assets/files/pdf/neighbour_disputes.pdf

Something else you can do is get real cctv cameras and attach them to your property. They are relatively cheap and whilst not connected to any cctv system, the neighbour is not to know that. Then mention to someone that the neighbour knows that the gardai suggested it and will review coverage - it will get back to them at some point.
 
peemac said:
I can't see what a solicitor can do as it falls under criminal justice act and therefore is one of these things that is a garda issue.
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I'm not sure that that's the case. OP has been reticent about going into detail about what his neighbours are doing — and I understand why — but what he has said doesn't really point very clearly to any criminal offences having been committed. All we're told is
Salvadore said:
The neighbour’s deliberate actions have the potential to cause damage to my property.
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and
Salvadore said:
the potential to cause harm to my car
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He doesn't say that any actual damage has been caused and, even if it hass, the mere fact that my actions have damaged my neighbour's property isn't, in itself, enough to constitute the offence of criminal damage. We'd need to know more about the specific actions being taken, the neighbour's reasons for taking them, and the risk of damage that they present before we could say that.

This may well be primarily a civil matter. The OP is looking for a recommendation for a solicitor, and I imagine one of the first questions they will ask the solicitor is whether this is a police matter or not.
 
TomEdison said:
I imagine one of the first questions they will ask the solicitor is whether this is a police matter or not.
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Exactly that.

I don’t want to provide details of the ongoing actions. Suffice to say that I believe the actions constitute harassment while also having the potential to cause damage to my car which is parked on the road outside my house.

It’s certainly a form of persistent impairment of the use of my car.
 
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The harassment offence in Ireland is quite limited. In ordinary language, we might describe any behaviour that is sustained over time and that causes you worry, alarm or distress as harassment — e.g. somebody could harass you by persistently spreading rumours about you, or you might be harassed by the onerous demands of your job, or the unreasoonable expectations of your employer. But the offence of harrassment is only committed if somebody persistently follows you, watches you, besets you or communicates with you in a way that cause you serious alarm or distress. If the behaviour that you're complaining about doesn't involve watching, following, communicating with you etc, then it's not going to amount to the offence of harassment.

(It might amount to another offence, obviously, depending on exactly what the behavour is.)
 
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