Ireland ‘seen as a soft touch by drug lords’

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested for drug offences in Cork over the past decade, with a local public representative calling for more gardaí and a stronger naval service to tackle the issue.

Figures released to Aontú by the minister for justice show 36,133 people have been arrested throughout the county for drug offences with the number of arrests peaking in 2021 and 2022 when there were 4,046 and 4,356 respectively.

Figures from 2014 to 2024 so far show there were 21,132 drug arrests in Cork City over the last 10 and a half years, and 9,378 in North Cork and 5,623 in West Cork during the same time period.

There have been 1,152 arrests in Cork City, 526 in North Cork, and 239 in West Cork up to July 11, suggesting the total figure for Cork could be as high as 4,000 again this year.

Cork Aontú representative Becky Kealy says the figures should be a wakeup call to the Government to “get a handle on the scourge of drugs in towns and villages throughout the county for once and for all”.

She said: “There is hardly a village in Cork that is untouched by drugs. The ease with which people of all ages and of all backgrounds can access them is frightening and the knock-on ramifications are huge.

“Crime, serious addiction, family breakdown, desolation, and desperation are their hallmarks, and they leave indelible marks on their users.

“Our naval fleet has been decimated by this and successive Governments,” she said, adding Ireland is “seen as a soft touch by drug lords.

“Why are so many Naval boats in Ireland tied up? We spent millions buying two more from New Zealand in the past couple of years, just to bring them in and tie them up to our ports and pier walls as we cannot find the resources to employ enough naval staff to put them to sea. This is coupled with falling Garda numbers; for every year that Fine Gael has been in government the number of gardaí has fallen, morale is at an all-time low and the number of resignations has skyrocketed. It’s a perfect storm,” Ms Kealy said.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee told Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín: “The Government is investing record amounts into An Garda Síochána to target those involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs through Operation Tara.

“Operation Tara has a strong focus on tackling street-level dealing across the country, also seeks to disrupt and dismantle the drug trafficking networks that impact on our communities and prosecute those involved at every level.”

She assured him the Government is committed to limiting access to illegal drugs to the greatest extent possible and to taking a number of actions to tackle this, including increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life in prison, aimed at those who direct gangland and drug-related crime.

Legislation to criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime will be introduced, and a support programme to break the link between the gangs and the children they try to recruit will be rolled out. A strengthening of CAB’s ability to target the proceeds of crime and speed up the process to dispose of the asset for the benefit of the State, is also planned.