Incidents of drug-driving in Cork courts on the rise

Cork has seen 169 people before the district court on drug- driving charges in the first 10 months of this year, with court appearances for the offence up 14% on average compared to 2024, prompting an MEP to call for stricter measures to be put in place to tackle “soaring” figures.

There were 36 people before Clonakilty District Court on drug driving charges over the first 10 months of the year, compared to 31 across the whole of 2024, according to figures supplied to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú by the Irish Courts Service.

In Cork District Court, there have been 74 cases over the 10-month period this year, nearing the total of 83 for the entirety of 2024. In Mallow, there have been 59 cases this year, compared to 64 last year.

The 2024 figures for across Cork equate to a monthly average of 14.8 per month, while 2025’s figures have risen to on average 16.9 people in court for drug driving a month, a 14% increase.

Danger

Ms Ní Mhurchú said: “We need an expanded roadside drug testing regime this Christmas period on our roads. We also need to consider policies whereby anyone convicted of drug driving is required to re-sit their driving test or, at minimum, complete a comprehensive driver re-education programme. 

"They have to get the message that they are a danger to other innocent road users”.

She also suggested deploying modified interlock technology, devices currently used to prevent drink driving in the cars of convicted drink drivers, so they can detect drugs instead of alcohol in the vehicles of repeat offenders.

The Ireland South MEP described the cases that do make it to the district court as being the ‘tip of the ice berg when it comes to drug driving” Nationally, a total of 1,499 people faced district court proceedings for drug driving in 2024, but this has already risen by 37% in the first 10 months of 2025, with 2025 marking the highest level on record for drug driving prosecutions in our district court system.

It comes as The Echo recently revealed that there were 823 total arrests in 2021 in Cork for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, followed by 854 in 2022, 876 in 2023, and 956 in 2024, and that there had already been 744 arrests up to the end of October this year.