HEROIN ‘EPIDEMIC’ DOWNPLAYED
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER reports at the weekend that the county is in the grip of a heroin epidemic was this week downplayed by local politicians.
The Sunday World reported that new figures by the National Health Research Board show that Wexford and Tipperary have the highest number of patients seeking treatment for drug addiction outside the major cities.
The article also referred to drugs being brought down via public transport to be sold on the streets of towns like Gorey and Enniscorthy. Concerns were also expressed about major criminals who have moved to the North Wexford area.
Deputy Michael D’Arcy said yesterday, Monday, that the extent of the drugs problem in Gorey is ‘difficult to gauge’, but it was serious enough ‘ to know that we don’t have enough resources at any level to deal with what is a problem county-wide problem, not just in Gorey.’
He said he has repeatedly called for a county-wide drugs task force to be established. and has raised the issue at Joint Policing Committee meetings.
‘For months we have been told “it’s being considered”,’ he said. ‘ It’s time to stop considering, and start implementing.’
He confirmed he has seen drug deals being done on the streets of Gorey. ‘Every drug is available,’ he said, adding that the heroin problem is a national one, as well as a local one.
‘It’s impossible to gauge if we are worse than, say, Wicklow,’ he continued, ‘ but there’s more of it than ever before.’
He wasn’t surprised at criminal figures moving to the area given its proximity to Dublin, and its smaller policing force. ‘ The merger of the Gorey and Enniscorthy garda districts was a stupid recommendation from Chief Superintendent John Roche and Assistant Commissioner Jack Nolan, and it has diluted the effectiveness of the gardaí in the district,’ he maintained.
Former detective garda Cllr Joe Sullivan said that the drug problem is ‘no better and certainly no worse than any other provincial town in Ireland.’
‘It certainly needs to be highlighted, but we don’t need to sell the story or image of a drugs infested town,’ he said. ‘ That’s not the image of the town that I live in. I would say that the problem in Gorey is provably less than other towns of a similar size.’
He said that continued good work is done in the area by the gardaí, the HSE, and other agencies, on a daily basis.
He said that drugs have been moved around the country on public transport for the last 20 years.
‘We do need a dedicated drugs unit in North Wexford like it’s needed in every garda district in Ireland,’ he said.
He said that all gardai can do is monitor gangland figures living in the area, but they don’t carry drugs themselves. ‘ There are people working on their behalf in the area, and these are the people we have to concentrate on, but it’s a question of getting the time and resources.’
He said the drugs problem in the area has been worse in the past, and believes it has begun to plateau.