‘Town of drink, drugs and teen pregnancy’
October 1980
Wexford is slowly but surely becoming a town of drunkards and junkies, and to say that the present situation is bad is ‘a gross understatement’, a meeting of Wexford Corporation heard on Monday night.
Cllr. Jimmy Hayes proposed that in view of the increase in underage drinking, drink- and drug-related pregnancies, teenage crime and drug addiction, that the Corporation meet with representatives of various bodies in the town to discuss ways in which these problems could be curbed.
Said Cllr. Hayes: ‘People have been coming to me in my capacity as a public representative to tell me about the state of their children when they come in at night from dances and discos. These are fifteen and sixteen year olds and it has become extremely serious when young people of this age are being served drink.’
One way in which the serving of drink to young people under age can be curbed is through the introduction of the identity card system, Cllr. Hayes suggested.
Cllr. Hayes went on to outline the increasing incidence of drink-related pregnancies among young girls in the town. ‘I mean young girls under 16 years of age,’ he said.
‘Wexford is slowly but surely becoming a town of drunkards and junkies. Drugs are widespread in the town at the moment and particularly in what we might call the sophisticated areas of the town. I am by no means an alarmist. The problem of drugs was highlighted at a meeting in the town only a few weeks ago. Cannabis plants are being grown in Wexford and glue-sniffing is becoming a regular practice among young school-goers.’
Cllr. Hayes hinted at the lack of facilities for young people in the town, as a cause of the growing problem. ‘ There must we well over 60 pubs in Wexford as opposed to just two cinemas, with one showing nothing but a load of filth and dirt. We also have a parish hall which is not being fully utilised by the people and the youth of the town for whom it was built.
‘In my opinion,’ Cllr Hayes said, ‘ the parish hall should be used to give lectures and show films on drink and drug abuse, in order to show people the terrible results.’
Cllr. Avril Doyle agreed and submitted that it wasn’t only children who were involved in the drugs scene. She referred to a recent incident in which she and her husband were offered ‘a smoke’ in what would be termed the company of responsible people.
On the subject of teenage pregnancies, she said that only a short time ago, she was working on a council matter with a couple whose thirteen-yearold daughter became pregnant. ‘ The young girl came to me and told me she was pregnant. She had to put an elastic band in her school uniform to hide the fact from her parents.’
Cllr. Doyle said that she knew of less shocking cases too. She added that the situation was bad enough for the Corporation members to have to do something about it.
It was agreed that the Corporation members should meet with representatives from the following organisations to discuss what could be done – South Eastern Health Board, Garda Siochána, Vintners Association, Wexford Hoteliers, the VEC, voluntary organisations, and others.