All Dublin West TDs, local councillors and general election candidates are being invited to take part in an open forum on drugs, crime and community safety on Thursday, February 11.
The forum aims to highlight these complex issues locally and secure commitments from politicians and the community on a local drug strategy that will feed into the National Drug and Alcohol Strategy currently being developed for launch in 2017.
Organised by Blanchardstown Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force, Safer Blanchardstown and Blanchardstown Family Support Network, the forum meeting will be recorded, with comments, responses and statements noted for future reference.
“The issue of drugs, crime and community safety is of such importance, and affects so many families in the Dublin 15 area, that it is imperative that prospective public representatives are able to demonstrate that they not only understand the issues, but that they are committed to supporting local community services,” said Jim Doherty, coordinator of Blanchardstown Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force.
Candidates invited to attend include sitting TDs Tánaiste Joan Burton, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar and Ruth Coppinger (SP), as well as candidates such as Cllr Jack Chambers (FF), Cllr Paul Donnelly (SF) Cllr Roderic O’Gorman (GP) and Cllr David McGuinness (Ind).
The forum will be held on February 11 at 7.30pm in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown Town Centre, Dublin 15. The meeting will be chaired by Anna Quigley, coordinator of the Dublin CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign.
The meeting will begin with a short presentation of key findings from research recently carried out by Blanchardstown Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force on drug and alcohol trends in the area.
Members of the community, community volunteers, local activists, representatives of various groups, projects and agencies dealing directly with the drug users and their family members and related services are encouraged to attend and take up the opportunity to discuss what’s being described as a very serious local issue.