Sinn Féin TD Ann Graves has said “we must break the silence” on drug-related intimidation and violence.
The Dublin Fingal East TD met with families in the Dáil who have been affected by intimidation and violence by drug dealers and gangs.
Graves said that “immediate” government action was needed on the topic.
The topic has become a hot-button issue in Irish politics following the murders of the English family in Waterford in October; Gardaí believe that the arson attack was related to drug-related intimidation.
Graves said, “families and their communities have suffered in silence for too long.”
The Swords TD said that the victims’ stories are “heartbreaking and frightening.”
“I am committed to working with families to demand immediate government action; tackling intimidation and violence needs to be a priority for this government,” she said.
This week, seven people were rescued from a house that was targeted in an arson attack in Dublin 8.
Graves called the attack “cowardly and callous” and said the government “needs to wake up to the crisis in communities across Dublin and beyond.”
“There are families who live in terror that their house will be attacked and their loved ones seriously injured,” she warned.
Graves did praise the government for working with Sinn Féin on a recent Dáil motion to tackle drug-related intimidation and improve community safety.
“Now it is time for Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to take immediate action,” she said.
Sinn Féin politicians have argued that Ireland’s presidency of the EU has taken Garda resources away from local communities.
Speaking to this publication in August, Donaghmede councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha said that his community was losing out on Gardaí as they are being allocated to the city centre as part of Garda operations during the EU presidency.
“The community is being plagued with this. People are afraid on the streets, in apartment block entries and even in their own homes. I have never before been contacted so often by so many people in one area about crime and thuggery,” the Sinn Féin councillor said at the time.
Speaking in the Dáil in recent weeks, Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly said that the Garda duties associated with the EU presidency have caused a “vacuum” in policing on the Northside.
The Dublin West TD said, “while we are calling for a Garda response, I note that hundreds of Gardaí are brought in from stations across Dublin to police the EU Presidency and no overtime has been spared. Our community would love to see that sense of urgency and unlimited overtime on our streets.”
“I have raised the issue of a gang dealing openly in broad daylight, sucking younger and younger people into drug dealing and criminality. We are watching this every day. Across Dublin West, drug gangs feel untouchable and are operating with impunity,” he warned.