Drug gangs feel “untouchable” in West Dublin, Donnelly warns

Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly has said that drug gangs feel “untouchable” in West Dublin.

The Dublin West TD said that Ireland’s EU Presidency has taken Gardaí away from communities such as Dublin West, creating a vacuum that drug gangs have exploited.

“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,” he told the Dáil.

The topic of drug intimidation has been brought into focus following the Waterford arson attack, in which four members of the same family died.

Donnelly said, “I personally know of a family who have had to pay over €50,000 to drug dealers. Many others are paying up to hundreds of euro every single week. I have met families who have had to uproot themselves from their communities after living in them for 40 years. Others who cannot leave have to sit night after night with fire extinguishers at the ready, sleeping in shifts.”

He warned that drug-related intimidation is becoming normalised. 

“Those of us who have worked on the front line in family support, drug services and rehabilitation know that we cannot police ourselves out of this situation, but for now we need a dedicated policing response to help our communities feel safe,” the Sinn Féin TD said.

“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 stated.

He said that in the long term, a trauma-led response is needed within Ireland’s health service.

“We need to get in there early to work with families and young people through our youth and counselling services. We need to keep young people in school and provide decent housing and jobs. The youth service in Blakestown and Mountview spent a huge amount of time and energy looking for funding to work with young people and, a few weeks ago, was denied the very outreach teams we are looking for. I urge that we look at that type of funding for those projects,” he said.

Fellow Northside Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis said that drug-related deaths and intimidation in areas like Finglas and Ballymun have been “going on for years.”

“Criminal groups are increasingly shifting the burden of a relative’s drug debt onto parents, spouses and even grandparents, and are using threats and fear tactics to extract money to pay for their relative’s drug debt. Parents have gone as far as having to remortgage their homes to pay off a drug debt. Many incidents of intimidation go unreported for fear of repercussions and are not even recorded,” the Dublin North-West TD said.

“What compounds this is the low number of prosecutions of those involved in the intimidation. Often, young people with drug debts are exploited by drug gangs and pressurised into holding and delivering drugs, collecting money and carrying out acts of intimidation. There have also been cases where families are targeted in a case of mistaken identity.”

Ellis stated that areas like Finglas and Ballymun suffer from a lack of visible, dedicated policing. 

“This has a real impact in areas where drug dealing is visible and pervasive, and it negatively impacts the confidence local communities have in An Garda Síochána to tackle this criminal activity. The tragedy in Waterford should be a wake-up call to the government and also to those who buy and use drugs. Drug dealers have shown time and again that they do not care who gets in their way,” he said.