The drug trade must not be allowed to ravage our most disadvantaged areas any longer, according to Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis and justice spokesperson Gary Gannon TD.<\/p>\n
Councillor Ennis said:<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 1,000 cases of drug-related intimidation were recorded by drug and alcohol services in 2025, which affected all age groups, including children and the elderly.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s report from DRIVE found that the detriments of drug related intimidation spreads throughout households and families, with almost two-thirds of the people affected living with partners, parents or children. Some of our most vulnerable are caught in the crossfire of these crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly 10% of the reported cases of drug-related intimidation were reported to Garda\u00ed, despite some cases escalating to threats toward family members and violence towards the individual – in nearly 50% of cases, intimidation was shown to go on for longer than six months. Cocaine was the drug involved in the majority of reported instances.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore these statistics were released, only 4% of drug-related intimidation cases resulted in prosecutions out of the 2,500 cases reported since 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrug-related intimidation and the harms of the drug trade are particularly prominent in Dublin\u2019s North Inner City, in areas that have been long forgotten about by successive governments, left to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeenagers, even young children, are being used as drug mules across the country, with over 1,000 minors coerced into working in the drug trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cArson attacks linked to drug debt have quadrupled in four years. Debt is sold between gangs so that families who pay once are forced to pay again.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoverty is the one consistent factor in the grooming of children into crime. The conditions of their birth make them vulnerable to exploitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly adequate investment in visible community policing, youth diversion programmes, and local sports and culture initiatives can loosen the grip the drug trade has on Dublin\u2019s Inner City and disadvantaged areas across Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Fine Gael really was the party of law and order, it would have significantly \u00a0invested in stopping this practice long ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cT\u00e1naiste Simon Harris must put his money where his mouth is and direct adequate resources to end drug-related intimidation in our most vulnerable communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
May 8th, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The drug trade must not be allowed to ravage our most disadvantaged areas any longer, according to Social Democrats Councillor Daniel Ennis and justice spokesperson Gary Gannon TD. Councillor Ennis said: \u201cOver 1,000 cases of drug-related intimidation were recorded by drug and alcohol services in 2025, which affected all age groups, including children and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,554,656,733,725,316,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-daniel-ennis","category-drug-addiction","category-drug-use","category-dublin","category-gary-gannon","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n