War of words over drug haul

Gardai blast Concerned Parents’ drug seizure as Sinn Fein ‘publicity stunt’

By Ken Powell

GARDAI have blasted the handover of cannabis worth £14,000 at an anti-drugs meeting last week as a Sinn Fein publicity stunt for this summer’s local elections.Concerned Parents handed over 14 blocks of ‘Paki Black’ hashish to Gardai at a meeting on February 16, organised by the anti-drugs coalition COCAD, and attended by more than 300 people.

However, speaking to the Liberty this weekend, Inspector Gerry Lovett of Kevin Street said Gardai believe the event was "a publicity stunt orchestrated by COCAD/Sinn Fein".The inspector said the anti-drug coalition "includes people genuinely concerned about drugs but also Sinn Fein-inspired activists who are operating their own anti-Garda agenda".Inspector Lovett picked up the drug haul at a meeting in a packed School Street hall, but only after a heated verbal exchange. The inspector accused COCAD of being "synonymous with violence". He said the anti-drugs coalition had been implicated in attacks on Gardai and on homes.

Ken Fitzgerald, a Concerned Parents member and Sinn Fein’s south-city candidate for this summer’s local elections, says the Gardai’s approach on the night surprised him: "I would have expected them to walk straight up to the platform, shake our hands and congratulate us for taking the dirt off the streets. Days later they still haven’t thanked us for confiscating the gear," Ken Fitzgerald told the Liberty.

Meeting chairman Ronnie Byrne, a COCAD member and a prominent Sinn Fein activist, had earlier told the thronged hall: "We don’t want to be doing the Gardai’s job for them. But we need them to get more involved in the community."

But Inspector Lovett countered: "Despite COCAD’s stated intention of co-operating with Gardai, we do not know where, when or by whom the drugs were supposedly found. They refuse to help us with our enquiries."

Ken Fitzgerald said Concerned Parents fear legal problems if they were to admit possession of the drugs for any length of time.

Inspector Lovett renewed his offensive on the anti-drug coalition when he spoke to the Liberty this weekend: "COCAD is in our book synonymous with violence and assaults on Gardai. Their methods are through violence, assaults and intimidation," he said.

"They have an inflated sense of self-importance. Their mission is to portray themselves as ‘the saviours of the people’, just as they do in the North. Their message is that Gardai cannot handle the problem. They say, ‘Support us and we’ll solve the problem’.

"Many of the people attending last week’s meeting were bussed in from Tallaght, Clondalkin, Ballymun and the north inner city," added the inspector.After the meeting, a 200-strong crowd with banners and loud-hailers marched on the home of two alleged drug dealers at nearby Weaver Square.

Ominously, Inspector Lovett told the Liberty: "Gardai expect to see more of this jumping up and down before June’s local elections which will have several Sinn Fein candidates."