Families across Kildare 'living in fear' due to drug debt intimidation
Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh was speaking on the issue in the Dáíl this week
Families across Kildare are living with threats, fear and violence due to drug related intimidation, a Sinn Féin TD has told the Dáil.
Speaking this week when 'Drug Debt Related Intimidation and Community Safety: Motion [Private Members]' came before the House, Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South, Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh said her party was bringing forward the motion for “a major crackdown on drug debt intimidation, an end to drug gangs terrorising families and long-term investment in our communities.”
Deputy Ní Raghallaigh said: “I have heard from families in Kildare town, Athy, Derrinturn and Newbridge who are all living with threats, fear and violence. They have been left to fight this battle themselves. If we are to get serious about tackling drugs, we must be clear that drug use and addiction are first and foremost issues of healthcare.
“If we do not have serious, robust community supports and interventions, then we are abandoning some of our most vulnerable. The link between the communities most affected by austerity and communities suffering the most from drugs is clear for all to see. Every community deserves to feel safe, secure and protected.”
According to Deputy Ní Raghallaigh, alongside effective services, policing also plays a key role in the fight against drug-related intimidation.
While not the whole solution, she said, it is a basic foundation of our communities that they be serviced by “effective and visible policing.”
The Sinn Féin TD said she was sure the government would share her disappointment that Kildare South has experienced a net loss of gardai this year, when resignations and retirements are taken into account.
Local authorities also had a role to play, Deputy Ní Raghallaigh said, adding that local authorities and approved housing bodies had a tendency of “dragging their feet” in arranging housing transfers for those under intimidation.
The Sinn Féin Deputy concluded: “The heart of this motion is simple. Communities deserve to feel safe, protected and free from intimidation. This is the very bedrock of our society but in order for us to achieve and protect this, we need to ensure our communities are serviced by sustained effective supports and interventions and this needs to be in conjunction with community-backed, properly staffed policing.”