EDITORIAL

IN the political turmoil of recent weeks, two high-profile figures on the Government benches are the latest to have fallen from grace.
On Thursday of last week, Defence Minister Willie O’Dea was left with little choice but to fall on his sword following the playing of an audiotape interview in which he maligned a Limerick Sinn Féin councillor.
Up until Tuesday, it was all about who would fill the vacancy, with Clare’s junior minister Tony Killeen, as the next most senior Fianna Fáil TD in the Mid-West, seen as favourite. Mr Killeen was dismissive of this although in a TV interview, he said he would be open to an approach from Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Promoting junior minister Peter Power, Mr O’Dea’s constituency colleague, would be a high-risk strategy as it could cause friction among their respective supporters.
Would Taoiseach Cowen elevate another junior minister or promote from the backbenches? In taking over the defence portfolio himself, would he hold off a while and fill the vacancy as part of a Cabinet reshuffle?
Speculation on all possible permutations was raging when yet another political bombshell was dropped on Tuesday to further confuse matters.
Trevor Sargent resigned as Minister for State with Responsibility for Food and Horticulture after he admitted writing to a garda about a case involving a constituent, a communication that could be deemed “not lawful”. It’s been widely speculated that details of the former Green Party leader’s letter in 2008 could have been leaked by Fianna Fáil as payback for their coalition partner’s role in forcing Willie O’Dea to resign. The claim has been fuelled by Opposition party sources but the Government parties are proclaiming faith in each other’s integrity on this.
Trevor Sargent’s departure as a junior minister is something the Green Party could ill afford following the shock resignation from the Seanad of Deirdre de Búrca earlier in the month, stating, she believed that the Greens had become no more than an extension of the Fianna Fáil party.
One of only three Green Party councillors in the country, Clare’s Brian Meaney didn’t exactly help matters when he declared he had no interest in filling the seat vacated by Ms de Búrca. He said he felt he could achieve more in terms of policy by working with Clare County Council that the Seanad.
Ms de Búrca’s resignation came only a few days after George Lee stepped down as a TD and Fine Gael member. “Despite my best efforts, I have had virtually no influence or input into shaping Fine Gael’s economic policies at this most critical time,” he declared.
Mr Sargent’s resignation could have a direct impact on Tony Killeen’s further political career. Both shared particular portfolios as junior ministers at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under Brendan Smith; Mr Killeen with Forestry, Fisheries and the Marine and Mr Sargent with Food and Horticulture.
The obvious question now is whether or not Mr Cowen can afford to lose two experienced junior ministers from the Department of Agriculture in one fell swoop? Probably not. Given the current circumstances, it would appear that Tony Killeen might have to wait at least a few weeks until the Taoiseach weighs up his options and decides his political fate.

The curse of heroin

HEROIN use has increased dramatically in the Ennis Garda District, which also includes Shannon, in recent years. Several years ago, the number of habitual users of heroin in the area was in the single figures but now, it is conservatively estimated that it could be in the region of 30.
Heroin leaves a trail of destruction of crime, poverty, shattered lives and families torn apart and some drug users pay the ultimate price in death.
Heroin is a growing concern for Clare gardaí as its availability increases locally and as abuse of heroin has led to four deaths in the Ennis Garda District in the past 12 months. Cocaine and cannabis are also readily available in the county.
A second death in the last three weeks from “a suspected heroin overdose” has prompted Garda Superintendent John Scanlan to highlight the dangers that drug abuse can cause to an entire community.
“Heroin has really arrived in town,” according to Superintendent Scanlan, who says measures must be taken to eradicate this drug scene.
The deaths are indicative that there is an issue and a real threat to the social fabric of Ennis, he states bluntly. “What we are saying to you and we’re saying it loud and clear, is that we have had two drug deaths in this area in the last three weeks. We have attributed these deaths to the suspected abuse of heroin and that has to be a cause of significant concern.”
Now is the time for members of the public to support the local gardaí in tackling the issue head on. While there is often an understandable reluctance on the part of decent, law-abiding citizens to outline suspicions to the gardaí about drug-related activities, it is something that people might reconsider in the context of the recent deaths in Ennis.
Parents, who might have concerns about their teenage children coming into contact with drug dealers or who find illegal drugs in the home, can also turn to the gardaí for help and advice.
Clare gardaí are to some degree making inroads on the war on drugs with the establishment of a full-time drugs unit in Shannon and a doubling of the numbers attached to the drugs unit in Ennis in the last year. The success of their operations can be gauged by the fact that they are apprehending two dealers a week.
The drug unit’s objective is to disrupt criminal drug dealers, stop the supply and make sure people are aware of its dangers. Apart from the dangers to personal health by using and buying drugs, people are ultimately supporting a criminal enterprise.
Laying it out as to what buying drugs means, Superintendent Scanlan said, “You are buying the bullets that kill the people, you’re providing the infrastructure and you’re providing a means of almost developing criminal organisations by becoming customers of these people.”
Co-operation with the gardaí, along with health education programmes and greater resources for treatment, is vital to stop the scourge of drugs in our society.