Republican News · Thursday 30 January 1997

[An Phoblacht]

Darndale takes the abuse

by Rita O'Reilly

Hundreds of people marched in Darndale, Dublin last Monday in a return visit to a house where anti-drug protestors were threatened by drug pushers the previous Monday night.

Locals say that on 20 January, a number of occupants of the house emerged with iron bars and boiling water and after verbal exchanges and some scuffling, threw water at marchers. Gardai present did not intervene and when asked to, told the local Action Against Drugs Group to make a statement at the Garda station.

On 27 January, following a meeting of up to 500 people at Darndale Belcamp Resource Centre at which several calls were made from the platform for a peaceful protest march, locals supported by people from Tallaght, Clondalkin, Cabra and the north and south inner city drugs committees again converged on the pushers' house. Thirteen Gardai stood near the entrance to the house while a line of stewards protected marchers from a repeat performance.

A fifteen-minute stand-off ensued, with five occupants of the house where two pushers live taunting the crowd. Obscenities were directed towards the anti-drugs march by the two pushers, one of whom is said to be pushing to feed a drugs habit. They were backed up by a number of family members. However, in an indication of how isolated and unwanted the pushers have become, their older brother was present at the protest to tell them: ``You'll have to go if you don't stop selling drugs''. Eddie Morgan, who is active in the local campaign against drug dealing, told An Phoblacht: ``I've had my car burnt out by my own brother because I was on the committee. We stayed out on a vigil until four o'clock on Christmas morning to stop dealing; we're not going to give up now.''

Phoblacht spoke to a local Garda who claimed that Gardai had no reason to arrest the house occupants on the previous Monday. He said they had a right to defend their property and weren't threatening anybody. Asked whether he thought it was understandable that communities felt the Garda took a different approach to drug pushers compared to anti-drug protestors he denied this was so.

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