POLICE CO-OPERATION:THE GOVERNMENT is working to "tighten up the law" to deal with the issue of head shops and the increasing use of so-called legal highs, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said yesterday after he held his first meeting with the North's new Minister of Justice David Ford at Stormont.
The Ministers were joined by Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and the PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott for the 90-minute meeting during which a range of issues were discussed, including the threat from dissident republicans.
As a ban on mephedrone came into place in Northern Ireland and Britain yesterday Mr Ahern said a number of Government departments were “very exercised” in deciding how the Government generally should address the issue.
Mr Ahern said one of the problems was that while a particular substance could be banned a variation of that product could be quickly introduced as a substitute. Mr Ahern said that at present the matter was chiefly a Department of Health issue but that as part of the efforts to tackle the use of legal highs, it was now planned to make his department more centrally involved.
“We are going to look at the criminal justice area to see can we change the law to deal with the issue from a criminal justice point of view as well as deal with it from a health point of view,” he said.
“I have instructed my officials to rapidly bring forward proposals in the criminal justice area to tighten up the law and this is with the Attorney General’s office at the moment,” added Mr Ahern. He described his meeting with Mr Ford as a “historic day”.
Mr Ford, who was appointed Minister on Monday as devolution was finally achieved in Northern Ireland, said it was “hugely symbolic” that he should meet his Southern counterpart so quickly.
He wanted to work closely with Mr Ahern and “to look at ways in which we can co-operate across the criminal justice system to make Ireland, both North and South, a better and safer place”.
“The remit we have is broad and there is much work to do, whether it is in fighting the threat from dissidents, developing strategies on youth justice, public protection arrangements, support for victims or the management of sex offenders,” added Mr Ford.
Early on the day that Mr Ford was appointed the Real IRA exploded a car-bomb outside Palace Barracks in Holywood, Co Down in which the British army and MI5 are based. He described the attack as a dissident republican “stunt”.
Mr Baggott said that through co-operation with the Garda both forces were having success in tackling the dissidents.
“We have as much success this year already as for the whole of last year. That is a sign of the threat, but it is also a sign of the increasing co-operation between our two great police services,” he said.
Mr Murphy also spoke of a strong level of co-operation with the PSNI which had prevented a “huge number” of attacks. “An attack on one member of one force is an attack on both forces,” he said.
“Both forces are focused on ensuring a small group of people who intend to do damage in Ireland have no opportunity to do that,” he added.