Drug-driving has surged in the Republic this year, with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly saying cocaine was the substance of choice for most drivers caught, and he was now “really concerned” about it.
If current trends continue to year end, as expected, the number of drug-driving detections on the roads of the Republic look set to increase by about 30 per cent this year compared to 2024.
Garda sources told The Irish Times that, though the Kinahan cartel’s operation in Ireland had been wiped out by investigations over the last decade, mostly led by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, other gangs had taken its place in importing and distributing cocaine.
The popularity and availability of the drug was behind the record drug-driving figures, the sources said.
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Mr Kelly on Tuesday told a hearing of the Oireachtas joint committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration that 2,179 drivers had been caught drug-driving so far this year, which was a figure six per cent higher than the 2,079 detections in all of last year.
“It’s primarily cocaine,” he said. “We have other concerns about drugs; nitazenes, fentanyl, these types of drugs. And we’ve already seen nitazenes here and they’re extremely dangerous, a lot more dangerous that heroin.
“But for us, it’s the prevalence of cocaine, particularly with young people.” He said earlier at the hearing Mark Ward TD had said the Balgaddy area in Clondalkin, west Dublin, was “under siege” from feuding and other violence.
“I’ve spoken about it lots and lots of times, primarily around people taking cocaine, and they seem to have a complete disconnect between taking it and the damage it’s doing,” Mr Kelly said. “And Deputy Ward spoke about some of the problems in his own area around organised crime, feuds ... that’s all fuelled by drugs.”
On the issue of Garda numbers, Mr Kelly said there were now 200 more members in the force than 12 months ago, with 14,325 gardaí at present. Garda recruitment had gained “momentum” – and next week the biggest class for 10 years, of more than 200 recruits, would start training at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary.
[ Cocaine cited as main drug in almost two-fifths of cases needing treatmentOpens in new window ]
The capacity of the college would be increased in coming months to facilitate classes of up to 250 recruits, admitted three or four times per year. Mr Kelly said the Garda organisation was projected to increase to 16,000 sworn members by the end of 2029.
Mr Ward said while Garda visibility had improved around Dublin city centre, this needed to be replicated in the suburbs. Parts of his Dublin Mid-West constituency were “under siege”, specifically Balgaddy, he said. He had “never had so many residents” contacting him who were “in fear of intimidation”, with many looking to be transferred out of the area by Dublin City Council.
A feud had already resulted in properties being “vandalised, burnt out, shots during the day”. This resulted in the death of a man “not involved in the feud” – a reference to the murder of James ‘Jake’ Berney, a father and grandfather in his 50s, fatally stabbed in June in the Foxdene area of Balgaddy.
Mr Kelly said the Garda’s Dublin Crime Task Force was moving from area to area, as required, for “short, sharp” operations against key targets when feuding or other serious violence erupted. He said the Dublin west area was a priority region to be allocated more gardaí as numbers in the force increased.
