Protesters demand closure of head shops

Sign of the times Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, Mayor of Castlebar, Council addressing the protest outside Cosmic Closet Head Shop in Castlebar.?Pic: Michael Donnelly

Protesters demand closure of head shops


Edwin McGreal

A group of between 20 to 30 protesters marched through Castlebar on Wednesday lunchtime last demanding the closure of two so-called ‘head shops’ in the town.
With the turnout much lower than anticipated local councillors claim that the low numbers are due to the lack of awareness of the problem and not because of an indifference to the issue.
“We’re putting the low turnout down to the schools being off,” Cllr Ger Deere told The Mayo News. “I had one man saying to me this morning (Thursday) that people don’t realise how serious this problem is and that is a difficulty. He said that parents would want to be more aware of the issue and that the protest yesterday helped to highlight the problem and I think we did that.”
Mayor of Castlebar Michael Kilcoyne said proper regulation was what was needed.
‘Some people are demanding their closure but I feel head shops need to be regulated,’ he told The Mayo News. ‘They have so few obligations. What is happening is that head shops are falling between the cracks in terms of who they are subject to in a regulatory sense. It’s not food, it’s not alcohol, it’s not cigarettes. For instance the Irish Medicine Board took St John’s Wort off the shelves, something that was beneficial to a lot of elderly people, because they felt it wasn’t safe. It had nowhere near as bad an effect as some items in head shops but there is no authority to police head shops.’
The protest began outside Cosmic Closet head shop on the corner of Charles Street and Richard Street where town councillors and a number of members of the general public gathered.
Leaving Cosmic Closet, the protest marched down the centre of Main Street and onto Castle Street. Confused shoppers and businesspeople looked on mainly in bemusement as the protesters called through a mobile mic ‘what do we want?’, ‘head shops out’, ‘when do we want them out?’, ‘now!’.
They stopped at the bottom of the hill in Castle Street, outside ‘Downtime Headshop’, continuing their protest with Cllrs Ger Deere and Mayor Michael Kilcoyne leading the calls as a TV camera and local photographers looked for the best angle for their shots.
Curiosity brought a few onlookers to the area while the manager of the store, Chris Kelly, told the protest to move from the footpath but was told in reply ‘these are public footpaths, we’ve a right to be here’ by Cllr Ger Deere.
While the numbers outside the premises on Castle Street fluctuated mildly, The Mayo News counted 24 people protesters at the height of the protest.
Local councillors have called on the Minister of Health, Mary Harney, to fast track regulations for control of head shops.

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