Second Year schoolchildren involved in drugs, says Ryan

CHILDREN in their second year of secondary education are getting involved in drugs, according to county councillors in the South Mayo area.

Ballinrobe-based councillor Damien Ryan made the revelation at a recent meeting of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee (JPC), where he called for education around drugs to be prioritised.

The latest meeting of the Mayo JPC heard that there over €807,000 worth of drugs has been seized in Mayo so far this year.

Cllr Ryan said that gardaí need to concentrate on speaking to students and staff in post-primary schools ‘right across the jurisdiction’ to deter children from getting involved in drugs.

“Second and Third Years will tell you, along with others, along with staff, they are certainly working at a level that I wouldn’t have envisaged I would ever be saying,” he added.

Fellow Ballinrobe-based county councillor Michael Burke echoed Cllr Ryan’s comments, saying that drugs were causing ‘major problems’ in secondary schools.

“It seems to be a growing problem. I appreciate gardaí are doing their level best. There’s probably no month that goes by that we don’t have two or three raids in my own area,” said Cllr Burke.

A number of high-profile drugs seizures and arrests were made in the Ballinrobe area earlier this year following a number of violent incidents in the town.

Drug driving detections double

The Mayo JPC also heard that there has been a 100 percent increase in the number of drug driving detections in the county.

Thirty four detections have been made in the county so far this year, a doubling of the same period in 2020.

Inspector Denis Harrington revealed that €37,000 of drugs – predominantly cannabis and cocaine – had been seized in Mayo since the JPC last met in September. A sum of €3,600 in cash was also seized.

A total of €807,970 of drugs and over €20,000 in cash has been seized by gardaí in Mayo so far this year. Of this, €528,000 was cannabis while cocaine made up €210,000.

According to the Mayo JPC’s annual report for 2022, over €2,561,353.97 worth of drugs has been seized in Mayo since January 1, 2020, along with over €177,884 in cash.