Dr. Johnny Connolly:

My study of the illicit drugs market was collaborative research, in that it involved a great deal of co-operation from the Garda drugs unit and the Forensic Science Laboratory, which performed an analysis of drug seizures. It was the first such study ever conducted in Ireland and one of the first in Europe.

Despite the many concerns about the issue, we know very little about its basic elements, for example, how markets evolve in certain areas, how they are structured and organised, the impacts locally, what law enforcement agencies do and the rationale for same. I interviewed many senior gardaí, as well as gardaí in the drugs units, in the four markets I studied. I wanted to know what was their thinking and what were the challenges they faced and them to describe what they did.

For me, this information is important in the context of the provision of resources, yet we are almost completely bereft of this type of analysis.

In terms of gangland crime and the whole concept of the hierarchy and violence, not all markets are violent. Some are more violent than others and others are geographically displaced. One can go into a community and find a drug market in one corner that is thriving while around the corner there is nothing happening. The are also many new markets, including on the Internet. There is now a whole new form of buying and selling drugs that does not require a physical space or require people to even know each other or have any contact other than over the Internet. They all pose different types of challenges.

In the context of the discussion around community impact, given the demand that exists in society for drugs and our legal system and the approach we have taken, the most optimistic estimate is that 20% to 25% of the drugs in circulation at any one time will be seized. The amount of drugs that remain out there is so large we can only ever have a limited impact. In the study I carried out the Garda acknowledged the reality that it can disrupt the market temporarily but it will recover very quickly. There is a need for a more holistic and broader approach which requires us to think about what we actually mean when talking about gangland and to identify our concerns in that regard. For example, are we talking about youth getting involved in gangs and how we interact and prevent this at an early stage? Are we speaking in particular about violence? Interestingly, the number of so-called gangland shootings has decreased recently. Why is that? What is going on that the number has decreased?