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Former top Cop, gives his Opinion, on Drugs, Gangland, and the Feuds.

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‘Criminal lunatics’ means drugs decriminalisation ‘won’t work’ in Ireland

Michael O’Sullivan said it is “the fear” of the gardai and the courts that keep tens of thousands of young people “on the straight and narrow”

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The fourth meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use that is meeting through this weekend at The Grand Hotel, Malahide, has heard a range of perspectives on Ireland’s place in the international drugs trade and associated criminal activity. PHOTO SHOWS: Michael O’Sullivan, former Executive Director of MAOC-N (Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, Narcotics), was a speaker and panellist at the fourth meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use, at The Grand Hotel, Malahide.
Michael O’Sullivan, former Executive Director of MAOC-N (Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, Narcotics) (Image: Maxwell’s Photography)

The State is dealing with “criminal lunatics” meaning the Portuguese model of decriminalising drugs would not work here, a former head of the Garda drugs squad has said.

Michael O’Sullivan told the Citizens’ Assembly yesterday that Irish drugs culture was “completely different” to Portugal and relaxing laws will not reduce harm. The former head of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said adopting the non-prosecution approach for small quantities of drugs was not advisable.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “Unfortunately for us, we have a level of criminality, violence and viciousness in our criminal underclass that the Portuguese are lucky they don’t have, both in adults and juveniles. They don’t have feuds. They don’t have guys running around hotels with machine guns.

“They’re very lucky [in Portugal] to have the crime levels they have. The criminals they are dealing with – they are in the ha’penny place compared to our criminals. We’re dealing with criminal lunatics at times. The Portuguese model, for that reason, won’t work.

Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland of the GNDOCB said decriminalisation would not have the desired effect of cutting the profits of gangs. He warned: “Drug traffickers and cartels have no intention of allowing their profits to decrease. They are continually making and adjusting plans to increase consumption and ensure profits increase.”

Paul Reid, who is chairing the assembly, added: “We’ve heard messages in the past few sessions that people enter the criminal justice system and it is a vicious cycle. There is a view, and it has been expressed here, that it can be still illegal but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a criminal process.”

The fourth session of the assembly continues at Malahide Castle in Dublin today. Mr Reid said: “We are now over halfway through the assembly’s work programme and are starting to focus on what type of final recommendations we will make.

“This is an extremely complicated discussion. Members are being provided with a significant level of detail and a range of views that will help us make an informed set of recommendations.”

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