{"id":415066,"date":"2026-04-24T10:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/415066\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:59:08","slug":"increased-garda-presence-in-cork-city-pushing-drug-users-out-to-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/415066\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased garda presence in Cork city pushing drug users out to suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"contextmenu internal_Body1st\">Additional garda\u00ed in the city centre have pushed drug users out into the suburbs, with the Taoiseach acknowleding that residents in Ballyphehane and Turner\u2019s Cross are \u201cconcerned and anxious\u201d due to an increase in drug use there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Last November, 23 garda\u00ed were assigned to the city\u2019s new high-visibility policing plan, and businesses in the city centre have since commented that the streets feel a lot safer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Joe Curtin, chair of Turners Cross Community Association and a youth support worker, said: \u201cWhen the extra garda patrols started in the city centre, this issue moved to the suburbs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He said that he has seen an increase of people in addiction in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Needles<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to members of the community who have seen people using drugs including injecting. The needles will be left in the ground which is dangerous for children and dogs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\n            \u201cThe community is really angry about it, they\u2019re activating including setting up a new Facebook group called Turner\u2019s Cross Says No to Drugs. We don\u2019t want it to get to an extent where someone takes things into their own hands.\u201d\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be just seen as a crime thing, it should be dealt with from a holistic, health point of view, because these people need support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cI think an increase in prevention work is needed. I work as a youth worker, I\u2019ve seen an increase in young people vaping cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Increased<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Cork Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice said there has been increased public drug use in Ballyphehane and Turner\u2019s Cross, and needles have been found at bus stops, playgrounds, and schools.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cEveryone deserves to feel safe in their communities and this is currently not the case for too many people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">He added that garda\u00ed are increasing patrols, and the HSE Needle Exchange is collecting needles after he engaged with them. \u201cWhile this is welcome, the reality is that this activity will simply be pushed around our city until a proper solution is found and further supports and services are provided.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mr Rice said a drug injection facility in the city centre was the solution. The Dublin facility which opened in December 2024 is nearly finished its 18-month pilot project, at which point Government will assess if a similar one should be opened in Cork.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">He raised the issue in the D\u00e1il last this week, with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin, who said: \u201cThere is an issue here, of that there is no doubt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Concern<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cI have been in touch with the garda\u00ed on the specifics of the areas the deputy has identified, because there is a lot of concern and anxiety among residents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">However, he denied the problem was due to Government policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Independent councillor Paudie Dineen said that in residential areas on the southside of the city such as Greenmount, Douglas St, White\u2019s Cross, and others, \u201cthere were gangs of individuals hanging around on corners and in nooks and crannies, intimidating residents\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cVisible garda patrols do work, but it will be moved on and go to some other area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Additional garda\u00ed in the city centre have pushed drug users out into the suburbs, with the Taoiseach acknowleding&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19240,79,61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-415066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-cork-garda","9":"tag-cork-news","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}