Ó Snodaigh digs Ahern over ‘bungs’

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern seemed to accept “bung after bung” in the 1990s, Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh said.

It is unusual for politicians to make such blunt allegations against Mr Ahern outside of the Dáil, as parliamentary privilege no longer applies.

Mr Ó Snodaigh was talking about justice issues when he made the statement, which he attempted to wrap up in a joke.

“While Bertie in the 1990s seemed to be accepting bung after bung — sorry, political donation after political donation — communities were being ravaged by drugs and the State was attacking anti-drugs activists,” he said.

“Today, though, they still aren’t taking the continuing, though worse, drugs crisis seriously. They are giving more to the horse and greyhound racing fund than to tackling drugs.”

Mr Ó Snodaigh said the recent killings of two young Polish men in Drimnagh were a “stark reminder” of the dangerous rise in drug and alcohol-related crime.

“The brutal killings of Marius [Szwajkos] and Pawel [Kalite] in Drimnagh in my own constituency, reportedly because they refused to purchase alcohol for a gang of underage youths, is not only a tragic blow to their respective families, but to the entire community in Drimnagh itself and to Irish society,” he said.

The rise in drug and alcohol-related crime was not unique to either Drimnagh or Dublin, he added.

“The reprehensible attack last weekend has infused fear in the good people of the area, and this fear will remain long after the murder enquiries are completed.”

Mr Ó Snodaigh also criticised the Garda approach to the drugs problem.

“What of the response of An Garda Síochána?” he asked.

“A drug squad of six covers the whole of Waterford. Four for Mayo with its large towns of Castlebar, Ballina and Westport, with a huge coastline, yet there have been millions spent attacking protestors in Rossport.

“If this is to be a priority for society then the Garda drugs squads should be doubled, tripled — whatever is appropriate.”