Society challenged - Standing up to gang culture

WHEN voices as disparate as President Mary McAleese and Fr Peter McVerry find common cause it is time to take notice.

When, in the same 24-hour period, Justice Minister Brian Lenihan confirms their concerns by conceding that six out of seven gangland murders go unsolved it is nearly beyond time to take notice.

President McAleese and Fr McVerry have described the impact drug crime is having on our society and how it is undermining our justice system.

They also refer to the dreadful impact it has on the individuals caught up in the violence and mayhem associated with that reprehensible business.

Fr McVerry speaks of individuals fleeing the country because they are in dread of drug dealers they owe money to; of people unable to quit the gang culture because they are terrified of the consequences.

President McAleese speaks of the “direct line of connection” between those who buy drugs — everyone from young professionals to street junkies — and the regime of terror that has become the everyday currency of neighbourhoods afflicted by drug wars.

Echoing a theme of Fr McVerry’s, Justice Minister Brian Lenihan declares that it is unsatisfactory that so many people are “terrified to give evidence... people are reluctant when there is a gun murder”.

Mr Lenihan declares that the Government will — next year, mind you — consider “drastic” action such as special criminal courts if gangland trends continue.

It seems a good bet that the minister’s optimism is misplaced and that without forceful intervention the violence will continue. The grim statistic that our murder rate for the third quarter of this year is up 50% challenges the minister’s overly patient approach.

The absolute cynicism of drug dealers was illustrated in our courts just this week when a businessman was sent to jail for three years for drug dealing. Before his arrest he sponsored a school publication warning about the dangers of drugs.

Fr McVerry called for a united, community approach, one where a community safeguards and encourages those who would confront our enemies. He is right and unless we’re prepared to do our bit, each and everyone of us, there’s no point in blaming the Government or the guards. This is a community-wide problem and can only be confronted by a community-wide approach.

Speaking at the inaugural Mella Carroll lecture in Dublin on Wednesday night President McAleese quoted one of her predecessors, Eamon de Valera: “The essential thing in any state is not the governmental framework, but the standard of citizenship on which it rests.”

So, if you’re trying to organise a few lines of Bolivian marching powder for the Christmas party think of Anthony Campbell and Eddie Ward, innocent bystanders murdered in drug wars just because they happened to be in the wrong place at the very wrong time, and ask yourself one question.

Am I with them or against them?