Gardai in Sligo have said that the people who put up posters in the town naming four local men as alleged drug dealers are doing nothing to help the fight against drugs. They have appealed to the public for information on those responsible.
The printed posters were erected early yesterday morning. Under a heading "Warning - beware of the following drug dealers" the names and addresses of four men were listed on the posters. None of the four has been charged with a drugs offence. Insp Michael Barrett said gardai did not yet have any information about who was involved, and he appealed for information. He said the posters were a "public menace".
"They are not assisting the gardai in any way by doing what they are doing. If people feel they have any information on anything relating to drug trafficking, the gardai would welcome that information," Insp Barrett said.
There is no history of any anti-drugs groups organising in Sligo, as has happened in larger cities. "We never had any vigilantes and that is something we don't want to see coming in here. The gardai are quite capable of dealing with the problem," Insp Barrett added.
There have been a number of drug seizures in the Sligo area in recent weeks, one of which was the largest find in the region when cannabis and ecstasy tablets valued at £500,000 were uncovered in a flat in Tubbercurry. In July, gardai made the first seizure of cocaine in Sligo.
Sligo Alderman Mr Sean MacManus, a member of Sinn Fein, said the party had "absolutely nothing" to do with the posters. But he said he could empathise with those who resorted to such tactics because of the "lack of action against drug dealers in the town"
"Day after day people are coming to Sinn Fein complaining about the epidemic of drugs in Sligo. Cocaine had been widely available for the past 18 months and we now believe that there are a small number of heroin users in the town," he said.
Mr MacManus said that not all of those making these complaints were Sinn Fein supporters, and he claimed gardai had tried to play down the problem for a number of years. Staff of Sligo Corporation yesterday removed the posters, which were of A4 size and could be printed on a standard computer.