The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, is expected to reiterate his belief later today that the consumption of illegal drugs "cannot be sanitised out" of the equation when it comes to drug-related violence.
In an address at the lighting of a Christmas tree in memory of all those who have died from drugs-related causes over the years, he is also expected to criticise the "double standards" which exist around the drugs trade and the "socially accepted" recreational use of certain drugs.
According to one of the organisers, Paddy Malone, the lighting of the tree is particularly timely given the recent spate of high-profile deaths and gangland killings linked to the drugs trade.
"The idea of the tree started in 1996, but the deaths began to occur in the early 1980s in the inner city," he said yesterday. "In the early 1980s it was just seen as an inner-city problem. It is only now because of the recent deaths and gangland shootings that other people are taking notice, or should be taking notice.
"With the setting up of the Christmas tree there was, for the first time, public recognition that addiction not only affected the addict but also the extended family and the whole community."
Mr Malone said about 150 relatives of people who have died as a result of drugs will attend the Inner City Organisations Network event at 5.30pm at the junction of Buckingham Street and Killarney Street, Dublin 1.