Dublin Central TD Mr Tony Gregory last night described the conviction of Thomas "The Boxer" Mullen as "the single greatest blow struck against heroin supplies in Dublin". He urged gardai to target other major drug traffickers. He joined anti-drug organisations in calling for the Government to commit itself to the £20 million Youth Development Fund promised by the previous government.
The Coalition of Communities Against Drugs, Inner City Organisations Network and Dublin CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign said in a statement that cutting the fund to £1.25 million was "a major blow by the Government to our efforts to save future generations from the devastation of heroin and drug misuse".
Responding to the 18-year-sentence given to Mullen by a London court yesterday, Mr Gregory said the blow against the heroin trade went right to the top. "They have put away somebody who claimed, until now, to be invincible, and have put him away for a very long time. That message goes out to others like `The Footballer'. "I hope it encourages the gardai to redouble their efforts and go after `The Footballer', who is supplying heroin in a major way in Dublin and is now based in Liverpool.
"Putting him away is one thing but, unless we put the resources into these areas badly hit by heroin, we are wasting our time. A £20 million fund for fighting drug abuse was committed by the last government but this has been reneged on by this Government."
Dublin City-Wide Drugs Crisis Campaign said cutting the fund had fuelled suspicion among communities affected by drug abuse that Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats were less committed to the anti-drugs campaign than they professed. In response, anti-drugs groups would conduct a co-ordinated lobby campaign aimed at having the fund introduced.
The Fine Gael spokesman on sport and recreation, Mr Bernard Allen, accused the Government of neglecting youngsters suffering from drug addiction and said it had failed to realise that one of the most effective ways of fighting crime and drugs was through sport, recreation and investment in youth affairs.
"The decision to slash the Youth Development Fund, as well as its failure to increase funding to the 11 pilot projects in Dublin and Cork, puts a serious doubt over a number of major preventative programmes in the area of sport and recreation."
Democratic Left has tabled a Dail private members motion deploring the Government's decision to cut the £20 million allocation.
In a statement, the party's whip, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said the decision was "a betrayal of the Trojan efforts being made by many local communities to free themselves of the scourge of drug abuse".
He added: "Local groups who are working day in and day out, against appalling odds, to combat the drugs crisis are angry at the decision, and I fully share their anger."