One year after the launch of the anti-drugs movement at Summerhill in Dublin's north inner city, there are encouraging signs of progress. The drug traffickers may not have been banished entirely, but the level of drug dealing has declined substantially. There is no longer a waiting list for treatment in local drugs clinics. The impact of new legislative measures, notably the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau, is beginning to be felt on the streets. And no further drugs-related deaths have been reported of late in the north inner city. It may be too early to suggest that a turning point has been reached, but certainly there is, at the very least, some grounds for optimism. It is the local people who deserve the bulk of the credit. Incensed by a court's decision to grant bail to a prominent alleged drugs dealer, they mounted a picket on his flat in Summerhill and launched a spontaneous anti-drugs movement. The movement gave a new self-confidence to people who felt that they had been abandoned to their fate. It gave fresh hope to a community that had endured at least 20 drug-related deaths in the previous 12 months. It is also to their great credit that the drive against the drug dealers was not marked by the vigilantism that has, on occasion, marred this kind of activity. This was a genuine grassroots movement - a symbol of frustration and impatience with government - which remained in the hands of the people, rather than those shadowy elements who have sought to control such groups in the past.
The challenge now as the Independent deputy, Mr Tony Gregory, has pointed out, is to build on the progress that has been made. Part of the problem, however, is that the impact of the drugs crisis has been most keenly felt in areas like the north inner city where the needs are not often understood by the political establishment. Mr Gregory is one of the few political figures with first-hand knowledge of the drugs problem; for the most part there are few politicians, few garda officers and few senior civil servants who have any great empathy with working-class, inner-city communities. In the past there has been a tendency either to ignore the problem or to impose solutions without adequate consultation with the local community.
The opportunity now exists to build some bridges. The establishment of a pilot scheme designed to provide better communication between the various State agencies and the local community is a welcome first step. There is also an onus on the Garda to develop structures which are more sensitive to local needs. At street level, most hard-working detectives realise that areas of the inner city cannot be policed in the same way as an orderly housing estate in suburbia, but this kind of thinking has not always reached the higher ranks. It is, of course, imperative that the success achieved by the people in the north inner city does not lead to any complacency in official attitudes. The drugs crisis must continue to get the same kind of concentrated attention it has received since the murder of Veronica Guerin. There is still much ground to be made up.