Battle against drugs: Communities that were torn apart by drug addiction have bounced back, writes Carl O'Brien
Ronnie Byrne's voice echoes around the sparkling new basketball arena in St Catherine's Sports and Community Centre in the heart of the Liberties.
"It's taken us around 10 years to get this," says Mr Byrne, admiring the €16.5 million facility in Dublin's south city centre which still smells of new furniture and fresh paint.
A founder member of the Concerned Parents Against Drugs (CPAD) in the early 1980s, Mr Byrne is now chairman of St Catherine's Combined Community Association.
The new centre is rich in symbolism. Built on the site of the derelict Jack Tuohy sewing factory, once a major employer, the bold architecture of the new complex suggests a rebirth of a community saddled with one of the most acute drugs problems in western Europe.
"There's people who have put their heart and soul into this. There was a phenomenal amount of work involved. It's great to see it finally up," said Byrne.
Things didn't always look so hopeful. Just a few years ago the area was marked by a stand-off between anti-drugs groups, who believed authorities were not doing enough, and gardaí who were concerned about vigilante activity against pushers and addicts.
One of the low points was reached in May 1996, when a drug addict and AIDS sufferer, Josie Dwyer (41), was killed in an attack at Basin Lane in Dublin which gardaí blamed on vigilantes. His friend, Mr Alan Byrne, was injured in the attack.
Ronnie Byrne pleaded guilty to assaulting Alan Byrne occasioning him actual bodily harm and committing violent disorder. He was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment for the assault and disorder charges at the Special Criminal Court.
Ronnie Byrne's experience reflects the changing way communities in drug-ravaged areas are responding to the drug and crime crisis facing inner-cities.
CPAD has effectively disbanded as members have moved on to work on local residents' group, drugs task forces and community centres.
"As parents, we came together at the start and some took the role of fighting the dealers, others wanted to be involved with the youth, others wanted to be in treatment and services.
"Now, every area has its community group, people are looking after their own areas. The Government has set up a lot of task forces and boards which are involving a lot of people and that soaks up a lot of time. Communities are managing issues themselves now," said Byrne.
In the absence of community groups, Government Departments and the gardaí were reluctant to deal with the Concerned Parents during the 1980s and early 1990s.
However, the establishment of local drug task forces and other bodies aimed at dealing with the problems of drug-ravaged areas helped to galvanise communities into forming individual residents' groups.
A number of major projects such as FÁS and funding initiatives like the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund has helped provide funding to many badly needed projects and facilities, such as St Catherine's Sports and Community Centre.
In the Eastern Regional Health Authority, there are 59 drug treatment locations compared with 12 in 1997.
Latest official studies estimate there were around 12,456 heroin addicts in the Dublin area in 2001, down by about a thousand from a study three years earlier.
"We'll never know the impact we've had with the Concerned Parents," Byrne says.
"Certainly, the Government would never have acted on half of the projects they're investing in. They only threw money into the areas because people were marching on the streets."
It's not all glowingly positive by any means.
COCAD, a branch of the Concerned Parents, is still active, but not at the level it previously was. Alarm bells are also ringing over shrinking Government funding for vital projects.
In 2001, for example, about €9 million was ploughed into drug-treatment and rehabilitation services.
Last year this fell to €6.7 million. This year it dropped again to €1.2 million.
"While the Government threw the money in, they're now taking it back out again," says Mr Byrne.
Mr Andrew O'Connell, assistant manager of St Catherine's Community and Sports Centre, also voices a note of concern.
"One of the biggest problems is the FÁS scheme. It took parents back into the education system, back with the prospect of work. That gave them a different way of life. Now that money is being withdrawn."
Byrne says he wants to be hopeful for the future of areas like the Liberties, but says it can only be done if the political system keeps an interest in addressing issues of importance to the community.
"The political response is all fire-fighting, short-sighted," says Byrne." . . . It's someone else's problem. That's the attitude."