Anti-drugs activists from Dublin's inner city yesterday applauded a special screening in the Savoy cinema of When the Sky Falls, a film based on the last few years of the life and work of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Before the curtains opened, Ms Sadie Grace, co-ordinator of the Dublin Citywide Anti-Drugs Campaign, called for a minute's silence in memory of Guerin, who had "worked tirelessly to expose the underlying criminal element in this country". Afterwards, Ms Grace echoed the views of many when she described the film as "very truthful", saying the late journalist, who was murdered by criminals in 1996, was "a very brave woman who really cared about people being killed by the drug barons".
Referring to the spate of recent deaths from adulterated heroin, she said: "Our children are being killed on a weekly basis here and nobody cares. If the Government cared the way Veronica Guerin cared, we wouldn't be having the deaths we're having."
Ms Anna Quigley, another anti-drugs activist, emerged from the screening still shaking with emotion. "It was so real, so incredibly real," she said, particularly in its portrayal of the drug dealers, though she agreed that it didn't explain much of the background.
One middle-aged man who used to live in Summerhill until he was "burned out by criminals" said so many families had lost their loved ones that he would not be content "until all these ruthless drug barons are locked up and the keys thrown away".
Senator Joe Costello (Labour) said the focus of the film was "very much on a totally obsessed journalist who courted danger" - fictionalised as Sinead Hamilton of the Sunday Globe. The real suffering of inner city communities was "peripheral to the story".
Mr Ronan Sheehan, the author, said Veronica Guerin was like the Greek heroine, Antigone, who had saved the city from a plague. His 17-year-old son, Luke, thought the film offered a fresh view of Dublin, tapping into the vein of British crime thrillers.
According to Mr Mick Rafferty, a director of Community Technical Aid, it was "still too early to make a comprehensive film about the drugs crisis in Dublin". As for When the Sky Falls, he said "it does get a bit cluttered with incident, without explanation".
Mr Nigel Warren Green, one of the producers, said they were "conscious of the fact when we were making the film that we were treading on some very sensitive ground". They had even sent the script to Mr Tony Gregory TD because it was "his turf".
The reaction from community leaders had been positive and, while the producers had not sought the Guerin family's endorsement, they had received a "benign" response. "It's not a biopic of Veronica's life, just a snapshot of what happened when she took on the system."
When the Sky Falls goes on general release on Friday, preceded by a special screening the previous evening in association with The Irish Times. "We're not having a red carpet premiere with tiaras and limos because it wouldn't be appropriate," its producer said.