INTERNMENT OF DRUG PUSHERS

Sir, - The recent call from Labour Party Cllr Eamonn O'Brien (The Irish
Times, March 11th) for the introduction of selective internment of all
known and active drug pushers is a matter for much concern.

Is this the official Labour Party policy or Cllr O'Brien's own? I seem to
recall that the current president of the Labour Party also called for the
introduction of internment some years ago in relation to the security
situation in Northern Ireland.

While there is no doubt that the country, and Dublin in particular, has a
huge drugs problem, and as someone working directly in the Ballymun
community to combat the drugs scourge, I am more aware than most of the
extent of that problem, the solution hardly lies in mass internment.

All internment is selective - unless the entire community interns itself.
Who does the selecting? Who gets selected for internment - just drugs
dealers? or, given that laws of evidence and the right to a fair trial go
out the window, what guarantees can exist that innocent people won't become
victims of the blunt weapon of internment.

Surely it is the duty of public representatives to ensure that, before
Draconian laws are enacted, the use of the existing laws is examined more
closely. Cllr O'Brien should be aware that in his own area the gardai have
recently had a greatly increased level of success and several leading drug
dealers have received lengthy jail sentences.

That success has been due to a strong level of co-operation between the
gardai, local authorities and the community of Ballymun. Perhaps public
representatives could be more supportive of that local cooperative effort
rather than recklessly calling for anti-democratic measures such as
internment. - Yours, etc.

Sean O'Cionnaith,
The Workers Party,
Ballymun,
Dublin 9.