Smoke and mirrors minister under fire in justice debate

BY JOANNE CORCORAN

Aengus Ó Snodaígh

The man leaving a bad taste in everybody's mouths last weekend, Michael McDowell, featured prominently in the debate on justice, community and drugs.

First to the podium, Dublin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh said: "The Minister for Injustice claims he is waging a war on crime, but in reality he has done nothing to help ordinary people.

"We in Sinn Féin represent the areas hardest hit by poverty, the areas worst ravaged by drug dependencies.

"We've shown leadership on issues such as policing and the drugs issue. Michael McDowell has chosen to spend his time creating a green scare akin to McCarthyism. He sells himself as the great reformer, but his plans for policing don't make any change.

"The Minister is all about smoke and mirrors," Ó Snodaigh continued. "His over-reaction to us is an admission of his weakness as a Minister for Justice and of our potential. Instead of doing his job, he is leading the attack on republicanism. He is disembowelling the equality and human rights agenda central to our policies and the Good Friday Agreement."

Ó Snodaigh said that during the Minister's time in office he had increased the state's amount of emergency legislation.

"I call on the Human Rights Commission to immediately investigate the operation of the Special Court," he said.

The Dublin TD also praised Sinn Féin activists for their work on the drugs issue.

"Since our submission to the National Drugs Task Force, a number of amendments have been made to this state's drug policies," he said. "We do have an influence and we must continue to use it."

Dublin Councillor Daithí Doolan opposed motion 49 of the Clár, which called for the decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use and for the Dublin Government to concentrate its efforts and resources instead on those engaged in the importation and distribution of illegal substances.

Doolan said that the issue was not the problem in communities dealing with drugs problems.

"I oppose this motion from my own experience of dealing with drugs in Dublin's city centre," he said. "The reality is that the Dublin Government has plenty of resources to deal with the importation and distribution of drugs; it just isn't doing the job right."

This motion was eventually lost.

Ray McHugh of the Charlie McGlade cumann in Drimnagh provided some entertainment during the debate, when he spoke about the Dublin government wasting police resources on traffic control.

"They say that 'Operation Free Flow' was introduced by John Bruton after either he or his wife had been held up in traffic for an hour and a half. It's a pity they hadn't been held up in one of the countries many overburdened A&E Departments," McHugh said, to great applause.

McHugh also spoke on motion 44, which called for alcohol to be labelled to identify where it was purchased.

Dáil Group leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin opposed this motion and also motion 43, which called for the immediate suspension of licences provided to off-licences in the last ten years.

Ó Caoláin said that while the thinking behind both motions was sound, they would be unworkable in practice.

"The biggest problem is not the availability of alcohol," he said.

"In the coming year, the party will be developing a comprehensive policy on alcohol and we ask delegates to wait for this report, instead of adopting a piecemeal approach."

Both motions were defeated.

Stephanie Lord from UCD spoke to motion 25 on judicial reform. The motion addressed the elitist nature of the legal profession and judiciary.

"Supposedly we have free education in this state," Lord said. "But most people from working-class backgrounds can't afford to continue with their legal educations. Money shouldn't be a hindrance to furthering your academic career."

The motion, which called on the party to develop a policy of affirmative action within the legal professions, including supporting complete scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, was passed.

Michael Carr from the Joe Clarke Cumann, Rathmines, spoke in favour of motion 46, which proposed the liberalisation of licensing laws towards a European model.

"It's time we had a more mature attitude to drink," Carr said. "We have to reduce the need for people to drink fast. In southern Europe, people can drink all night, and yet their cities don't see the same level of drunkenness or brawling that ours do. The other extreme is Britain, which calls closing time at 11pm. I've seen people in British pubs drunk at 7pm. It's time we started following a more liberal regime."