International drug smugglers are using Ireland as a backdoor into Europe more and more often. Police, coastguards, marines and customs have so far been unable to secure the fjords and bays, which are difficult to control.
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00:00We're on O'Connell Bridge, right in the middle of Dublin city centre, and witness
00:07what appears to be a drug deal.
00:11Drug use has become more prevalent in Ireland.
00:14According to a UN report, Ireland ranks fourth globally in cocaine use per capita.
00:19Some people worry the country is facing a drug epidemic.
00:23Cocaine has become popular with Ireland's affluent middle class and is often found wherever
00:28people drink alcohol.
00:31Everybody's doing it, like don't just think it's the nightlife doing it.
00:34The way cocaine is nowadays is just like having a Sunday dinner.
00:38Who isn't on it?
00:39You don't know.
00:40I wouldn't say that Dublin has a cocaine problem, I'd say it's everywhere in Ireland.
00:45Yeah, the farmers take cocaine a lot to be fair.
00:48I think it's more so underground.
00:50In small towns there's a lot more cocaine abuse.
00:55Darnedale, one of the most disadvantaged communities in all of Dublin.
01:01Here you can find normal families living next to drug dealers and addicts.
01:05Crack houses are sometimes raided by the police.
01:09Locals tell us people come from all over to buy drugs here.
01:17Daniel Jones and his colleague are social workers for an organisation called The Dales.
01:22They do community outreach, helping where they can.
01:26Jones knows the scene well.
01:28He had problems with drugs himself for years.
01:30Don't put me on no bleeding camera, I'm not bad enough.
01:34It's definitely harder when it's on your doorstep, when you're walking out your door and you're
01:39trying your best and you're trying to get clean, you're trying to stay clean, you're
01:43trying to stay focused and you walk out and it's just in your face 24-7.
01:48With their red jackets, the social workers stand out.
01:51They're often the first point of contact for anyone looking for a way out of addiction.
01:55It's hard to turn against you, you have to get up, I'm doing well at the moment, I'm
02:01cleaning myself at the moment.
02:03Crack is one of the biggest problems in Darnedale.
02:06Made from a mixture of baking powder and cocaine, it's a highly addictive drug.
02:15Criminologist Trina O'Connor runs a community training centre that provides second chance
02:20education for young people from around the area.
02:23This is a section of desks and you can see we have manicures going on, we have blow drying
02:29going on, we have some rollers being set.
02:32The centre allows young people to finish their leaving certs and learn about working life.
02:37They receive a salary in return.
02:41And I suppose therefore when they have this education, it gives them an opportunity to
02:46have choices in life.
02:48In the centre's canteen, students learn how to run an industrial kitchen.
02:53For some it's a way out of a cycle of violence and crime.
02:57I myself have had several encounters with guns being pulled, with knives being pulled.
03:04So the opportunity to come here and to learn something and to be took out of that hostile
03:09environment is a great opportunity because it keeps young people off the streets, it
03:13keeps them out of crime.
03:15Barndale has been struggling with poverty, crime and drug addiction for generations.
03:21This is the clinic here to the left, as you see it's really isolated.
03:29Daniel and his colleague come to this methadone clinic regularly.
03:34This woman is one of their clients.
03:38Trust is one of their most important commodities, the only way they can gain access to the people
03:43they want to help.
03:44I will get fed up doing it because I'm just fed up now, really, but I'm on the road to
03:49recovery, am I guys?
03:52The number of heroin addicts in treatment has been declining in Ireland, but the number
03:56of crack cocaine patients has increased six-fold since 2017.
04:02Where do the drugs come from?
04:04Along Ireland's south-western coast, we meet fisherman representative Patrick Murphy in
04:09the port town of Castletown Bear.
04:12Fishing boats from all over Europe unload their cargo here.
04:16He believes Ireland has a security problem.
04:20I've never seen an operation to check if there are drugs coming into the harbour.
04:24We had more stringent controls for Covid than we do for narcotics.
04:29Murphy says Ireland's fishing industry is in a desperate situation.
04:33Over the course of a single year, 20% of their boats were pushed out of the market.
04:37He says the fishing industry's economic crisis also poses a safety risk.
04:42Last year, suspected drug smugglers legally bought a boat in this harbour.
04:46It's linked to one of the biggest drug busts in Irish history.
04:50All I know is that there's more drugs now in Europe and everywhere else than there ever
04:54was before.
04:55It has to be coming in some way, and I believe that we have a weakness in our coastline.
05:03The Irish military recently procured two new Airbus C295 maritime surveillance aircraft.
05:09These airplanes carry out long-range patrols at sea.
05:13Anti-drug operations are one part of their mission profile.
05:17Still critics doubt that Ireland can effectively protect its coastline.
05:22According to media reports, only one of eight Irish Navy ships was operational at the beginning
05:27of the year.
05:29One ship responsible for almost 1 million square kilometres of sea and 3,000 kilometres
05:34of coastline.
05:36When asked about how many ships are currently operational, the Irish military refused to
05:41comment, citing security concerns.
05:48Daniel started using hard drugs at the age of 15.
05:52For 20 years, he was trapped in a vicious cycle of drug use, crime, and in and out of
05:58prison.
05:59Today, he says he's living proof that anyone can find a way out of addiction.
06:03It's trying to learn how to change the type in your mind, and trying to put positive thoughts
06:10into your head instead of the negative thoughts, and if you can't do that, look for support
06:14and being able to look on the brighter side, I think.
06:19Daniel Jones has put up these posters everywhere to bring a bit of positivity and colour to
06:24Darndale.
06:26He says sometimes the only thing people need is a bit of hope.