ABOUT 70 people protested outside Store Street Garda station in Dublin last night at the detention of a leading member of the anti-drug movement in the Tallaght area, arrested yesterday morning at his home in Fettercairn.
The man, who last week took part in a meeting with gardai, health board and corporation officials aimed at combating drug dealing in the area, was held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which allows up to 48 hours' detention without charge.
Mr John Noonan, spokesman for Fettercairn Against Drugs, said the arrest would damage good relations which had been built up between activists in the area and the gardai. The gardai were going to force people in Fettercairn to break off any contact with the police, he said.
The residents could not understand the Garda's attitude, he said. "One day they love us, and the next day they're kicking us in the teeth." Mr Cecil Johnson, a community leader from Killinarden in Tallaght, said, "They're trying to break the anti-drug movement." Both men are Sinn Fein members, but they say the anti-drug movement has no republican agenda.
Gardai have become concerned about a growth of vigilantism in some areas of west Dublin, where young people have been attacked and accused of drug dealing.
