Drug Pushers Out

galway | crime and justice | event notice Monday September 26, 2005 23:01 by COCAD - Coalition of Communities Against Drugs

For over 20 years Dublin’s working class communities have been ravished by heroin. Each time the heroin crisis became an epidemic the local communities organised themselves to fight back. At last, a book has been written by somebody who was in the middle of this fightback. This book, “Pushers Out”, gives the affected communities side of the story. It pulls no punches and records the highs and the lows of the 20 year campaign.

The Coalition of Communities Against Drugs are launching “Pushers Out” in Galway Library on Wednesday 28th at 6pm.

For over 20 years Dublin’s working class communities have been ravished by heroin. Each time the heroin crisis became an epidemic the local communities organised themselves to fight back. At last, a book has been written by somebody who was in the middle of this fightback. This book, “Pushers Out”, gives the affected communities side of the story. It pulls no punches and records the highs and the lows of the 20 year campaign.

The Coalition of Communities Against Drugs are launching “Pushers Out” in Galway Library on Wednesday 28th at 6pm.

Speakers on the night will include:-

Ronnie Byrne
South Inner City Community Activist
Joe Mooney
North Inner City Community Activist
Cieran Perry
Secretary, Coalition of Communities Against Drugs

Chairperson:
Michael McCaughan Author

About the Book
For two decades Dublin working class communities, in the face of official neglect, fought to overcome an epidemic of heroin abuse that engulfed them. Led, variously, by the Concerned Parents Against Drugs (CPAD) and the Coalition of Communities Against Drugs (COCAD) organisations, the campaign captured headlines as a result of the policy of directly confronting drug pushers. At the same time pressure was continually applied to the government and statutory agencies for concerted action to address the drug crisis. While successful in mobilising communities and impacting on the heroin problem the campaign was marked by continuous conflict with the authorities and dogged by criticisms of vigilantism and of being a front for the IRA.

About the Author
Born in 1957 in Georgetown, Guyana, to an Irish mother and a Guyanese father, André Lyder was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin, and the University of Guelph, Ontario. Living and working in Dublin's inner city for some ten years he became active in the anti-drugs movement in 1996, soon assuming a position on the executive committee of the Coalition of Communities Against Drugs (COCAD) and acting as spokesperson of the organisation. In 1997, he was appointed Chair of the task force established by the Irish government to address the heroin problem in Dublin's south inner city. Lyder currently resides in Owen Sound, Ontario.
Publishers Website: www.trafford.ie