Is there a cocaine epidemic in rural Ireland?

The small town of Rathcormac in north Cork is in shock following the death of 19-year-old Padraig “Podge” O’Keefe, who is believed to have suffered a fatal drug overdose (until the toxicology report becomes available, the exact cause of death cannot be ascertained).

Padraig’s body was found by a local milkman, just yards from the O’Keefe home on the Glenville Road, two miles outside of Rathcormac, between 6am and 6.30am on June 19. Over a dozen wreaths now lie where the body was discovered, including a heart-rending message from Padraig’s older brother Brendan. “I love you Podge,” he writes, “I’ll love you always. You mean the world to me. Hope there is a better place out there for you, you deserve it. Love always, your big brother Brendan”.
Rathcormac parish priest Fr. Neilius O’ Donnell, a family friend of the O’Keefes for many years, says he is devastated by the tragic news: “There’s so little you can say. All you can do is be with the family to support them. Life can change in an instant, and those left behind have to pick up the pieces.”
Principal of the local Scoil Bhride, Margaret Howard, taught Padraig for five years and remembers him as a much loved student and an avid reader.
“He had two great passions – reading and hurling. From a very early age, he was an avid reader. He was a great character in the class, always great fun and in good form, and everybody loved him. This is a huge tragedy, for something like this to happen in such a small village, and it has shaken the whole community.”
There may yet prove to be a sinister aspect to the death. Gardaí are now trying to establish how the 19-year-old construction worker got to the lonely road where his body was found, over two miles away from the houseparty in Páirc Na Gréine that Padraig had attended hours earlier in Moulane. They have not yet ruled out the possibility that he may have been driven there in an unconscious state.
Detectives have established that Mr. O’Keefe had been socialising in Rathcormac for most of Sunday before attending the party, where, it is believed, cocaine was widely available. On the morning of the 19th, State pathologist Dr. Marie Cassidy carried out a preliminary examination at the scene before the body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a full post mortem. This initial examination concluded that Padraig was not the victim of an assault or a hit-and-run and ruled out foul play. Results indicated that while Padraig had sustained a head injury, he may have died of a drug overdose. There were also reports that a knife was found near the body. However, it’s believed that Padraig had no knife wounds and that the knife may have belonged to Padraig himself.
On the morning Padraig’s body was found, a search was carried out on eight houses in the Rathcormac area under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and fields and ditches were also searched in the area. During these initial searches, only a small amount of cocaine and cannabis were found. Two days later, however, following information supplied by concerned parents in the area, three men were arrested on suspicion of drug dealing in North Cork and quantities of cocaine and cannabis worth €5,000 were seized in two houses.
Superintendent Con Cadogan of Fermoy says that he is grateful for the information supplied by concerned parents in the area. “Unfortunately it took the tragic death of a young man for the public to become aware of the serious risk posed by drug use,” he adds.
The spread of cocaine in Cork was further highlighted on the 23rd, when a man was arrested in the Douglas Street area of Cork city following a seizure of €20,000 worth of cocaine. A recent survey carried out by Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath revealed that one in five 18-35 year olds in Cork have used cocaine. A cocaine treatment clinic is expected to open in Cork later this year. “Reports have shown that many cocaine users are put off by existing treatment clinics, which were heavily focused, particularly in Dublin, on treating heroin addicts,” says Michael McGrath.
But there is a different question that remains unanswered: why, when cocaine has been available in Ireland for decades, are we suddenly seeing a spate of deaths? One user spoken to by Hot Press is concerned that the public may not be getting the full picture from the authorities. “The fact is that people haven’t a clue what they are ingesting,” he insists. “It may be that cocaine is being cut with substances that are lethal – and that it is these that are causing the deaths rather than the cocaine itself. And that is down to the fact that the drugs trade is in the hands of completely unscrupulous criminals.”
It is a question that must be answered by any post-mortem, he says: what other toxins are in the system of those who are thought to have died as a result of cocaine use? And is that the real source of the problem? It is a particularly relevant point in the light of what has already been revealed by Hot Press regarding the widespread contamination of cannabis on the Irish market at the moment.
Meanwhile, Gardaí are currently anxious to speak to anyone who was on the road between Rathcormac village and Gearagh Cross, where Padraig O’Keefe’s body was discovered. They are also interested in speaking to the driver of a silver-coloured Ford Mondeo, who is believed to have travelled along that road “at a critical time”.