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The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
How Joe Duffy shut down head shops (and why all drugs were legalised for one weird day in 2015)
AFTER OVER 25 years in the Liveline hotseat, Joe Duffy, one of Ireland's most recognisable and influential voices on radio, will hang up his mic for the last time this afternoon. From scandalising the nation after the release of Normal People , to '51551 Wash yer hands' , Joe has brought us countless iconic moments over the years. But younger readers may not recall Joe's instrumental role in Ireland accidentally legalising ecstasy and ketamine for a day. It was 10 March 2015, and thanks to a ruling from the Court of Appeal which deemed the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 unconstitutional, Ireland made international headlines for accidentally making drugs such as ecstacy, ketamine and meth legal for 24 hours. Okay, okay, it wasn't fully Joe's doing, but the court decision arose from a series of events put in motion in large part thanks to Joe's relentless and passionate campaigning against Ireland's head shops. Head shops began popping up at scale across Ireland in late 2009, selling potent drugs such as mephedrone and synthetic cannabinoids. These drugs were not illegal under Irish legislation at the time. At the time, young people in Ireland had become the biggest users of head shop drugs in Europe. A protest against headshops outside Leinster House in March 2010. Reflecting on that period this morning, Joe told RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland that he first came across a head shop while walking down Dublin's Talbot Street around Christmas 2009. 'I saw this queue at the shop, at a window like you see at a petrol station, and it was a head shop. Advertisement 'I hadn't a clue what a head shop was. I hadn't a clue, and I asked 'What are these guys selling?' And they were basically drugs they were selling. Let's be blunt.' Joe went on to explain how he mentioned it on Liveline on his first day back after Christmas in January. 'We discovered within two days, there was over 100 head shops thriving in Ireland, thriving. And then people start ringing in about the effects of this. We didn't know what they were selling, unregulated. Unbelievable. Making massive, massive profits.' Five months later, on 10 May 201o, Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Brian Cowen clamped down on the shops by declaring a list of over 100 psychoactive drugs to be controlled substances under the 1977 Misuse of Drugs Act. Taoiseach Brian Cowen announcing the legislation. May, 2010. It had an immediate effect. Gardaí raided head shops across the country and, within weeks, the number of head shops in Ireland fell from 102 to 36. Joe put this down to the power of politics, but also to the power of people on Liveline, who brought the issue to the nation's attention. The veteran broadcaster stuck with the story. In 2015, a caller, Paul Hodkinson, talked to Joe about the death of his brother Colm after he took magic mushrooms in 2005. Joe said his campaign against head shops was the only thing he's done over the years with Liveline that brought real risk to him. 'I was physically threatened twice, once in an underground car park by a guy who obviously owned a head shop and was out a lot of money. And another [time] I was spat at on Gardiner Street by another head shop person. 'But that's my job, I was trying to be mediator. But on the head shop thing, I did get very passionate,' he admitted. In the lead up to the government's clampdown, protests against new head shops were common, with some also held outside Dáil Éireann. Related Reads Joe Duffy leaves window open on Áras run as he closes door on RTÉ career Joe Duffy interview: 'We've more people than ever calling. The biggest decision you make is who not to put on air. That can be heartbreaking.' 'Now I couldn't go on any of the protests. But what I can say, there was a plan to open a head shop in Clontarf. Obviously, I couldn't go on that protest, but I painted every single placard that was used in that protest that day,' Joe recalled. Despite the success of the Liveline campaign, not everyone recalls Joe's interventions on drugs policy fondly. In 2010, calls to ban head shops were labelled as 'Joe Duffy-created hysteria' by then Labour councillor Dermot Looney. Protest outside Leinster House. March, 2010. Others, like criminal justice lecturer at Maynooth University, Dr Cian Ó Concubhair, take the view that Joe contributed to a wave of 'moral panic' related to drug use in Ireland. Despite these criticisms, research carried out by Trinity College Dublin in 2020 suggests that the closure of Ireland's headshops led to a drop in drug-related emergency room admissions. At the height of head shop activity in the first eight months of 2010, the rate of drug-related admissions were 9% higher than the same period in 2008. Two years later, in 2012, admissions were over 30% lower, with the decline beginning in June 2010, the month after the government passed its legislation. In Joe's own view, his campaign against head shops was Liveline's 'best achievement'. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Times
08-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
After years of economic calm, Ireland could be facing a storm. Are we better prepared this time?
On the day that Brian Cowen was elected taoiseach on May 7th, 2008, one of the headlines in The Irish Times read 'Poor old unlucky Bertie '. The Mahon tribunal had stampeded through Ahern's murky personal finances with a coach and four earlier that year, and Ahern had no choice but to fall on his sword. His successor Brian Cowen had been Fianna Fáil 's dauphin prince for a decade. In a for-once becalmed and benign Dáil, he listened as party leaders heaped praise on him and wished him well. In his own speech, he said he wanted to care for the less well-off in society and create 'caring and compassionate communities'. That day was as good as it got for Cowen. A retrospective headline could have read: 'Poor old unlucky Biffo'. And as for Bertie? He dodged a bullet that day. The first slate clouds of the coming storm were massing just over the horizon. READ MORE There were some small signs already evident. The State's revenues in the first four months of the year had fallen alarmingly. Yet, the Versailles levels of spending continued apace. [ Is this Government repeating the mistakes of 2008? Opens in new window ] That was only the beginning of the tragedy that was to unfold for Cowen and for the State. By June came the confirmation of a slump in house sales, and a significant downturn in bank profitability. The late Brian Lenihan mused that month it was just his luck to become minister for finance at the moment the building boom had come a 'shuddering halt'. The government began to batten down the hatches but the hurricane had already made landfall. Those who write about politics love the phrase of George Santayana's that 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' Since the economic crash there have been several extraordinary events that might have presented credible threats to political stability across Ireland, Europe and the world: Brexit; the Covid-19 pandemic; the war in Ukraine; the energy crisis; the terrible events of October 7th and the unspeakable annihilation of Gaza by Israel. Now we have a bellicose Trump presidency, brimful with threats and tariffs. [ Corporate tax take tumbles 30% for May with €1.1bn less over same month last year Opens in new window ] The State has somehow managed to weather all those storms. That has been partly thanks to huge windfalls from corporation tax that have given Ireland a buffer from the worst impacts of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis. Annual once-off payments for households became the norm during the last Dáil term. Seemingly, our economy still retains the knack of defying gravity. Two sets of figures, published on Thursday, suggest that all looks good for the public finances. The Department of Finance confirmed there has been an increase of 3.6 per cent in tax revenue so far this year. Economic growth also looks strong. According to CSO data, gross domestic product (GDP) grew by almost 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, driven by a surge in exports. When President Trump started sabre-rattling about tariffs earlier this year, many people discovered for the first time the kind of astronomical figures associated with multinationals based here. Exports to the US from Ireland were worth €68 billion in 2024, two-thirds of which came from pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Beneath that veneer lies a more complicated scenario. Since 2011 there have been two parallel Irish economies, a global one and a domestic one. During the best years, GDP figures have been spectacular. But the picture was distorted. That part of the economy that doesn't feature gleaming towers in the Docklands, space-age pharmaceutical companies or aircraft leasing was lagging behind dramatically. This economy is made up of PAYE employees, or people working in less glamorous sectors, and those in the gig economy. Their reality has been a constant struggle to pay bills as prices escalate, to meet childcare costs, to scrape together enough to pay the mortgage or rent and put petrol in their cars. A new category, modified domestic demand (MDD), was created to better reflect that domestic economy. For example, when you strip out the multinationals, growth in MDD was less than 1 per cent in the first quarter of 2025. Not tanking by any means. But slowing. Tax take also seems to be holding up overall in 2025. However, the picture is complicated by the Apple tax money. When that is excluded, corporation tax is no longer up 18 per cent, but is more than 9 per cent down on the same period last year. Is that a sign that that ATM is finally running out of cash? It feels hard to escape from the sense that after years of generally smooth cruising, we are now facing turbulence. You can see signs of that wariness at institutional level. The Government has said categorically there will be no once-off payments this year. It has also revoked a plan to extend statutory sick-leave entitlements by two days. Sensibly, too, it has began an urgent all-hands-on-deck diplomatic and trade offensive to diversify away from the US and open up new markets elsewhere. One thing that has been reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger over the past decade is the willingness of governments to spend a lot of money. The capital housing budget has had a fivefold increase from €1.2 billion in 2017 to €6 billion in 2025. The health budget has almost doubled in the same period, up from €14.6 billion in 2017 to €25.8 billion this year. Overall State expenditure topped €100 billion for the first time in 2024. That's all well and good, unless we encounter a 2008-style collapse in revenue. Are we better prepared for the coming storm than 17 years ago? The answer is probably yes but even that might not inure us.
