Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Drugs handed over to Belfast priest after rally

A North Belfast Passionist priest was handed a major drugs haul this week, just hours after he spoke out against the scourge of drugs at a public rally.  

Holy Cross parish priest Fr Gary Donegan C.P. was one of the main speakers at an anti-suicide rally organised by a local suicide prevention group. 

At the meeting, Fr Donegan claimed that north Belfast must take action against the scourge of drugs in society.  

Just hours later when he returned to his Ardoyne monastery, he was handed a massive haul of cannabis plants with an estimated value of €57,000, as well as growing equipment.  

Understandably Fr Donegan did not wish to go into detail of the incident but said that the strength of feeling at the suicide rally following the death of a number of young men over the past month, prompted someone to “look to their conscience.” 

Fr Donegan said, “We had a great response to the rally and I talked about the elephant in the room, which is the relationship between suicide, self-harm and drugs.  There was a spontaneous round of applause when I brought up the influence drugs and alcohol have on vulnerable young minds.” 

He continued, “Talking about addressing the filth on our streets got a very marked response on the night.  When I got home later that night, somebody's conscience must have been enlightened by what I said and they were handed over and they were destroyed.”

No comments:

Post a Comment