We received a huge reaction to last week’s article by Jacqueline Hogge on the prevalence of drugs in rural Ireland. We all know that drugs are now as much a problem in rural Ireland as in urban areas. But the extent of this was revealed when agricultural contractors said that their industry is being used to launder drug money.

In some areas it’s thought that machinery is being used as a vehicle to conceal drug profits. Another story that is affecting people in rural areas and which isn’t being talked about enough is illegal hare coursing, where groups of people trespass on farmers’ lands to facilitate the coursing. Both stories highlight the need for a greater Garda presence in rural Ireland.

Many rural Garda stations have been downgraded or closed over the last decade allowing rural crime to increase. For more, see this week’s Irish Country Living.

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