COCAINE IRELAND

Katy French at work. Her death has shocked a nation.

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A TIME TO ASK-WHY ?

This country has been dramatically alerted to the widespread use of cocaine during the last seven days. Firstly two young men were rushed to hospital after a house party in Waterford, they had apparently ingested cocaine powder. As of this morning both men have died. Between these two deaths, the high-profile model Katy French was also hospitalised after using the drug. At 24 Katy French was a very familiar figure, with photographs of her regularly appearing in papers and magazines, she was also outspoken in her views on controversial issues including her ‘past’ problems with cocaine. Sadly, she died yesterday ,her sister and parents at her bedside, and it seems likely that her death was as a direct result of using cocaine. As well as being a very beautiful young woman, she was a witty intelligent and genuinely warm hearted person according to those who knew her. These qualities were evident even in her very public persona, and typically just over a week ago she celebrated her 24th birthday in the full glare of media spotlight. The image of Katy still lingers surrounded by her family and friends, her smile beaming out of the extensive newspaper coverage of the event. Two days later she was being taken to a hospital in the back of a jeep after collapsing at a friends house.

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A TERRIBLE MASTER

Now as a nation Ireland has been faced starkly with the dark underbelly of a booming Celtic Tiger economy, a growing number of our population are being enmeshed in the sinister cycle of so-called ‘recreational drug use ’. The problem affects every town and village on this island as well as the large urban areas, transcending class and background with the young teens and twenties being especially vulnerable. The three tragic deaths during the last week are a cruel reminder that an economy without a soul is a terrible master. In all the comments that I have heard in the last several days, one by an ex-cocaine addict struck me forcibly. When asked why he used coke one young man simply replied, “Because I wasn’t happy”. While this is not the only reason for drug use it seems to me that prolonged usage is a sign of inner discontentment and emptiness. Many are finding the stresses and strains of our burgeoning economy too great, and cocaine offers the prospect of instant relaxation and the ultimate feel-good factor. Ironically economic deprivation can trigger drug dependency with similar effects for a different set of reasons!

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VITAL QUESTIONS

It’s long since time that we looked at the Creators blueprint for our lives and discovered His plans for our continuing well being and happiness. To know our place and purpose in this world will alone give us the satisfaction that we crave for. To know where we are going, why we are here and what is our ultimate purpose? These are questions that cannot be answered by the economists or sociologists, we need a higher authority and power, none other than the Omniscient God who created us and loves us. Surely the Gospel is the message for this critical hour, a life of meaning and worth purposed by God for every man woman and child through His son, Jesus Christ. Strangely at the time of year when ostensibly we remember Jesus coming into our world, the hedonism and futility of lives lived without God are most blatantly displayed. It is time for the Christian to stand up, speak up and be counted. There is Good News, there is a second chance, a second birth even, by the grace of the living God. I hope that those who died so tragically in recent days will not have died in vain, but their fates will rock this country to its core and cause us as a nation to ask -why?

Gerard O'Shea