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.”