I saw cocaine taken on Hill 16
Sunday June 24 2007
Additional officers will be on patrol to combat open drug-taking which occurred on the Hill last Sunday during the Dublin/Meath replay.
While the GAA are no doubt delighted to see Dublin progress in the Championship as they are guaranteed a Croke Park sell-out almost every time, stories of cocaine use and violence on the Hill will not please the sport's senior officials.
Earlier last week, several callers to a national radio show detailed how they saw young men openly sprinkle cocaine on the cisterns in the toilets before snorting the drug.
I also observed coke being taken. As others went about their business in one of the large toilet areas underneath the expansive terrace, I saw young men - in full view of everyone - lining up to take cocaine.
"I have been on the Hill for over 20 years and I have never seen anything like that, that's rotten. I have my kids with me," one man said to me as he left the toilet and headed back to the Hill.
At present, several homemade videos containing images of people on the famous Hill throwing bottles at stewards and gardai are uploaded on internet website YouTube.
On the way into the Hill last Sunday, many fans were subjected to searches by stewards and gardai, but the officials' priority was to confiscate glass alcohol bottles. Fans spoke openly about having bottles of beer taken off them - while sizeable blocks of hash in their pockets were left undisturbed.
The Sunday Independent understands that undercover gardai will be on duty on Hill 16 in addition to the uniform police to monitor events as they progress.
Garda sources have confirmed that they were made aware of what happened last Sunday and measures are being put in place to combat such events.
The newly-revamped Hill 16 was the last part of the stadium to be redeveloped. It holds close to 14,000 people when full.
The match today is not a sell-out, but the crowd is expected to be around 70,000. Throw-in at the Dublin/Offaly match is at 4pm.
- Daniel McConnell
