In April 2026, colleagues from Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology – Dr. Cian Ó Concubhair (Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice) and Dr. Ian Marder (Associate Professor in Criminology) – were invited to address the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use.
The Committee was established to consider the recommendations in the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use and make a reasoned response to each recommendation. In an official press release, the Committee Chair, Gary Gannon TD, described the purpose of this session as brining together ‘legal and academic expertise, policy insight and lived experience to support a balanced, evidence-informed approach to Ireland’s drug policy’.
Cian’s opening statement can be read here, and Ian’s can be read here. Over the course of the hearing, they discussed the importance of repealing s.3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and the potential to supplement that work with bye-laws prohibiting public use of drugs. They presented recent international research evidence on the potential of this approach to reduce drug-related harms and the different ways that police forces have worked to avoid criminalising people who use drugs and prevent drug-related violence.
They also discussed the harmful effects of criminalisation in Ireland, including the widespread use of stop and search, the impact of drug criminalisation on police culture, and the impact of criminalisation on people who use drugs without harming themselves and, separately, on those who might otherwise access health services to support them to overcome harmful drug use in the absence of the stigma associated with criminalisation.
Their appearance at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use in April 2026 can be watched here. The discussion was also covered in articles in The Journal and the Irish Examiner.
Previously, Cian was invited to address the Committee in 2024, information about which can be found here. Ian was invited to speak at the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use in 2023 at a session which can be viewed here.
With colleagues from Trinity College Dublin, Ian recently published an article in the International Journal of Drug Policy outlining the research on drug-related violence in Ireland and considering how the public health approach to violence prevention can be applied.
Earlier this month, he also appeared on the RTÉ News at Six to discuss the importance of expanding community-based approaches to justice in lieu of short prison sentences.
