Court figures show drug driving on the rise in Leitrim with 50 percent increase

Drug driving cases before Carrick-on-Shannon District Court have risen sharply, reflecting a concerning national trend that has prompted calls for an urgent Christmas crackdown on Irish roads.

Figures show that 14 people appeared before Carrick-on-Shannon District Court for drug driving offences during the whole of 2024, while 21 people were before the court for the same offences between January and October 2025. This represents a 50 percent increase in cases in less than a year, raising serious concerns about road safety across the county.

In neighbouring County Sligo, 17 people appeared in court for drug driving in 2024, compared to 38 cases between January and October 2025, representing a 124 percent increase over the same period.

The rise locally comes amid dramatic increases nationwide, with district courts in Ballina, Donegal, Trim, Cavan, Sligo, Longford, Roscommon and Mullingar also recording significant jumps in drug driving prosecutions.

According to figures supplied by the Irish Courts Service to Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, a total of 2,050 people were before district courts for drug driving offences up to October 2025 alone.

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This compares with 1,499 prosecutions for the entirety of 2024, marking a 37 percent increase in just the first ten months of this year. As a result, 2025 is now the highest year on record for drug driving cases in the district court system.

Ní Mhurchú noted that while drug driving cases have been steadily rising since 2020, this year’s escalation is “particularly alarming.”

She has called for an expanded roadside drug testing regime this Christmas on Irish roads.

“We need an expanded roadside drug testing regime this Christmas period on our roads. We also need to consider policies whereby anyone convicted of drug driving is required to re-sit their driving test or, at minimum, complete a comprehensive driver re-education programme. They have to get the message that they are a danger to other innocent road users,” she urged.

She also suggested deploying modified interlock technology, devices currently used to prevent drink driving in the cars of convicted drink drivers, so they can detect drugs instead of alcohol in the vehicles of repeat offenders.

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As of December 18, 2025, 181 people had lost their lives on Irish roads, 17 more than on the same date in 2024.