Middle-class cocaine users must remember they are funding organised crime, according to Ciara Kelly.

The Newstalk Breakfast presenter was speaking after the new chief executive of Merchant's Quay Ireland warned that middle-class Ireland is sustaining the drug trade.

Speaking ahead of the launch of Merchant’s Quay’s annual report, Eddie Mullins claimed the country does not like to discuss the fact that there are people in politics, media and An Garda Síochána who are habitual drug users.

Ciara said the middle class is hypocritical when it comes to the drug trade.

"I think there are many middle-class users of Class A drugs, things like cocaine, and they don't join the dots between them buying a line of coke... and seeing the Kinahans shooting at each other," she said.

"These are the same people, by the way, who buy organic vegetables and insist on Fair Trade coffee.

"I think he's completely right and I think the middle classes are hypocritical in this manner.

"The only thing I would say is, there's something funny in the way we say, 'Poor people are addicts but middle-class people are habitual users'.

"Anyone can be an addict in terms of drugs, and middle-class people become addicted to drugs too," she added.

Shane Coleman in the Newstalk studio. Image: Newstalk

Presenter Shane Coleman said he agrees with Mr Mullins.

"He's calling the middle classes out because we, in the middle classes, are sustaining and funding the criminal activities and the lifestyles of the Kinahans and others," he said.

"It's working-class communities that really suffer from this; it is very rare gangland comes to middle-class areas.

"There's an element of sort of looking down people's nose at those communities that are blighted by drugs - yet it us who sustain it.

"I think fair play to him for calling it out," he added.

Main image: Split-screen shows Newstalk Breakfast presenter Ciara Kelly and drug use