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Updated 8.10pm
DRUGS MINISTER AODHÁN Ó Ríordáin has said that a supervised injection centre in Dublin will be in place within 12 to 18 months – if legislative blockages are “unblocked”.
Last month, Ó Riordáin gave a speech in London where he backed the de-criminalisation of possessing small amounts of drugs.
Later on that same week, he spoke on radio about introducing medically supervised injection centres in Dublin where drug users could go to inject themselves.
Speaking today at the launch of figures on drug deaths from the Health Research Board (HRB), he added that the plan, which will see one centre located in central Dublin, is attracting interest from drugs task forces around the country.
The cabinet today approved the drafting of legislation that will enable licences to be issued for the establishment of supervised injecting facilities.
A pilot service, at an as-yet unidentified site in Dublin city centre, will be established by the HSE or an NGO under a service-level agreement.
Drug use would take place in a licensed, clinical environment. While nursing and social care staff would supervise the facility, and provide emergency intervention in the event of an overdose, they will not be able to assist in administering drugs.
The HRB’s figures show that there were 86 poisoning deaths in 2013 where heroin was involved. Two in five of those who died were not alone at the time of their death, something the HRB said shows lives could have been saved.
Ó Ríordáin said that the centre would be in a “location where people are well used to dealing with this kind of clientele” adding that people should not have reservations about the centre because it provides a safer alternative.
“It’s a new departure for Irish drugs policy, so I want to be sensitive about how I approach it.
But, to be honest, no matter where you live, you probably have somebody injecting heroin pretty near you unsafely and leaving paraphernalia behind them. That may be a bus, a park or a playground.
“So having it in a controlled, humane and hygienic setting would be better. We have to move beyond this idea of scaremongering.”
Ó Ríordáin said in his remarks that “heroin is not an old problem”.
He and the government were praised by Tony Duffin from the Ana Liffey Drug Project for “using evidence-based solutions to our addiction issues”.
A government spokesperson said the injecting centre planned for Dublin would provide a supervised space where drug addicts can self-administer drugs and immediate care can be given the event of an overdose.
They cited an example of a centre in Copenhagen where a number of overdose cases were treated successfully.
The Misuse of Drugs Acts would continue to be enforced and the proposed changes do not amount to legalisation or decriminalisation of drugs, a government source insisted this evening.
“Our staff deal every day with the reality and complexity of public injecting,” Duffin, who has campaigned in support of an injection centre, said this evening.
“Each day many people with complex addiction and mental health issues inject drugs in public spaces. This is bad for them and everybody else, and implementing medically-supervised injecting centres is a compassionate and effective response to a complex problem.”
- additional reporting from Hugh O’Connell and Daragh Brophy.
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These centres should be in Cork, Limerick too. Stop the junkies from all over Ireland travelling to Dublin.
Bahaha, don’t worry. Junkies wouldn’t be bothered to make that journey, and they wouldn’t be able to anyway
Don’t know about Limerick but alot the junkies in Cork have Dub accents… Either way you’re right and Cork and Limerick should have them too.
Eh hit them by taking their free travel passes off them.They jump on and off the buses whenever they like.
Seems like being a junkie is being encouraged what with free travel and free accommodation and free fixes
I know what a lovley life they have , you know drug addicts where more than likley born a house hold where there mother and father where addicts them self ? Are more likely to make bad decisions, more likely to die and commit suicide!! Know let’s talk about the majority of alcoholics that go out on the weekend and absolutely put more of a burden on our services. You know how much goes into cleaning the streets after a typical weekend around the country? ? Let’s not for get about guarda and hospitals.
The big question is where in Dublin ?
They could build one beside me, Sure there’s already about 4 pubs in a one mile radius of me, and right beside those pubs there are betting office so everybody can hold hands and smile in the face of addiction.
Feck them, let the, die on the streets. Their addiction their problem.
No its not there problem, if it was we would not be talking about it
So when your lifestyle or genes lead to you getting cancer we are allentitled to say feck it you may die in the street it’s your problem not ours? Your exactly the kind of person I least enjoy being part of society with.
I heard it will be in donnybrook
You don’t choose to get cancer but these junkies do choose to inject heroin. Why do the majority of people have to pay to clean up the mess made by a minority?
Jesus….. What a fine, compassionate, caring and lovable human being you are not!
#Reptile
I wonder if the 2 yokes in the article before who terrorised a 90 year old woman were robbing to feed their addiction? I guess they probably were and you want me to have compassion for them and their ilk. I think not, let them die like you would a poisoned rat as they are worse than the worst vermin.
@sam. SO what if they jump on & off. Does this mean every1 who has a Free Bus Pass is a junkie ?
@Ladude – Agree – The nurses in maternity hospitals can tell by a baby’s cry, if they are addicted to drugs at birth – very sad. ‘DNA’ also applies to alcohol abuse.
It just baffles me how people can’t get there head around addiction.
Well it won’t be fox rock or newtown park avenue you can bet
James cop on, that’s not what I said. Stop being so dramatic.
Anyone can have a kid but you need a licence to have a dog! Time to change !!
I went to the Concert Hall tonight and in the space of 10 minutes, i was approached by 8 homeless people looking for cash. Homlesness is a symptom of a bigger problem !
@Sam – Depends on how you or others interpret your comment or how they view people with Free Bus passes. Personally I’d be glad if they kept hopping on & off – U’d only have to tolerate there shouting for a short while.
So create centres to help keep these addicts as zombies but because it’s indoors the tourists won’t see it.
Spend the money on helping those who want to get off drugs and lock up those who bring that crap onto this island.
Mindless and ignorant. Lets see if you would have that opinion of someone you loved was addicted to drugs. Then again judging by your comment your probably would
Can I smoke a joint in there in peace with no fear of gardai. We need equality for all drug users.
I doubt you would want to even if you could. They don’t even have Netflix or a decent sound system.
Smoke a joint in peace inside a heroin injection centre? are you mad! they wont leave you alone… “ah here come here tim me, gives a drag of da”
No kiddin’, an old fella had a concert was beside me and I was handin’ on a spliff. “Ahhh now tanks boize…no tanks. Oi never touch dat stuff. Dat stuff will melt your brain dat ganga’”. So we said “Fair enough” and then says “No…I only to do the old smack myself. None of that shit”.
So quick to judge others. Be thankful that drugs do not affect your life. Think of those families who have loved ones addicted to heroin or any other substance as they watch on as they self destruct. Have some compassion for those that felt their lives were so bad that they turned to drugs.
I am fortunate that it has not crossed my door but is anybody completely sure that it will not in the future? Drugs affect all walks of life, lower, middle and upper classes and if you think otherwise you are deluded.
Drug related crime affects us all either directly or through higher tax and insurance premiums.
They say , your no more than 6ft away from a rat, in New York. I’d say it’s worse in or around O’Conneell St. Then again, can anyone give stats for burglaries for drug related and repeat offenders.
Watersedge.. Yes a bit of compassion doesn’t do any harm. And it’s hard on families. Believe me I know it. My first cousin is a heroin addict for years. She prefers heroin to her husband and daughter and the rest of her family. The only one that had compassion for her was her kind hearted batchelor uncle, a beautiful man, who she robbed of €40k. There were dealers calling to his farmhouse threatening him. It took its toll on him and he took his own life a few months later. Not all addicts are easy to love. Some don’t care whose lives they ruin for a fix!
Junkies. Why do we even feel sorry for them. They make the decision to do drugs. Not me yet I’ve to pay for them to continue to do drugs and have other people force on me that I should feel sorry for them. Not happening.
Its a tragedy when a junkie dies from a heroin overdose. These injection centres will stop that from happening.
ATH – you’re the worst kind of person. I hope nobody ever shows you an ounce of compassion.
Such a simplistic attitude. Nobody starts out their life thinking ‘I want to be a heroin addict when I grow up’, it’s not a decision in the sense that buying a packet of biscuits is a decision. You have to consider the family circumstances of people, and all the stuff from their childhood they may need to block out, from which heroin gives a temporary release, and a million other contributory factors
Sorry Stephen but what a load of bollox. Most junkies know exact what the effects and results of using these illegal narcotics are long before they begin using themselves. The vast majority of those that grow up in similar circumstances don’t turn to drugs. They get on with life the best they can. People are sick and tired of hearing excuses for these vermin. It’s not “Societies Fault”, not “The Government’s Fault”, not anyone else’s fault. They made the decision. They own that choice. Nobody else.
Have you spoken to them all, Mick? You’ve done case studies, collated and analysed the answers yeah? Care to share a few anonymous anecdotes? Or are you just talking through your hole?
Yes it is human frailty we are talking about, and maybe it is a ‘choice’ in a limited sense, in the same way as becoming an alcoholic is a ‘choice’, but that doesn’t mean we should have licence to call them vermin. I feel terribly sorry for anyone in that position, much good that does them, but it seems a grim horrible existence
Nobody has any right to call vermin. People who say it about people who have done no harm to them show personality traits that the world would be far better off without.
*call anyone vermin
So are you by the sounds of it JP.
It is a decision. Do I inject or not. I choose not to. That couldn’t be any simpler.
So am i what??
Joe. I don’t have to speak to each and everyone. The numbers speak for themselves.
Of course. In fairness, I didn’t have to speak to you either. I’ve spoken to enough Micks to know what they’re all like.
Stephen. Most people that drink alcohol don’t become alcoholics. But 99.99% of those that use Heroin regularly do become junkies. You don’t need to be a world renowned astro physicist to know that. Most junkies have already seen the results of it long before they choose to take it. They aren’t all innocents abroad being lured in a life of drugs. So why should the rest of us pay for their life choices? I don’t see anyone lining up to hand me money for choices I have made in life. We all have made mistakes as we grew up, but we learn to live with those choices we made and don’t expect anyone else to pay for them.
For the love of God, Mick, stop talking. It’s embarrassing enough to know you’re out there somewhere without seeing your obviously-well-researched statistics and facts(!).
The worst thing is, judging by that written turd of a last comment, if you were asked to consult experts in the field, you’d go looking for astronomers. I’m amazed you’re able to work a keyboard.
Joe you don’t seem to b Ed able to read English all that we’ll. If you don’t understand the the difference between an astro physicist and an astronomer.
Sigh. Even if that’s “tongue in cheek”, you’ve still shown a staggering level of ignorance here today. Good work.
I suppose it beats needle in arm.
You’re harping too much on the choice aspect Mick. I don’t care if they did choose willingly to take heroin, the end result is a grim unhappy life if not early death and I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t feel compassion for someone in that position
“Mickjordan” how have you not been banned from the journal yet? A true miracle!
Mick, ATH,
Taking heroin is a choice in the same way that committing suicide is a choice. Both are desperate choices made by people in a dark place that see no way out other than that choice.
Both are the wrong choice with devastating effects on themselves and their families but which one of us has never made a terrible choice in our lives?
Even if you are lucky enough to have a perfect life, never having made the wrong choice, maybe that should make you have some tiny bit of sympathy for those not as lucky/clever as you.
Now that….is what I can the perfect response. Well done John Doe.
Give them their heroine for free. Criminal activity would freefall.
You used to get it free on the NHS until the 70′s
Peter that kind of logic is beyond the politicians in Ireland and unfortunately beyond most of the voters also. They hand over a multi- billion euro market to them( tax free) and police their competitors( small time dealers) gratis. Because of this, criminal gangs can afford better weapons than the police and avoid jail ( it’s only the small guys who can’t afford a few grand in bribes) yet the general public can’t see that and think these politicians and police have the correct response ?? #wakeupfools
These places need to be far more than simply injecting centres. On site counseling maybe, with a social worker to guide/encourage the people into treatment programs? I can see the simple idea of getting a massive reduction of used syringes off the streets. Kids have been known to pick these up and stick themselves. And something to prevent dealers lurcking around outside the centres needs to be done too
Stopped in for lunch in the Epicurean Food Hall on Liffey Street today. Was using the toilet and two lads were in one of the cubicles obviously injecting heroin. City Centre is a disaster.
Well seeing as I’m fairly rich myself, I don’t live in an area where malnourished, poor people feel the need to inject themselves with heroin
Thought you said you were from clare
Heroin is rapidly becoming a middle class problem.
Translation: “I’m alright, Jack. More Fine Gael please. Also, can we not just move the homeless people into the sewers?”
True Tommy. A bottle of bubbly, some smoked salmon nibbles and a shot of heroin into the groin on a Friday night is fast becoming the norm.
Joe – should we bring back FF then, or vote in the shinners?
I would rather put a bunch of 4th year students in, than FG or FF Ger, so yeah… I’ll give The Shinners a shot. Everyone who’s not a right-wing authoritarian thieving little rodent will get a look in from me.
Retired maths teacher ain’t classy or rich! Maybe you should use your money and get a bit of sun pasty!
And who knows.
Once marijuana is legalized then opiate abuse will spread like wildfire and in a decade Ireland will become the Detroit of Europe.
I’d much rather live in a world where I’m free to choose what I use/abuse, than one where Enda Kenny gets to decide that for me.
Sandra, it’s a fake Twitter account. He trolls constantly. He’s probably a teenage boy.
I have no sympathy what so ever….. “Drugs are bad”….”mkay”….
Reopen Spike island and use it as cold turkey rehabilitation centre. Cut off all ties to the outside world. Only when you’ve proven you are able to function in society that you should be released. Only have to look at the city’s and see its affecting the image of this country.
Or, we could go with a method that has proven to work in Portugal?
So like prison, which we all know doesn’t work. Genius idea.
“Prison doesn’t work”
Really ?
Pray tell…
Just under 50% reoffending, so yeah id say prison doesnt work.
Are you serious dan? Have you thought that ridiculous idea through?
There are so many stupid things about your plan I don’t know where to start!
Have you any idea the cost of locking up 10,000 people indefinitely?? At about €70k per head per year… Yep that’s €700MILLION a year!
And how are you going to decide who gets sent there?? Test everybody every day? Or just those you don’t like the look of?
Addiction is caused by misery. So how is locking already miserable people up supposed to make them happy, which they need to be to break the addiction?
people who take drugs realise the consequences. they are illegal for a reason. why should I as a person living in the country in the west of ireland pay taxes to help these junkies in dublin. they chose their path.
I wonder if all drugs were given out in the pharmacy in a tapering medicinal way,for a small fee like the normal run of the mill drugs, would it take out all the major issues drugs cause from over dose, robberys burgulary major crimes of ganglands the lot…?
aine thats a rational answer that involves the public not paying the price. the government will never go for it!
It’s called methadone :-)
I find it nigh on impossible not to read Paddy Kavangh’s comments about without hearing it in my head in as Homer Simpson’s SHOUTING VOICE.
Great Aodàn. Will you ferry the junkies from the rest of the country to Dublin to supervise them? Or is it just Dublin people you want protected from needles.
If they are intent on making these shooting galleries available, then they should only be placed in locations where the majority of these vermin reside!! Outside the city centre. They should also pass laws that if found in possession of or using illegal narcotics within 1.5 radial Km of O’Connell St will carry a minimum sentence of 10 years before remission, Temporary Release, Parole etc can be applied.
At least heroin kills the user eventually. Imagine if it didn’t!!?
What a NASTY thing to say ☹
Great!
So who is going to supervise the melee of drug dealers outside the door of these injection centres? I now assume the needle exchange clinics will now shut down? Junkies are still sleeping rough even though there are enough beds. Does Aodhan think injection centres will solve the open drug injection problem out there? This is just an attempt to patch a broken system.
I am not a Labour voter but I will give credit to the Minister for at least trying to make a change instead of ignoring it.
Well yes, he is hoping it might help to solve the problem, did you read the article?
Lisa,
If someone under supervision arrives in with their €10 wrap bought outside the door off an illegal dealer, shoots it up, under government controlled supervision, and drops dead because it contains “substances not advertised on the packaging” what happens then? Do you think the family will be happy? Do you think a free funeral would be acceptable as compo considering the deed was done under a government sponsored organisations roof? As I said earlier this act is only an election patch and does not address the problem. Millions upon millions are being spent on drug addiction problems yet the problem gets worse. The system is broken. New thinking in this area is needed not a patch work quilt.
Just take the Red Line Luas
Do you not think some people need the Red Luas Line?
We can’t just take it!
First centre should be in Philipsburgh Avenue, beside Aodhan’s constituency office.
Here’s hoping! This stinks of electioneering. How long has he been Minister for Drugs and done nothing? And now with an election in sight, he’s trying to be the big man tackling the ‘big taboo’. The tour of dirty old Dublin, with a photographer in tow for some publicity shots, was just nauseating (and not for what it ‘revealed’ – we know that anyway). It’s so disingenuous, and so obviously deliberate. Typical showmanship from an empty vessel. And as for the ‘at least he’s doing something’ argument, a slapdash approach to get publicity before an election is not the way to go. This issue deserves more than stroke politics.
Injecting centres have been successful in other cities around the world but remember, this is Ireland. We have a poor track record at implementing drug strategy. Just look at methadone clinics – cited originally as the answer to the growing heroin epidemic. They have been poorly resourced and the result is 1000′s of addicts addicted to prescribed medication for a few decades or more. I’m all for reducing drug related deaths but how come there has been massive cuts in rehab and treatment. In the long run, investment in recovery programmes benefit the addicts, their family and society in general. Unfortunately this centre will be set up without the proper recovery services in place to support those who want to change.
These centres were introduced in Switzerland years ago & its Heroin problem went from one of the worst in Europe to the best as they took addicts off the streets into these injection centres but they also helped get a lot of addicts weaned off the drug too.
One has to smile at Mr O’Riordans assertion that you are never very far from someone shooting up.
I doubt somehow that they are near Mr O’Riordans house.
This man is a far-left lunatic with ideas that are as mad are Trumps are to right-wing Americans.
Roll on the election and he will be like a bad dream, just a distant memory.
Lads dont knock it till u try it
Lots of promises floating about who will be implemented after the election. Don’t believe it
This appears to make sense but so did methadone clinics when they first opened up. Although there is a need for a centre like this, there is clear lack of investment into services that facilitate addicts accessing recovery. This in the long run, benefits everybody in society.
We could also set up a designated lane for drink drivers….what’s wrong wit this country
Or a News Website were any fu@king knob Jockey can post a comment!
Oh sorry Noel, I see you’ve found one!
This is good. No political points to be won, but certainly the right move to treat it as a health problem to be solved, instead of a criminal problem to be eradicated, because look how well that has gone.
If you wanted to be extremely cynical, however, you could also say it was good for criminal prosecution in other matters: man robbed by known addict (in Dublin). Man waits outside injection centre. Man has addict beaten mercilessly, I mean arrested gently
Dublin mountains ? no of course not it will be planted right beside a tourist destination in the heart of the city.
Wow what an ignorant comment.You go straight to punishing people you don’t know because they have a psychological addiction, no its people like you who need to be ‘hit’ with a big stick for being such an animal. SICKENING
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