The deaths last week of three heroin addicts in Kilkenny and one in Carlow has provoked an outpouring of grief from the local community, and has served to refocus public attention on community support services.
The extent of Kilkenny’s drug problem — and more specifically, heroin problem — is now becoming widely acknowledged as a result of the tragedies.
Speaking while in Kilkenny last week, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin told the Kilkenny Advertiser that he was shocked to hear that there had been four drug-related deaths in the constituency in just one week.
“I am extremely shocked to hear that. It is very worrying. There was a time when we thought that heroin really only affected the larger cities such as Dublin, Cork and Limerick however, now it is becoming evident that the problem is rapidly spreading to smaller towns and villages and this is of grave concern.”
“We need to work on educating young people on the perils of drug use and we need to implement services and resources for care of addicts in these areas. You have the Aislinn Centre in Kilkenny which does great work — but clearly more is needed. The world is changing and we need to change with it,” he added.
Following a heroin drought over Christmas and the New Year, high purity batches of the drug have once again begun to circulate on the streets of Kilkenny.
“It’s back on the streets again now, and this will be a very serious problem for the community,” said Councillor Joe Malone, a prominent community worker. “There are a lot of people scared and frightened out there.”
The public is beginning to ask what measures are being taken to tackle the problem, and to what extent the community support services should be accountable. Cllr Malone praised the infrastructure already in place, which includes clinics, a number of counsellors and other substance misuse services. However, he feels more is needed.
“What’s there is very good, but on its own it’s not adequate. We need much more. For a start, we need three drugs workers for Kilkenny — one for the north, one for the south, and one for the city,” he said.
“We need other services such as detox beds — a separate unit in St Luke’s Hospital for people coming down off the drug.”
With the date of the general election fast approaching, government drug policy and, in particular, the views and ideas of local candidates on the issue are coming under scrutiny
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