Cork injection centre decision ‘will not happen until 2026’

Ireland’s first supervised injection centre is due to open in Dublin, but it will be 2026 before a decision is made on if Cork will get a similar facility.

Cork North-Central Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, who is also Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing, and the National Drugs Strategy, told The Echo that the Dublin centre must be reviewed before the Government considers setting up more.

Mr Burke told The Echo that setting up the Dublin facility was a long process, with legislation first passed in 2015, a planning process, judicial review in the High Court, back to the planning process, then acquiring funding for the development.

“The whole idea is that people injecting themselves have to have a safe place to do it, and that it’s supervised so they can avail of assistance on offer in the facility.”

He said he hoped to have the Dublin centre open before Christmas, and that they are now waiting for a final inspection before he will sign the license agreement.

“The department will be getting feedback on it all the time but officially it’s going to be reviewed after six months, after 12 months and a final report will be prepared after 18 months — then after the full 18 months we will be able to look and see would it be appropriate to open these in other areas” such as Cork, he said.

“We need to build up expertise on this first, work with people and see if we have a system of moving them away from injecting heroin.

“The life expectancy of people using heroin is very low, but from meeting with housing agencies who deal with people who lived on the street but are now in full time housing, they are seeing people in their early 40s developing Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“That’s a huge challenge — people who had been involved in drugs but came through a rehab programme, are in recovery, have secured proper housing but now they are developing Alzheimer’s and dementia very early,” said Mr Burke

At the most recent meeting of Cork City Council, Deputy Lord Mayor Honore Kamegni’s motion calling for a supervised injection centre in Cork was passed unanimously.

Cork’s James Leonard, former co-host of The Two Norries podcast and expert on addiction, told The Echo: “The supervised injection facility will go a long way to keep people alive, vitally important in today climate with nitazene, fentanyl, and other strong synthetic substances that are deadly.

“They also reduce drug litter, reduce blood-borne infections, and allows for brief interventions and signposting of services.

“The government has been talking about a health-led approach to drug use and this is part of it. With regards Cork, it will be a couple of years at least, possibly more with the nimbyism that will go on. Nobody will want it near their home or business and that could delay it.”

Mr Leonard explained: “It’s a classic harm-reduction approach to drug use and will help to keep our most socially excluded citizens alive until hopefully they eventually get to live a decent life again.

“If someone dies on our streets from drugs, they’re not some statistic, they’re people with hopes and dreams like you and me, families and friends, potential and skills.

“The person dies, and everything they could have went on to do and achieve dies with them.”