Tests on substances in circulation following two deaths in Cork city on Friday

Results are expected today of tests on substances in circulation, undertaken following two deaths in the city on Friday. The deaths of two men are being investigated as possible drug overdoses.

The HSE is working with “local stakeholders to review these overdoses and will identify if new or emerging trends are associated or if cases relate to other factors”.

They added that service users in Cork were supported during the weekend and that the market was being monitored to identify if extra risky substances are circulating.

HSE head of drugs and alcohol services in Cork and Kerry, David Lane, told The Echo: “Usually to be definite about a substance in circulation, it needs to be tested first. However, on Friday we went ahead of that usual process because two deaths in one day in a small city like Cork is hugely concerning. We started getting the word out on Friday afternoon, warning vulnerable people to be very careful.

“We shared our harm-reduction messages — not to use alone in the first instance, and that if you are using substances, not to buy it from people you don’t know, to use people you’re familiar with from previous transactions.”

An inter-agency group was set up in October 2023 following a spate of nitazene overdoses in Dublin, which later came to Cork. The group contains representatives from the HSE, Cork City Council, the Mercy Hospital, An Garda Síochána and homelessness services.

“We set the group up to establish a quick system where we can get WhatsApp messages into the phones of people we’d be concerned about, and we’ve been working together ever since,” Mr Lane said. “We called an emergency meeting of that group on Friday, so we could try to keep people safe at a time when there’s a heightened anxiety around what might be circulating.”

Over the weekend, samples of substances in circulation were secured. It is hoped the results will be available today, so it will then be known if there is a more dangerous substance on the streets of Cork.

Shane Grimes, aged 28, was found dead at Fitzgerald’s Park on Friday morning, while Shane O’Sullivan, aged 31, was found dead in Kyrl’s Quay on Friday afternoon.

Ross O’Connor Kenny, senior services manager at homelessness service Depaul, told The Echo: “We are very sorry to hear about the passing of two young men in Cork at the weekend. It really highlights the need for medically supervised injection facilities, particularly in a major city like Cork. A facility like this would help limit overdoses and the transmission of diseases, and it would also bring drug use away from streets — the urgency of a facility like this can’t be understated.”

Mr Lane agreed: “The HSE and other agencies are really supportive of a project like this. We visited a number of facilities in Lisbon with Cork City Council, and following that visit, we engaged with UCC to do a piece of research, and we are due to publish next month.

“It will show, objectively, what researchers have found in terms of the feasibility, and I am hopeful it will recommend establishing a medically supervised injection centre in Cork city — the bottom line is it will save lives.”