David Lane, HSE South-West general manager of social inclusion, said lives would be saved due to a decision to provide naloxone, a medicine that can reverse opioid overdose, directly to people who have overdosed but decline ambulance transport to hospital.

Social Democrat councillor Isobel Towse said she was glad that the Minister had brought Ireland in line with other European countries.

Declan O’Riordan, from the Coolmine treatment centre’s Cork city south hub, told The Echo  that the centre has seen a huge increase in problem usage.

The statistics show that alcohol is the most common substance prompting treatment, accounting for 52% of all cases, followed by cocaine, involved in 24% of cases and cannabis (12%).

Speaking to The Echo, Jackie Daly, drug and alcohol prevention project development officer at Cork City Partnership said that anything affecting the person in addiction is mirrored in their families, and something happening within a family can be mirrored across communities.

He said: “It is very prevalent in communities right across Cork, not just disadvantaged communities."

An increase in cocaine use was noticeably pronounced among those aged 15-34, with almost 4% of young adults who participated in the 2019-20 survey reporting use of cocaine in the last year compared to 1.3% in 2014-15.

Welcoming the news, Fianna Fáil Councillor Colm Kelleher, a long advocate for addiction services, told The Echo: “This is something I’ve been pushing for and firefighters have been calling for themselves for years."

Addiction and homelessness services worked with the HSE and Mercy Hospital to get the word out to people who use drugs in the city 12 months ago after a spate of overdoses from synthetic opioids. 

Figures released to Aontú by the minister for justice show 36,133 people have been arrested throughout the county for drug offences with the number of arrests peaking in 2021 and 2022 when there were 4,046 and 4,356 respectively.

A report launched today identifies alternatives in Ireland to criminal sentencing for people who are found in possession of controlled drugs for personal use including a programme in Cork pioneered by Judge Olann Kelleher. 

Figures provided by the HSE show there were 115 Cork in-patient and day-case discharges from acute hospitals in 2023, compared to 76 the year before.

The HSE remain on high alert as Nitazene continues to circulate in Cork city. 

Mr Martin also said he would use the trip to focus on the role that Ireland has been playing in assisting the peace process in Colombia.

The HSE has confirmed that its National Social Inclusion Office, in collaboration with partner support services, is launching 16 new peer education and support programmes across the country, including one in Cork

The executive has now issued an extreme-risk drug warning after a nitazene-type substance had been linked with what it described as “recent cases of serious overdose in Cork city”.

Paul Reid, the former HSE chief who is independent chairman of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use, said data published by the Health Research Board (HRB) on drug-related deaths was “grim” and “stark”.

“People are actually using needles on the steps there, halfway down and then throwing their needles over the wall,” a councillor said

Cuan Mhuire, which runs a treatment centre in Farnanes and a stepdown facility on the Western Road, has said that an increasing number of younger people are seeking help for addiction, particularly for cocaine use.

Cork City representatives are to travel to Portugal next month to visit supervised injection centres,

The assembly, comprising 99 randomly selected citizens reflective of the Irish population and an independent chair, will explore issues related to illicit drug taking and submit a report to the Oireachtas by the end of 2023

The illegal drugs were found with the assistance Revenue’s Maritime Unit, drug detector dog Merlin and Revenues Mobile X-Ray Scanner concealed in the refrigeration unit of a maritime container which originated in Ecuado

The GP said he has seen the darker side of the drug’s impact including desperation from patients who have already been hospitalised due to cocaine use

“The current drug prohibition has failed and it is much more harmful to society to continue with this failed policy." 

He referred to shocking experiences including river rescues which emergency services are attending on a regular basis and some incidents where people tell him they don't want to be saved.

It comes after an Oireachtas justice committee recommended that “a policy of decriminalisation is pursued.

The defendant would distribute the cocaine when he received a phone call instructing him what to do with it.

A pilot on-site drug-testing programme took place at Electric Picnic earlier this year. Ellen O’Regan hears about its findings, its benefits, its shortcomings, and where we go from here.

Patrick McDonagh was one of eight men who used two cars to ram a car driven by Martin Collins before attacking the car with bats and slash hooks

The illegal drugs were discovered with the assistance of detector dogs Sam and Bailey. 

The Garden State Governor was leading a trade delegation to Ireland which included a stop in Cork city to explore the potential for strengthening business ties between New Jersey and the Cork region.

A director at the charity said there is a health need for such centres. 

Caitríona Twomey made her remarks after the Lord Mayor of Cork, Fianna Fáil’s Councillor Colm Kelleher had announced that he had applied last week to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly for funding for a supervised injection centre in the city.

He predicted that there would be objections to an injection centre “no matter where in the city it goes”

Dr John Sheehan said he is treating patients who had sourced the drug from dealers to ease their pain

He is charged with heroin possession and having the drugs for sale or supply.

Under new arrangements which came into effect with the new year, community-based drug and alcohol services in Cork city and the Cork/Kerry region have been centralised to six hubs.

Local councillor Seamus McGrath said it was very disappointing to see drugs paraphernalia in such a public place

“It’s so easy to get drugs nowadays; online, it’s just frightening altogether, that’s now the easy way to get it.”

THE rate of people being treated for alcohol use disorder in Cork is one of the highest in the country according to figures from the Health Research Board.

“I started to realise that I had worth and ambition and I could achieve, which I never believed before.”

A FORMER Lord Mayor has voiced concern about children as young as eight being used as drug runners in areas of Cork City.

COCAINE use has increased across all age groups in the past year, according to a report launched today.

A €1 MILLION stepping stone drug and alcohol stabilisation service for the south of the country will be opened in Cork in the autumn. The project will be for chaotic addicts who need immediate help ahead of accessing residential treatment.

GARDAÍ raided a man’s house and seized more than €5,000 worth of cocaine and six months later they caught him with a €29,000 stash of cocaine at another flat where he was living. He has now been jailed for four years.

The Echo speaks to students across Cork who have been speaking out about social issues that matter most to them as part of the Young Social Innovators (YSI) Speak Out Week.

DETECTIONS for dealing and possession of drugs for personal use soared in Cork city in the past year.

Sarah Horgan hears how advertising and work-based pressure are leading people towards damaging addictions, such as betting and cocaine.

SUSPECTED cocaine with a street value of over €12 million has been seized in Cork. It was seized during a joint operation between An Garda Síochána through the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) and Revenue’s Customs Service.

A man in his 40s arrested in the course of an operation by the Cork Divisional Drugs Unit in Rochestown on Wednesday has been charged. He is expected to appear before a sitting of Cork District Court this morning at 10. 30am.