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News Archive 2001
Homeless Voters may decide outcome of election
10th December 2001
PRESS RELEASE
Merchants Quay Ireland announced today that they had assisted 140 homeless persons register to vote by the November 24th deadline. The new voters are persons living in hostels, emergency shelters and B&B accommodation. A large proportion of the new voters will be voting in the Constituency of Dublin South East, where the final seat changed hands for just 17 votes in the last election. A signifificant number are registered to vote in Dublin North Central, the Taoiseachs Constituency.
One newly registered voter in Dublin North Central is very clear about why he wants to vote "The governement is making decisions every day that affect me. It affects me if they don't put money in for more houses or if they don't properly fund the homeless plan for Dublin. I want to see a better life for homeless people in Dublin".
Speaking about the new development, Tony Geoghegan, Director of Services said that the impetus had come form the service users of Failtiu Resource Centre - a drop in centre for homeless people run by Merchants Quay Ireland. "Our service users came to us and said they want to have a say in what happens in the next election. They are particualarly interested in holding the parties accountable on their records relating to homelessness and anti poverty initiatives".
"In that regard there is great disappointment amongst homeless people that the Government has failed to live up to its promise, repeatedly made by Minister Bobby Molloy, that funding would not be a proplem in responsing to the homeless crisis. Money is now clearly a major problem. The Eastern Region Health Authority has only received half of the amount it estimated it needed to provide services for homeless persons in 2002. This means that organisations like ours have to turn yet again to the general public to ask them to provide us with money to provide basic care and services for homeless people in Dublin. Fortunatly, the public have always responded very generouysly to our appeals and I am confident that we will with their support be able to maintain and improve the services we offer to homeless people in 2002."
Qualified Welcome for New Drugs Strategy
10th May 2001
PRESS RELEASE
Responding to the publication of Irelands new National Drugs Strategy, Tony Geoghegan, Director of Merchants Quay Ireland warmly welcomed the identification of the reduction of all forms of drug related harm to individuals and to society as the central strategic objective of the plan.
"The strategy clearly offers a realistic framework in which all players - the relevant government departments, the criminal justice services, the health and education services and the community and voluntary sector can work together to ensure that the personal and social harm caused by problematic drug use is reduced to an absolute minimum" he said in a statement.
"We particularly welcome those actions aimed at reducing risk behaviour associated with drug use by widening access to needle exchange services in Dublin. "However" he continued "if the government is committed to reducing harm to an absolute minimum, then they must take additional steps by putting in place safe injecting rooms where risks associated with needle sharing, accidental overdose and dangerous injecting techniques can be addressed".
Mr. Geoghegan also expressed some disappointment with regard to provisions relating to drug treatment. "If by 2002 just 6,500 drug users are engaged in treatment, it will mean that at least the same number remain outside of treatment. There is no clear strategy for attracting hard to reach drug users into services. The strategy could have included clear targets for the expansion of services aimed at active drug users. Methadone treatment is not enough. We need more low threshold services aimed at providing crisis counselling and pathways towards treatment and we need more attractive prescribing options if we are to link drug users with services and see a decline in drug related death and illness" That the strategy has not comprehensively addressed these issues represents a missed opportunity"
Concluding his remarks, Mr. Geoghegan reiterated the commitment of Merchants Quay Ireland to working in partnership with the Government and others to tackle the drugs problem. "The success of the previous Drugs Strategy was in part due to the partnership approach to problem solving embodied in its structures. It is now time to deepen that partnership and I call on the Government to ensure that representatives of the community and voluntary sector are included in decision making at the highest level, by making room for representatives of the sector on the Interdepartmental Group on Drugs.
Merchant's Quay Ireland is the largest voluntary agency working with drug users in Ireland. The agency provides services ranging from Open Access crisis intervention and health promotion services, to day support programmes and drug free residential treatment. More than 4,000 people used the drugs services of Merchant's Quay Ireland in 2000.
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