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News Archive 2006
2005 Annual Review Launched
Merchants Quay Ireland reports an increase in number of new injecting drug users attending their services in 2005
29th September 2006
PRESS RELEASE
Annual Report launched by George Hook, broadcaster, at Merchants Quay Ireland, September 29th at 11.45am.
The Merchants Quay Ireland Annual Report for 2005 was launched today, Friday the 29th of September, by well known broadcaster George Hook. The report shows that the numbers of new injecting drug users attending their Health Promotion Unit over the year increased by 6% to 450. The report also pointed to significant numbers of persons from new communities seeking help from their homeless services.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Tony Geoghegan, the Director of Merchants Quay Ireland said “we are greatly concerned that the numbers of new injectors we are seeing remains so high. Changing trends and patterns in drug use, such as the increased availability and use of cocaine, have also impacted on our services. Our city centre based Health Promotion and needle exchange programmes remain very busy, a fact that reflects the need for accessible needle exchange services in all areas where injecting drug use is an issue. All the evidence suggests that the earlier we engage with injecting drug users, and the more accessible services are, the greater the uptake of those services and the more positive the outcomes”.
Going on to talk about the rise in numbers of persons from new communities engaging with Merchants Quay Ireland’s homeless services Mr. Geoghegan said “we have seen an increase in the number of people from the new EU member states for whom the dream of well paid employment and a better life has unfortunately ended in homelessness and disillusionment. This growing phenomenon poses its own particular challenges for us as service providers. If we are to effectively support homeless persons and drug users from Ireland’s new communities additional targeted funding needs to be put in place. The continued reluctance of the State to address this issue impacts negatively on voluntary groups like ourselves who are struggling to address this crisis. ”
“We are now more than ten years into an unprecedented economic boom. We have seen a sharp decline in unemployment and many other social benefits. We now have clear evidence from the National Advisory Committee on Drugs that drug treatment works. We will soon have a new plan aimed at ending long term homelessness in Dublin by 2010. The Government has the resources needed to effectively address the twin crises of problem drug use and homelessness. Let’s do it!”.
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Event Details
Merchants Quay Irelands Annual Report 2004 to be Launched by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Catherine Byrne
Date: 29th of September 2005
Time: 11.45am
Venue: Merchants Quay Ireland, 4 Merchants Quay, Dublin 8
Editors Notes
Merchants Quay Ireland
Merchants Quay Ireland is a leading Irish charity working with homeless persons and drug users. The organisation provides services ranging from open access crisis intervention and health promotion services, to day support programmes, educational programmes, vocational training and settlement support services. 
Rethinking the War on Drugs
Retired US Police Chief speaks on the failure of the drug war
25th August 2006
Merchants Quay Ireland, Irish Penal Reform Trust and UISCE
Rethinking the War on Drugs is a conference aimed at promoting debate on the policy of drug prohibition, and alternative approaches to reducing drug-related harms in Ireland.
The conference’s keynote speaker will be Jerry Cameron, a spokesperson for the U.S. organisation Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). A police veteran with seventeen years experience, Cameron is a former Chief of Police as well as a former full time faculty member of the Institute of Police Technology and Management at the University of North Florida, where he taught drug interdiction. Toward the end of his career, Cameron began to question the efficacy as well as the morality of the war on drugs, eventually coming to the conclusion that it was a not only a total failure but that it was causing tremendous damage to society.
The conference is sponsored by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, Merchants Quay Ireland and UISCE. Other speakers at the event will be Rick Lines, Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) and Ruardhri McAuliffe, Coordinator of Union for Improved Services, Communication and Education (UISCE), a peer support and education group for people who use drugs.
“Drugs and drug-related harm are a serious concern across Ireland,” said Tony Geoghegan, Director of Merchants Quay Ireland who is chairing the event. “This forum will be an opportunity to examine a side of that harm that rarely, if ever discussed. The social harm that comes as a direct consequence of the war on drugs itself.”
“By any measurable indicator, the international war on drugs that has been waged over the past 30 years is a failure,” said Rick Lines of the IPRT. “The use of illegal drugs has never been more prevalent, our prisons have never been fuller and injecting drug-related health concerns such as HIV and Hepatitis C infection continue to grow across the world. Jerry Cameron’s visit provides an opportunity to hear about these failures first hand from a former law enforcement official who has been on the front lines of waging this war.”
“When the Government declares a war on drugs, it is effectively declaring war on its own citizens,” said Ruardhri McAuliffee of UISCE. “The effects of this are the further marginalisation and stigmatisation of people who use drugs, driving many of them underground and away from the health and social services which could help them. We need to begin rethinking whether this approach is helping or hindering efforts to reduce the harms of drug use on an individual and societal level.”
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Editors Notes
Event Details
Date: 28th Aug 2006
Time: 10.30 – 12noon. Registration, tea and coffee will begin at 9:30
Venue: The Conference Room, Merchants Quay Ireland, 4 Merchants Quay, Dublin 8
Cost: Admission Free
The Irish Penal Reform Trust is Ireland's leading non-governmental organisation campaigning for the rights of people in prison and the progressive reform of Irish penal policy. The IPRT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Merchants Quay Ireland is a leading Irish charity working with people who are homeless and drug users. The mission of Merchant's Quay Ireland is to reduce harm related to drug use and homelessness and to provide pathways towards rehabilitation or settlement.
The Union for Improved Services, Educations and Communication (UISCE) is comprised of current and former drug users, and professionals who believe that the voice of the drug user is integral to the development of drug policy and in realising an effective treatment response. UISCE was established in 1999, as a result of a NICDTF (North Inner City Drug Task Force) initiative that recognised drug users as part of the community and, as recipients of services, should be involved in the assessment and policy making processes. UISCE facilitates the voice of drug users being represented in a formal way, in local task force structures.
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2006