My office is very close to this and personally I think this is good news, permission for this was originally refused by DCC in 2019, then went to An Bord Pleanala who approved it, then it went to the High Court where the approval was quashed in 2021 and then it went back to An Bord Pleanala and was approved last week.
It’s great news. There’s been loads of proof in cities that have such centres that they can truly help, especially if used as part of a multi-pronged helpful approach to drug use and users, rather than sole basic criminalisation.
Great to see it.
Ireland as a society is getting more progressive and treating drug abuse as a medical issue rather than a criminal issue is a huge step forward.
Australian here – lived in the area when they set one up in Sydney.
The difference in the frequency of hearing ambulance sirens alone was remarkable.
Wish this kind of thing wasn’t necessary.
There is a degree of kindness involved with these places that really helps vulnerable people. Hope that is your experience also.
Really good to hear. There’s very clear research on this being the way forward and I’m glad to see it’s being implemented here. People need to not be left on streetcorners with needles in their arms.
Soon we’ll be having supervised murder centres and supervised rape centres since this shite gets the ok.
Easily the most batshit opposition to this was Fáilte Ireland’s assertion that it could harm tourism in the city. As if a relatively innocuous building is what would turn the tourists off and not the very visible people who are shooting up in public view and leaving spent needles where they drop.
Soo many questions about this..just off the top of my head.
Who is ultimately responsible for this? The government are likely funding it so..are the employees medically qualified nurses and Doctors? Will there be on site paramedics/ambulances for overdoses and reactions to bad batches of heroin. Is there security/cameras in house to monitor the drug users before they inject to make sure another desperate user doesn’t highjack their fix by stealing their heroin or assaulting them when they’re vulnerable after using. Are they segregated into seperate rooms or booths or just curtains. How long do you get to stay? Can you have a nap after using or are you turfed straight outside to try buy more drugs/risk falling infront of a bus or into the Liffey. Is it first come first served? Desperate drug addicts aren’t the most patient people, will they even engage with this place or is it going to make the surrounding area even worse. Speaking of..
Has the government basically made heroin possession legal in the area surrounding this shithole so? It seems a bit extreme when they are still only in preliminary talks about legalising weed like. I used to commute by here every morning and the amount of drug dealing, fighting and anti-social behaviour was frightening. Will this just attract even more drug dealers to the area full time as this is where all of their “customers” will be. Will every drug user get the train to Dublin daily to use this facility if it’s the only one?
They already hand out clean syringes is my understanding but is it exclusively intravenous drug taking they support or will they give you crack pipes too?
I mean it seems everyone agrees that this is a good thing, which it is,
But i can ‘t understand how we’re facilitating the use of a substance while simultaneously saying that substance is illegal to possess. It makes no sense to me how we got to this point and why we’re continuing.
9 comments
My office is very close to this and personally I think this is good news, permission for this was originally refused by DCC in 2019, then went to An Bord Pleanala who approved it, then it went to the High Court where the approval was quashed in 2021 and then it went back to An Bord Pleanala and was approved last week.
* https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/129435
* https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/305215
* https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/312618
It’s great news. There’s been loads of proof in cities that have such centres that they can truly help, especially if used as part of a multi-pronged helpful approach to drug use and users, rather than sole basic criminalisation.
Great to see it.
Ireland as a society is getting more progressive and treating drug abuse as a medical issue rather than a criminal issue is a huge step forward.
Australian here – lived in the area when they set one up in Sydney.
The difference in the frequency of hearing ambulance sirens alone was remarkable.
Wish this kind of thing wasn’t necessary.
There is a degree of kindness involved with these places that really helps vulnerable people. Hope that is your experience also.
Really good to hear. There’s very clear research on this being the way forward and I’m glad to see it’s being implemented here. People need to not be left on streetcorners with needles in their arms.
Soon we’ll be having supervised murder centres and supervised rape centres since this shite gets the ok.
Easily the most batshit opposition to this was Fáilte Ireland’s assertion that it could harm tourism in the city. As if a relatively innocuous building is what would turn the tourists off and not the very visible people who are shooting up in public view and leaving spent needles where they drop.
Soo many questions about this..just off the top of my head.
Who is ultimately responsible for this? The government are likely funding it so..are the employees medically qualified nurses and Doctors? Will there be on site paramedics/ambulances for overdoses and reactions to bad batches of heroin. Is there security/cameras in house to monitor the drug users before they inject to make sure another desperate user doesn’t highjack their fix by stealing their heroin or assaulting them when they’re vulnerable after using. Are they segregated into seperate rooms or booths or just curtains. How long do you get to stay? Can you have a nap after using or are you turfed straight outside to try buy more drugs/risk falling infront of a bus or into the Liffey. Is it first come first served? Desperate drug addicts aren’t the most patient people, will they even engage with this place or is it going to make the surrounding area even worse. Speaking of..
Has the government basically made heroin possession legal in the area surrounding this shithole so? It seems a bit extreme when they are still only in preliminary talks about legalising weed like. I used to commute by here every morning and the amount of drug dealing, fighting and anti-social behaviour was frightening. Will this just attract even more drug dealers to the area full time as this is where all of their “customers” will be. Will every drug user get the train to Dublin daily to use this facility if it’s the only one?
They already hand out clean syringes is my understanding but is it exclusively intravenous drug taking they support or will they give you crack pipes too?
I mean it seems everyone agrees that this is a good thing, which it is,
But i can ‘t understand how we’re facilitating the use of a substance while simultaneously saying that substance is illegal to possess. It makes no sense to me how we got to this point and why we’re continuing.