{"id":144239,"date":"2025-10-25T07:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T07:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/144239\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T07:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T07:32:08","slug":"i-saw-the-wildness-that-got-into-them-after-using-this-drug-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/144239\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I saw the wildness that got into them after using this drug\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten days ago, representatives of the Gaelic Players Association<\/a> [GPA] appeared before the D\u00e1il committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport to answer questions about the tortured integration process between the three main bodies in Gaelic games. None of the primary actors were available to attend.<\/p>\n

But at the end of the meeting, and mindful of his audience, the Labour TD Alan Kelly went off topic with a riff about drugs. \u201cI have gone to a number of meetings in sports clubs, including my own club, where concern is expressed that drugs are everywhere,\u201d said Kelly, the chair of the committee. \u201cThey are across the sporting codes and across the GAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe days of young people going out for a few pints are basically over. Cocaine use, in particular, is off the charts. I have gone to too many talks and seen too many young people affected. It is not changing; if anything, it is getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, less than a week later, the GPA published the outcome of its annual members survey. One of the subjects it probed was drug use. Of the 3,676 players who responded, 19 per cent said that \u201cdrug use is an issue among intercounty players\u201d. More alarmingly, 20 per cent of male players said, \u201cthey were aware of a team-mate who has struggled because of drug misuse\u201d.<\/p>\n

The focus of the question was \u201crecreational\u201d drug use rather than performance enhancing and in that context the numbers that appeared in the report didn\u2019t make any headlines. The general perception of recreational drug use among young people probably tallies with Kelly\u2019s characterisation.<\/p>\n

For an organisation with a footprint in every corner of the island, any changes in societal behaviours are bound to spill into GAA clubs. There is no boundary. But for the GAA it poses a different challenge than it does for other sporting bodies because of their dual personality as a community organisation with pastoral instincts.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Rathdowney Errill GAA club in Laois were so concerned about the impact of recreational drug-taking that they brought a motion to GAA Congress. Their proposal was that nobody could line out in any adult championship match until they had completed educational modules about alcohol, substance abuse, anti-doping and gambling as laid out by Central Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen young people that I know using cocaine,\u201d said the club chair, Tim Barry. \u201cI saw the wildness that got into them after using this drug. It frightened me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JimmyJimmy D’Arcy, the GAA’s technical development and support manager. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

The motion wasn\u2019t adopted but it prompted the GAA to devise some practical supports. The GAA\u2019s National Health and Wellbeing Committee collaborated with regional drug and alcohol taskforces \u2013 funded by the HSE \u2013 to develop a substance-use education workshop suitable for delivery in clubs. According to Jimmy D\u2019Arcy, the GAA\u2019s youth leadership and sustainability manager, about 120 clubs have availed of the service since it was rolled out.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland is awash with cocaine, but how does it get into the country?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a lot of these difficult to address issues we try to signpost to experts,\u201d says D\u2019Arcy. \u201cWe don\u2019t carry the expertise inherently. We try to contextualise things for the GAA environment across a range of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no way of knowing if any of those workshops changed anyone\u2019s mind or habits, and there are people who will argue that the personal affairs of players should be beyond the jurisdiction of sports organisations. The GAA, though, has never recused itself from conscientious interventions. It has always seen itself almost as a secular church. The question, though, is what response is appropriate and what could they meaningfully achieve?<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Malachy Clerkin: The Jim Gavin fiasco was a long overdue humbling for GAA exceptionalismOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe topic of drug use in Ireland has moved from the fringes to the mainstream,\u201d wrote the GAA\u2019s community and health manager Colin Regan in a long piece on the association\u2019s website. \u201cSo where does the GAA fit into this equation? What is the role of a community-orientated sports association and where does our remit lie?<\/p>\n

\u201cA club should consider its role in terms of its members\u2019 decision to use illegal substances in their own time, away from official club activities or events. A percentage of the population will always choose drugs, and this is not exclusive to young people or athletes. While clubs may vary in their thinking regarding what someone does in their private life, the GAA Club Substance Use policy explicitly states that the use of illicit drugs at club events is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Cocaine users are now older, better educated and more likely to be workingOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

This is the time of the year when those lines are blurred. Is a post county final knees-up in the local pub regarded as a club event or not? For generations those get-togethers had a predictable nature. In the weeks and months leading up to the championship players would be asked to swear off alcohol as a declaration of their commitment, and when the season ended a cork would be blown off the bottle, win or lose.<\/p>\n

When those pleas are made now, though, they\u2019re liable to fall into a generation gap: middle-aged managers asking players in their 20s to stay off the gargle when drink might not play any part in their weekend kicks.<\/p>\n

The scale of the issue is anyone\u2019s guess. An academic study of 5,000 15- and 16-year-olds, published in the Plos One journal during the summer, found that 3.4 per cent of them had used cocaine while nearly 3 per cent had tried ecstasy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an equivalent of one student in every class having used these by the age of 15 or 16. That\u2019s a very high prevalence, and much higher than the European norms,\u201d said Dr Peter Barrett, one of the authors of the report and a consultant in public health medicine in UCC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s becoming more normalised in Irish society. It really is a major public health problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CiaránCiar\u00e1n Carey. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Ciar\u00e1n Carey, the former Limerick hurler and an addiction counsellor, wasn\u2019t surprised by the numbers that appeared in the GPA survey, although he believes recreational drug use is a far greater issue in clubs than it is at intercounty level.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my experience,\u201d says Carey, \u201cI would have come across this at club level 10 years ago. Not only had it got into the club scene, but it had got in very strong. It\u2019s as strong as it ever was now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where players get a small bit manipulative to themselves when they introduce the word \u2018recreational\u2019. I have yet to come across a fella who is recreationally taking weed or taking coke or taking speed for 20 years and he\u2019s fine. I haven\u2019t met him yet. As a country we are slightly in denial about what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Middle-aged, middle-class cocaine use: \u2018Even if he stopped today, I don\u2019t know would we ever get him back\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In comparison, horse racing is an interesting case study. Cocaine was an issue among jockeys long before it entered GAA dressingrooms. For a rider struggling with their weight, getting by on 1,200 or 1,400 calories a day, cocaine was not only an appetite suppressant, it was also a low-calorie alternative to a 200-calorie pint of beer on a night out. <\/p>\n

In the early years of testing, Kieren Fallon and Dean Gallagher were two high-profile cases, both suspended twice for anti-doping infractions in France that involved cocaine use. In Ireland, the first positive case was recorded in 2006, three years after testing started.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years ago this wasn\u2019t a conversation,\u201d says Andrew Coonan, solicitor and head of the Irish Jockeys\u2019 Association. \u201cIt was not an issue. I\u2019d say five years ago I was having what I would call a busy time of dealing with issues that were arising with regard to cocaine use. And when I say busy, that is very much relative to the jockey population. Busy was maybe a couple of cases a year. The stats now have shown a considerable fall-off in findings of cocaine use among riders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s not a problem and I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s gone away. I\u2019d be utterly naive to say that. You\u2019re dealing with a young population [of jockeys] and with kids who are getting money quickly. It is there. I know the testing is only at a certain level, but it has increased. I know riders have a way of getting around the system. Do I think it\u2019s a problem? Absolutely, it\u2019s there. Am I seeing it getting out of hand? I\u2019m not seeing it getting out of hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian McGoldrick, who has been a racecourse doctor for more than 40 years, is convinced too that cocaine use in the weigh room is not the issue it was five or 10 years ago. More testing is only part of that change. In 2024, for example, 287 anti-doping samples were taken on Irish racecourses, but that was from nearly 400 race meetings. The testing resulted in one adverse finding for cocaine.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Adrian McGoldrick. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons <\/p>\n

For somebody who is not a habitual user, cocaine leaves the system quickly. Saturday night consumption would not be detected in an anti-doping sample on Monday. For somebody to be caught they would need be very unlucky, or very foolish.<\/p>\n

The other factors, says Coonan, have been environmental stuff: education, surveillance, intervention, punishment. One of Coonan\u2019s clients was given a three-year suspension in 2019. Dylan Robinson ultimately returned to the saddle after a year, but only after a strict rehabilitation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe penalty structures here are significantly harsher than they are in the UK,\u201d says Coonan. \u201cI think those that want to make it are realising that if they have a finding against them, it\u2019s very hard to come back from it. Riders now must do mandatory CPD [Continuous Professional Development] as part of their licence and awareness of the effects of drugs and alcohol is one piece of that. The jockeys now are very professional too. I\u2019ve seen a huge change in weigh room attitudes. The peer influence of the top guys is huge in terms of the work they\u2019re doing off the track. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, when a guy is starting to exhibit issues or problems [with drugs or alcohol] it becomes quite obvious quite quickly because racing isn\u2019t that big. Word comes around. With great support from the chief medical officer [Jennifer Pugh] and her team, it can be picked up quite early.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a societal issue such as this how much can an organisation like the GAA hope to achieve? The first step is not to turn a blind eye. The GAA has made that start. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ten days ago, representatives of the Gaelic Players Association [GPA] appeared before the D\u00e1il committee on Arts, Media,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[22055,18,5286,20403,21050,19,17,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-144239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-alan-kelly","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-gaa","11":"tag-gaelic-players-association-gpa","12":"tag-horse-racing","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115433645341225049","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}