{"id":167437,"date":"2025-11-07T06:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T06:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/167437\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T06:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T06:34:08","slug":"there-definitely-is-a-problem-probably-more-so-in-clubs-with-recreational-drug-use-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/167437\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018There definitely is a problem, probably more so in clubs, with recreational drug use\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Westmeath<\/a> footballer Luke Loughlin has told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use about being \u201cblinded by my addiction\u201d and unable \u201cto see the damage I was doing\u201d until eventually seeking help from the Gaelic Players Association<\/a> (GPA).<\/p>\n

Loughlin was 14 when he had his first drink, 16 when he first tried pills and cocaine, and was among several representatives at Thursday\u2019s meeting in Leinster House to openly discuss the subject of addiction, sports and wellbeing \u2013 and a pathway to support sporting bodies providing rehabilitation services. <\/p>\n

The 30-year-old was frank about his own experiences and recovery from alcohol and substance abuse, a time when \u201csport always seemed to be the only release where I felt good about myself without having to drink or take drugs\u201d. He also addressed last month\u2019s GPA survey where 20 per cent of male players said, \u201cthey were aware of a team-mate who has struggled because of drug misuse\u201d.<\/p>\n

Loughlin was recently named on the Tailteann Cup Team of the Year, and co-captained his club The Downs to the Westmeath senior football title, kicking seven points. Just four years ago, his addiction came close to ruining his football career and his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom birth I have had no relationship with my biological father,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a 30-year-old man this sentence doesn\u2019t carry any weight or leave any marks but as a child I always felt I was missing something. I struggled in my childhood and more so in my teens with the feelings, of trust, abandonment, not being good enough and constantly looking for validation or attention. Ultimately, I could never be myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the age of 14 I tried alcohol for the first time with my friends and the feeling that it gave me, it gave me confidence, allowed me to be someone else and was able to take me out of own head … For the next few years my behaviour continued to get worse. I left school at 16. I was out drinking and gambling most weekends and started to experiment with drugs such as pills and cocaine. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs the years went by, I spiralled out of control, I wrote off two cars (lucky to be alive and to have not hurt someone else), could not hold down a job, and was dropped from the Westmeath panel numerous times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only after a final intervention by his mother in 2021 did Loughlin seek help, the GPA securing him a place in the Cuan Mhuire treatment centre in Athy. Loughlin now works as a Games Promotion Officer for the GAA, and is also active in talks and workshops on alcohol and substance abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn treatment I was able to fully focus on myself, without any outside distractions,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to talk about your problems without judgment and have someone who understands listen and help you see things in a different way is ultimately what helped me to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Joint Committee on Drugs Use is made up of 14 members; nine from the D\u00e1il, five from the Seanad. Fine Gael senator Evanne N\u00ed Chuilinn asked Loughlin if his experiences reflected the anecdotal evidence that recreational drug use was increasing among the GAA players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably a bit removed from that situation,\u201d said Loughlin, \u201cbut there definitely is a problem, probably more so in clubs, with recreational drug use. I think the problem is the build-up to a final, or the let-down after a final, I think, because they might stay off the drink or whatever for while, I think that\u2019s where the problem comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an individual thing, I think it can be down to the collective, and I don\u2019t think you can blame one person for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In last month\u2019s annual GPA member survey, of the 3,676 players who responded, 20 per cent of male players stated their awareness of a team-mate \u201cwho has struggled because of drug misuse\u201d. The GPA\u2019s head of player development and Wellbeing, Jennifer Rogers, told Fianna F\u00e1il senator Mary Fitzpatrick that while these percentages didn\u2019t necessarily mark an increase in the problem, early intervention was becoming increasingly critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, from a data perspective, we\u2019re not seeing an increase,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was an ERSI report published in 2019 where 77 per cent of intercounty players felt that their team-mates didn\u2019t engage in illicit drug use, or any drug use.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we did a recent survey where we found that 20 per cent of players were engaged in recreational drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in terms of the crisis support, we\u2019re very lucky that we\u2019re able to provide those for players in terms of residential care and counselling. But where we see the issue is early intervention and prevention, and raising awareness among young people that this isn\u2019t a healthy behaviour in terms of coping with the stress and the demands and the struggles that all of us experience through life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loughlin also said his success on the field in some ways helped facilitate his addiction: \u201cI happened to be quite talented at sport, and that probably [helped me get away with] a lot more. Even when I was acting out, the club were probably like \u2018this lad is going to be able to help us\u2019. And the older I got, I probably never faced any consequences for my actions, so subconsciously I kept going until the penny finally dropped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sport Ireland Director of Participation, Ethics, Integrity and Research Mary Van Lieshout also spoke of the relationship between the social aspect of sport and the consumption of recreational drugs and alcohol. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a need for integrated national strategies that promote the positive aspects of sport and could address potential links to early alcohol initiation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westmeath footballer Luke Loughlin has told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use about being \u201cblinded by my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[18,5286,20403,19,17,132,7179],"class_list":{"0":"post-167437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-gaa","10":"tag-gaelic-players-association-gpa","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-westmeath-gaa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115507027312045958","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167437","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=167437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}