FAMILIES living in apartments on Limerick’s Dock Road say they are concerned for their safety as a derelict site has become a haven for heroin users and anti-social behaviour.
The site of the former Londis Topshop, between the Windmill House and Mount Kennett apartment buildings, has been identified by residents as a hangout for drug users.
Fencing in front of the former service station was blown down in the storms at the start of the year and local residents say it is now frequented by heroin addicts from late at night to early morning.
People in the neighbouring apartments say they are fearful not only for their own safety and that of their families, but also for the wellbeing of the drug users. A young woman had to be resuscitated by emergency services at the site last week after after a suspected overdose.
“There have been many recent emergencies requiring medical attention for addicts who had overdosed,” one resident told the Limerick Post.
Windows at the front of the derelict petrol station have been smashed and the inside of the building is littered with syringes, needles and other drug paraphernalia.
Sinn Féin councillor for Limerick City West, Malachy McCreesh, who visited the site after being contacted by concerned residents, has called on the local authority’s Environmental Department to organise an immediate clean-up and to work with the appropriate authorities to ensure that the area is fenced off from the public.
“I was able to access the building with ease. Discarded needles and other drug paraphernalia were scattered around inside. It is also covered in beer cans and, judging from the strong smell of urine, the site is obviously used by many individuals”.
“Local people are constantly subjected to abuse from some of those who use the building”.
Cllr McCreesh went on to point out that people cleaning up the drug-related litter need to take extra precautions to ensure there is no health risk to themselves. He also maintains that more resources will have to be made available to the various groups that work with drug users to help them overcome their addiction.
“While recognising that cleaning up the litter or putting a fence around this site will not solve the drug addiction problem in Limerick, it is still important that local communities feel that their concerns are not ignored,” he said.
When the Limerick Post visited the derelict site on the Dock Road there was an undisturbed stack of business cards and leaflets from the Ana Liffey Drug Project detailing what to do if someone overdoses.
Director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, Tony Duffin said he was pleased to see that Cllr McCreesh had acknowledged the concern that local people have for the health and wellbeing of those people that use drugs.
“Our team visited the site last week in an attempt to engage with some of the people using the building as a space to inject drugs. It is important to meet people where they are at; and reaching out in this way, to this extremely vulnerable group of people, is an effective way of building relationships. We build these relationships because without a relationship it is very difficult to promote any positive changes in people’s behaviours,” he explained.
According to Mr Duffin, cleaning, securing and monitoring the derelict site to try and address the current situation is a normal reaction to such a scenario. However, he maintains, that it does not address the behaviour or the underlying issues.
“Typically, people engaged in public drug use have multiple and complex needs. Unless we address these needs, the people involved are only dispersed to another part of the city. Public injecting is a serious public health issue — it’s bad for the person injecting in public and it’s bad for everyone else. To really address public injecting in Limerick City, and anywhere else in Ireland, we are going to have to be innovative”.
“There are evidence-based approaches, such as supervised injecting facilities, that have been implemented in countries like Germany and Switzerland. This would provide a safer alternative for those currently injecting drugs in public, in addition to contact and support into treatment. Ana Liffey is committed to lobbying for the introduction of supervised injecting facilities where they are needed in Ireland,” he explained.
A spokeswoman for Limerick City and County Council commented, “Our Environment Department carried out a site inspection of this area last week and the Council has taken on board the concerns of the local community. It has the powers to deal with this matter under the Waste Management Act and I can confirm that this site is being attended to as a matter of urgency.”
