In the second of our two-part series on Ireland’s heroin problem, we visit Limerick’s first mobile needle exchange unit – just one of the approaches being taken to deal with heroin addiction outside Dublin.
It’s 2PM on a dreary Tuesday afternoon on the quays in Limerick. Just to the side of the road, beside the quay wall, the white van I’m in pulls up and several of the workers get out and hop into the back. Inside, it looks for all the world like a mobile office, with space for files, a swivel chair and portable heaters. The laminated board on the table is the first giveaway though, with images of a male heroin addict injecting himself and a narrative underneath outlining the correct way to do it. There are unused needles on the table, and packages of silver foil which addicts will later use to smoke heroin.
Source: Brian O'Connell, Irish Times, 10/01/2012
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