Mr. Fearghal Connolly:

I thank the Chair and the committee for the opportunity to present this submission to the Joint Committee on Drugs Use. For over two decades, we have worked at the heart of the Donore community, providing essential supports to individuals experiencing addiction and their families. Donore Avenue is in Dublin 8 and borders Cork Street, South Circular Road and Dolphin's Barn.

Our work is grounded in harm reduction, recovery support and family resilience. We seek to respond flexibly to changing patterns of drug and alcohol use while ensuring no individual or family faces these challenges alone. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive range of services that meet the needs of our community in an open, welcoming and non-judgmental environment. We support people in active addiction, people taking steps towards change, people sustaining long-term recovery and families and loved ones affected by drug use and alcohol misuse.

Services are delivered through one-to-one support, group programmes and community outreach. Alongside our core service delivery, we recognise the urgent need to provide targeted supports for young people impacted by substance use and families of people struggling with drug and alcohol difficulties. Over the coming three years, we are committed to expanding specialised interventions for these groups, building on our community focus and client-centred ethos. Drug and alcohol use has far-reaching effects. As we know, it impacts not only individuals but also their families and wider communities.

Our approach is non-judgmental and inclusive - we work with people regardless of their background or stage of substance use - as well as flexible and responsive. We adapt supports to meet individual needs. Our approach is holistic in addressing the physical, emotional and social well-being of our service users. Our services include low-threshold drop-in facilities; referrals, advice and advocacy; case management and key working; family support; daily programmes such as yoga, acupuncture and dynamic storytelling; and art therapy. I have named just some of the programmes we engage in. We also provide hot meals twice weekly.

In 2024, we supported 161 individuals, resulting in 5,029 service visits despite relocating to a temporary premises at 78B Donore Avenue after a fire in Donore Community Centre in 2021. This has still not been refurbished and we are waiting on the work to begin on that soon. We expect to be moving into that premises again in 2027.

We have our expanded digital presence through our website and new social media platforms, including Instagram. We provide one-to-one key working and solution-focused sessions to an increased number of service users. Last year, we launched the women’s crack cocaine programme, WCCP. This was a pilot project engaging 13 local women, funded through a one-off €16,000 social inclusion allocation in the HSE and some redirected funds through the task force.

We have strengthened referral pathways with partner organisations, including Dublin Simon detox, Coolmine, Rutland Centre, Merchants Quay Ireland, our local GPs and psychiatric services.

We have also distributed school kits to children before the school year recommences, 600 food hampers to families in need through FoodCloud and 1,600 hot meals were served in 2024. We also host AA and NA meetings several times per week for those who are in recovery, so they can continue their recovery.

Despite these achievements, the challenges in our community are escalating. We now see daily queues of people seeking crack cocaine in the Donore Avenue area. This is reminiscent of the heroin epidemic of the 1980s. Donore Avenue has experienced decades of neglect, with regeneration only beginning in recent years. Some 55 units have been completed on Margaret Kennedy Road, with a further 542 social and cost-rental units, through the Land Development Agency, LDA, due to be ready in 2027. A further 730 private units being developed by Hines on the old Player Wills and Bailey Gibson sites on South Circular Road, 10% of which we anticipate will be social housing.

The growing prevalence of crack cocaine and the increasing needs of local families underscore the urgency of sustained investment in community-based responses. The community youth centre is scheduled to reopen in 2027 and we require this to be a resource hub for the expanding Donore Avenue community, recruitment of at least two additional community development workers, the reintroduction of breakfast and homework clubs for young people, accessible youth activities for all young people and targeted outreach for young people engaged in harmful or antisocial behaviour.

Our strategic priorities are: securing long-term funding for the women’s crack cocaine programme, expand family and youth-focused interventions, deepen partnerships with statutory and community organisations and continue to deliver bespoke, person-centred responses.

The challenges in Donore Avenue are severe and growing. With the support of Government, statutory partners, and the wider community, we can continue to deliver vital services and continue to build a healthier, safer, and more empowered community in Donore Avenue. I will hand over to Ms Cheryl Kelly.