A five-year-old schoolboy was jabbed by a heroin addict’s needle which was thrown into his school’s play area minutes before break time yesterday.
The child, who attends North Presentation primary school on the north side of Cork City, picked it up unaware of the danger and was jabbed in the hand, puncturing his skin.
Principal Kathleen Haverty said teachers became aware of the incident immediately, contacted the boy’s parents, and a member of staff accompanied them to the Mercy University Hospital where the boy underwent a series of tests.
He and his family now face an anxious wait for results to see if he has contracted any diseases from the dirty needle.
The school has reported the incident to gardaí.
Ms Haverty said the overwhelming concern of teaching staff and the school’s board of management was for this child’s welfare, and that of all their pupils.
“We deeply regret what happened but this is a problem outside the school which visited the school,” she said. “The school caretaker checked the yard for hazards minutes before playtime and it was clear.”
She said the school will work with gardaí and other agencies to try and ensure this kind of incident never happens again.
“We will have to take additional precautions in future, but we don’t want the school to become a fortress,” she said.
She also confirmed that the school flagged concerns to gardaí some weeks ago about what she described as “antisocial behaviour” occurring in some of the lanes around Gerald Griffin Street.
Earlier yesterday, parents dropping children off at the school reported seeing a man “shooting up” in the area before classes started.
He was escorted away, but two people who returned later also reportedly began shooting up before they were also asked to leave.
The shocking jabbing incident prompted Sinn Fein Cllr Thomas Gould to lead fresh calls last night for urgent action from a range of state agencies to tackle the city's growing heroin crisis.
He said gardai must be provided with the resources to mount more foot patrols in this and other areas where open heroin abuse is on the rise.
"Garda resources are being concentrated in the city at weekends but this incident highlights the need for more day-time patrols in certain parts of the city," he said.
"If the people responsible for discarding this needle by just throwing it over the wall of a school are found to be tenants of Cork City Council, they have to be evicted.
"The council has a responsibility to the community.
"And if they are renting privately, then their landlord must take responsibility and deal with the situation."
This incident occurred on the same day reports emerged that several heroin needles were found amongst bags of rubbish dumped near playing pitches at St Vincent's GAA club.
Mr Gould said it is now clear that heroin is a growing problem across the city.
Earlier this year, southside Independent Cllr Mick Finn warned that parts of the city were off limits because of heroin use, and that used needles were being found in housing estates, parks, graveyards and public facilities.
Last year, heroin paraphernalia was found in St Finbarr’s Church in the South Parish.
Special sharps bins have been installed in some public toilets in the city centre in a bid to encourage those injecting heroin or methadone to dispose of their needles responsibly.
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