Cork: Number Of Heroin Addicts Jumps From 20 To 500 In Ten Years

There are 500 heroin addicts in Cork City and county — a massive increase in the past 10 years — with only half of them receiving any help.
According to experts, three quarters of the addicts are male, and range in age from their 20s to their 50s. Around 95% are under 30.

It is estimated that, 10 years ago, there were no more than 20 heroin addicts in the region, which had at that time escaped the heroin scourge which had taken serious hold in parts of Dublin.

However, Garda sources say heroin has now become cheaper to obtain.

A full-blown addict could now get by on spending between €50 and €100 per day to feed their habit, they said.

Addicts start by smoking the drug, but after a while they “don’t get the same buzz from it and start injecting intravenously”, a Garda source said.

David Lane, co-ordinator of the Drugs and Alcohol Service for HSE South, said 250 Cork heroin addicts are currently on a methadone treatment programme.

However, he said it was rare that his staff ever came across a heroin addict who sticks exclusively to that drug.

He said they usually also consume alcohol, cannabis, and prescription drugs.

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 “It [heroin use] has become more visible [in Cork] because of injecting. It became more apparent here from the mid-2000s on,” said Mr Lane.

He said the reason for the rise in heroin use is that there is now a market for it, and that some people were not getting a kick any more from other drugs.

Mr Lane said more people were using it because they had been introduced to heroin through networks of friends. Some addicts feed their own habit by supplying friends.

On a positive note, he said that a needle exchange programme, which is run by local pharmacies, has seen a significant drop in infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.

“We do screening for viral infections, and since the needle exchange programme was introduced two years ago we have seen a significant reduction in them,” Mr Lane said.

The pharmacies provide addicts with clean needles and encourage them to contact the HSE’s drugs and alcohol treatment service.

Mr Lane said the first point of contact for addicts is through the local Drugs Taskforce projects.
There are 16 Taskforce projects in the city and suburbs and a further seven in the county.
 
People can find out more about these services on www.corkdrugsinfo.ie 

Cork: Time Pushes Onward On Shandon's 160-Year-Old Clock: *UPDATED

A three-year maintenance programme has been drafted to safeguard Cork’s landmark Shandon clock, which began ticking again yesterday for the first time in almost two years.

Horologist Philip Stokes, who oversaw a 10-week repair project on the famous 160-year-old mechanism, set it ticking from 9.30am.

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A three-year maintenance programme has been drafted to safeguard Cork’s landmark Shandon clock, which began ticking again yesterday for the first time in almost two years.

Horologist Philip Stokes, who oversaw a 10-week repair project on the famous 160-year-old mechanism, set it ticking from 9.30am.

He then stood at the base of St Anne’s church and watched anxiously as the clock struck 10am before its distinctive and much-loved chimes rang out across the city.

But Mr Stokes assured us that its renowned quirk which sees the four faces each telling a slightly different time — hence the ‘four-faced liar’ nickname — has been retained. “Given its age, the amount of gears, and the effect of the wind on the hands which can send a kickback through the gear mechanism, you will always have a slightly different time on each of the clock faces,” he said. “But we’ve tried to keep the time different to within two or three minutes.”

The clock atop the steeple — the internationally recognised symbol of the city — began grinding to a halt almost two years ago.

Community activist, Barry Keane, brought the issue to national attention through the Irish Examiner last November.

But a row over responsibility for the clock mechanism, and red-tape in City Hall stalled the sanctioning of funding to carry out much-needed repairs. Following months of negative publicity, City Hall finally agreed to release the funding in May, clearing the way for repairs to begin.

Mr Stokes, a Cork-based clock expert, moved on-site in June and began repairing the mechanism which is just a few inches smaller than the mechanism which drives London’s Big Ben.

Several wheels were damaged, several gears, some of which are up to three feet in diameter, had seized up, and several more had cracked under the strain of the hands.

The surround of a small window just under the hands on the northern clock face had partially collapsed, throwing the hands out of line and putting huge strain on the gears inside.

Mr Stokes dismantled and cleared the entire 2.5-tonne mechanism, reworked some gears, rebuilt others, and installed an improved electronic winding mechanism.

The damaged window was repaired and the gears to which the northern hands were attached were remade and replaced.

“Unfortunately, it just hadn’t been maintained regularly enough — which a clock of this age needs. It really does need to be checked a minimum of every two or three months,” he said.

“Wind gusts on the 100ft high clock face put immense pressure on the hands, sending huge kick-back through the gearing mechanism. And that will happen again.”

While the clock is keeping time again and the hourly chime is working, it will take another few weeks before the quarter-hour chimes will be heard across the city. Mr Stokes also cleaned decades of grime and some weeds from the clock faces, and cleaned the hammers and bells.

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Some minor structural work still needs to be carried out; the timber numerals wrapped in folded copper; and the weathered hands, made from steel and copper and wrapped in gold leaf, will need attention in the coming years.

City officials have surveyed the entire clock mechanism and have prepared a three-year maintenance programme.

“For a 160-year-old clock, it’s in pretty good shape,” Mr Stokes said.

“They made them well, they made them to last. They just need to be loved and cared for.”

He then stood at the base of St Anne’s church and watched anxiously as the clock struck 10am before its distinctive and much-loved chimes rang out across the city.

But Mr Stokes assured us that its renowned quirk which sees the four faces each telling a slightly different time — hence the ‘four-faced liar’ nickname — has been retained. “Given its age, the amount of gears, and the effect of the wind on the hands which can send a kickback through the gear mechanism, you will always have a slightly different time on each of the clock faces,” he said. “But we’ve tried to keep the time different to within two or three minutes.”

The clock atop the steeple — the internationally recognised symbol of the city — began grinding to a halt almost two years ago.

Community activist, Barry Keane, brought the issue to national attention through the Irish Examiner last November.

But a row over responsibility for the clock mechanism, and red-tape in City Hall stalled the sanctioning of funding to carry out much-needed repairs. Following months of negative publicity, City Hall finally agreed to release the funding in May, clearing the way for repairs to begin.

Mr Stokes, a Cork-based clock expert, moved on-site in June and began repairing the mechanism which is just a few inches smaller than the mechanism which drives London’s Big Ben.

Several wheels were damaged, several gears, some of which are up to three feet in diameter, had seized up, and several more had cracked under the strain of the hands.

The surround of a small window just under the hands on the northern clock face had partially collapsed, throwing the hands out of line and putting huge strain on the gears inside.

Mr Stokes dismantled and cleared the entire 2.5-tonne mechanism, reworked some gears, rebuilt others, and installed an improved electronic winding mechanism.

The damaged window was repaired and the gears to which the northern hands were attached were remade and replaced.

“Unfortunately, it just hadn’t been maintained regularly enough — which a clock of this age needs. It really does need to be checked a minimum of every two or three months,” he said.

“Wind gusts on the 100ft high clock face put immense pressure on the hands, sending huge kick-back through the gearing mechanism. And that will happen again.”

While the clock is keeping time again and the hourly chime is working, it will take another few weeks before the quarter-hour chimes will be heard across the city. Mr Stokes also cleaned decades of grime and some weeds from the clock faces, and cleaned the hammers and bells.

Some minor structural work still needs to be carried out; the timber numerals wrapped in folded copper; and the weathered hands, made from steel and copper and wrapped in gold leaf, will need attention in the coming years.

City officials have surveyed the entire clock mechanism and have prepared a three-year maintenance programme.

“For a 160-year-old clock, it’s in pretty good shape,” Mr Stokes said.

“They made them well, they made them to last. They just need to be loved and cared for.”

Cork/Kerry: Boys Who Self-Harm At Greater Risk Of Suicide: Research

Teenage boys in counties Cork and Kerry are six times more likely to die by suicide than teenage girls.

The research suggests that all boys who present at hospital having self harmed must be viewed as serious suicide risks

The National Suicide Research Foundation study shows wide gender differences between boys and girls around self-harm and suicide, with boys who self-harm at a far higher risk of killing themselves later.

The study, of 15-17-year-olds, found that for every 16 boys that are hospitalised for self-harming, one will die by suicide later. In contrast, one in every 162 girls who present at hospital after self-harming will later kill themselves.

It found that the rate of hospitalisation for self-harm was twice as high among girls than boys, suggesting that girls are more likely to seek medical help than boys.

The study found that self-harming at home or in the community is far higher among teenage girls than boys.

The study also found that for every boy who dies by suicide, 146 will self-harm in the community without ever accessing hospital care. For every female who dies by suicide, 3,296 will self harm at home.

Post-doctoral psychology researcher, Dr Elaine McMahon, said the suicide ratios could suggest that boys are more prone to impulsive behaviour than girls, who can “internalise” more.

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“Self-harming is rarer in boys and for those that do, we must recognise that they are at high risk of suicide and so we must target them in suicide prevention strategies,” she said.

Dr McMahon said there was a plethora of reasons why young people seek to self-harm. “It can be a cry for help, attention-seeking or a means of dealing with unbearable emotions,” she said.

The school survey also revealed that out of those who self-harmed without going to hospital, 59% of boys used cutting as did 58% of girls.

Of the self-harmers who were hospitalised, 25% of the boys used cutting compared to 14.6% of the girls. Overdose was the most common type of self harm among teenagers presenting at hospital with 72.8% of girls overdosing and 54.2% of boys.

The school survey, published in the Journal of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, also showed that drug abuse and knowing a peer who self-harmed were strong factors in both boys and girls self-harming.

Boys who were bullied, felt anxious, had problems at school or who admitted to impulsivity, were more likely to self-harm.

Girls who self-harmed admitted to poor self-esteem, a family member self-harming and forced sexual activity.

Previous research from the NSRF showed that over two thirds of people who took their own lives in the past three years knew a family member or friend who had taken their own life or tried to. It found the majority of suicides happened within 12 months of experiencing a friend or family member taking their own lives.