SPECIAL REPORT, DAY 2: Fighting back against heroin’s stranglehold

NOBODY in Cork is denying that heroin is gaining a steadier foothold in the city.

Gardaí, addiction workers, youth workers, social workers, city councillors: They all acknowledge it’s a growing issue, a problem that up until 2006/07 was rare, isolated, and relatively stagnant.

In recent weeks, the city’s leading garda blamed a significant rise in muggings and thefts in Cork city centre on heroin addicts desperately needing their next fix. Chief Superintendent Mick Finn told the October meeting of the Joint Policing Committee that these crimes were up by 41% between July and September compared with the year previous. There was “no doubt”, he said, this was linked to the increased use of heroin.