Heroin in Kerry: 'They want to pretend it's not happening' 

Sarah Horgan talks to a recovering addict, a local resident, and health professionals — including a needle exchange worker who says some people are slow to acknowledge the problem

'Watch your step': HSE needle exchange worker for Cork and Kerry Frank Horgan brought reporter Sarah Horgan to see some areas in Tralee blighted by heroin use. Pictures: Domnick Walsh

As the summer sun shines brightly over Tralee, there is a growing number of people trapped in the dark clutches of addiction, shooting up everywhere from under walkways to behind hedges.

The clear day sheds light on an inconvenient truth in the town which Frank Horgan is all too familiar with. A number of years ago, the HSE South West’s needle exchange worker was told by authorities that “Tralee didn’t have a drug problem”.