Holly Cairns taken aback by people’s attitudes to brother's death from drug overdose

Ms Cairns' brother Sam died in 2019 and the Cork South-West TD has said she was not aware of the situation her brother was dealing with

Holly Cairns: 'We’ve got the third highest rate in Europe for drug overdose deaths, and I suppose being from a family who has lost somebody, there’s a lot of families in Ireland that have gone through that.' Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

The new leader of the Social Democrats Holly Cairns has told how she was taken aback by people’s attitudes when her brother died from a drug overdose.

Ms Cairns' brother Sam died in 2019 and the Cork South-West TD has said she unfortunately was not aware of the situation her brother was dealing with.