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.

She said she recalled when Sam died, people told her there was nothing to be ashamed of, which caught her by surprise.

“I was quite taken aback by that because I didn’t feel any shame. I felt sad and it made me realise the attitude that people have towards this situation,” she said.

“That they were worried that I’d feel ashamed more than anything else in that moment and I suppose it really highlighted to me that shame and secrecy and all of those things, doesn’t help people who are perhaps struggling with addiction because you can’t then maybe go get help openly and honestly, you should feel shame instead.

“And so, I think it highlights the approach we take in Ireland kind of criminalising it rather than picking a health-led approach.

“I don’t think it’s working for us, and I don’t think it’s helping people who need it and there’s a lot of suffering as a result of that,” Ms Cairns told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne show.

Ms Cairns' brother died six weeks after she was elected in the local elections in 2019.

She said different experiences in people’s lives can “open your mind and heart” to a particular issue and said while working in politics, it drives you to try and change issues affecting people.

“We can’t bring Sam back, but you can try and help other families from experiencing what we did,” she added.

Ms Cairns, who became the leader of the Social Democrats on Wednesday said she was glad to see the Government has agreed to a citizens' assembly on drugs.

She said she was no expert on the matter but having read other countries' approaches, there is a reduction in deaths and serious harm.

“I really do think we need to change it and we have more deaths from overdoses in Ireland than we do, for example, road traffic accidents.

“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,” she added.