Health agencies North and South issue drug warnings ahead of Electric Picnic and Emerge
The HSE tent at Electric Picnic in 2024. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie
Health and police agencies on both sides of the border are bracing themselves for a busy weekend from a drugs perspective, with an estimated 120,000 people attending two music festivals on the island.
Authorities are particularly concerned about the circulation of high-strength ecstasy, so-called "pink cocaine", cathinones and ketamine.
The HSE is on Friday holding a final awareness event at Electric Picnic in Co Laois, where an estimated 80,000 are expected to attend the three-day festival, running from Friday to Sunday.
In the North, the Emerge dance music festival is expected to attract up to 40,000 people on Saturday and Sunday. Emerge attracts a significant number of dance music fans from south of the border.
Professor Eamon Keenan, HSE national clinical lead of addiction services, said the foundation of its harm-reduction advice to people was that “it is safer not to use drugs at all” but it was incumbent on them to provide health information to reduce the harms people could suffer.
“We are seeing a year-on-year increase in the potency of MDMA [ecstasy], and that is a concern, so the message is clear, if you use, ’start low and go slow’.”
He said ketamine was becoming “increasingly popular” among younger people, and the risks posed by the drug were escalating as a result of “new forms emerging” which are “more potent”.
Mr Keenan said these versions had emerged in Europe and have been seen in Ireland.
There are also health concerns regarding the circulation of “pink powders”, which, he said, were being promoted by sellers as “pink cocaine”.
He said they do not contain cocaine and typically comprise ketamine, cathinones or MDMA, as well as pink colourant.
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Last Tuesday, police in Britain dug up a substantial underground ‘drugs stash’ at Creamfields Festival in Cheshire, just days before it started. More than 200 canisters of nitrous oxide — known as laughing gas — were recovered as well as large bags containing ecstasy and ketamine.
Garda sources have told the while there have not been any large-scale drug seizures in recent weeks that might be aimed at supplying the festivals, trafficking of drugs was “busy as usual”.
Sources said “most people” going to festivals tend to source their drugs beforehand and bring them in with them, particularly at Electric Picnic, which attracts an older crowd than Emerge.
Gardaí have been documenting an increasing supply of ketamine this year and last year.
“Ketamine is a big issue and a concern,” one source said.
Figures compiled by the indicate at least 33kg of ketamine were seized by gardaí and customs in 2025, and more than 38kg of the drug have been seized so far this year.
In addition to individual drugs, medical experts are concerned for the safety of people taking a combination of drugs, known as "polydrug" use, as well as the consumption of alcohol with illegal substances.
“Our advice is don’t mix drugs or use them with medications or prescription medication or alcohol,” Prof Keenan said.
He also urged people not to be on their own when taking drugs, to tell their friends what they have taken, and not to be afraid of seeking medical advice and telling medics what they have consumed.
Research published last month found about 75% of Irish people who took part in an EU survey said they took at least three substances the last time they took drugs at a festival.
A report by the Health Research Board, using Irish data from the European Web Survey on Drugs 2024, found polydrug use was "particularly prevalent among festival-goers".
Asked about the last time they used drugs at festivals, 23% of these users said they used three substances, 18% used four substances and 22% used five or more substances.
The HSE is operating four drug ‘surrender bins’ at Electric Picnic, where people can safely drop a sample of a drug for anonymous testing.
The HSE is stressing to festival goers these bins are in safe locations that will not be monitored by gardaí — and the bins are there to inform public health advice.
Gardaí have said they fully support the public health purpose of the testing and stress they will not be near medical or drugs.ie tents.
“We are looking for guys selling, not using,” one senior source said.
The results of tests on surrendered drugs — carried out on-site at a mobile HSE laboratory — will inform harm-reduction interventions.
If particularly dangerous substances are detected, alerts will be issued on screens to warn people.
The HSE will have two drugs.ie harm reduction tents at the event, a total of 50 trained volunteers and outreach teams circulating.
Mr Keenan praised the work of the volunteers at the festivals: “The volunteers engaged with 550 people last year, that’s a huge amount of work."
The HSE and the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency issued a joint harm-reduction initiative last May in recognition of the fact thousands of people cross the border to attend music festivals.
A survey carried out by the dance magazine for the initiative found more than a third of its readers plan to attend more than five music festivals over the summer, including on both sides of the border.
There is no drug-checking at the Emerge festival despite efforts by various political parties at Belfast City Council for such a facility.
Department of Health officials in the North told the council there was no legislative framework for such a scheme and it was not part of the Northern Ireland drugs strategy.
Police Service of Northern Ireland Superintendent Alistair Hagan said: “No drugs are safe. The truth is that any illicit drug can have an unknown concoction of ingredients and, put simply, you won’t know what you are actually taking in terms of either components or strength. The risks of taking any drugs, or drugs combined with alcohol, are therefore huge. And the sad reality is that the effect can be fatal.
“Anyone found using or supplying illegal drugs, may face arrest and prosecution. A moment of experimentation, or giving in to peer pressure, can therefore have irreversible consequences for your health, wellbeing and future.”
Northern Ireland drug and alcohol charity Ascert issued a statement this week urging people going to Emerge to “look out for themselves and their friends and to recognise the signs when someone needs help”.
Ascert chief executive Gary McMichael told festival-goers: “You may not always know exactly what someone has taken, how strong it is, or whether they have taken anything else. Drugs can contain unexpected substances and mixing drugs, including alcohol, can increase the risks."
Electric Picnic is one of two festivals the HSE is providing its harm-reduction and drug-checking services this year, the second one being District X dance festival on September 12 and 13 in Dublin.
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