 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
| Kilbarrack Coast Community Programme | |||||||||||||
Receives
financial support from FAS and the Health Board. |
|||||||||||||
FAS
supports a Community Employment Programme. The core programme is made
up of recovering drug mis-users, support staff, an administrator, an
Assistant Community Employment Supervisor and a Community Employment
Supervisor. FAS also support our youth prevention initiative-"Youth
Matters" by funding the employment of two part-time youth workers |
|||||||||||||
The
programme also receives 'mainstream' funding from the Health Board.
This money goes to paying the Programme Co-ordinator and three full
time youth workers. Health Board funding also means that the programme
can provide counselling services and other supports to our clients |
|||||||||||||
The
Health Board also funds a local parent support group. Kilbarrack Coast
Community Programme is also a constituent body and an active participant
in the Dublin North East Drugs Task Force. |
|||||||||||||
| The Origins of the Task Force | |||||||||||||
The Dublin North East Drugs Task Force
|
|||||||||||||
The
Dublin North East Drugs Task Force is one of fourteen Local Drugs Task
Forces. Most of these were established by the government in 1997. Apart
from the Cork Drugs Task Force, all of the Task Forces are located in
Dublin |
|||||||||||||
Heroin
was virtually unknown in Ireland before the 1980's. However, since then,
more and more people have been feeling the presence of the drug - whether
it be people using themselves or people who know or who have family
members who have been involved in taking drugs. By the mid-1990's, it
became clear that the problem could no longer be ignored. |
|||||||||||||
This
time also saw an escalation of "party drugs", such as Ecstasy, and in
October 1996, the First Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Measures
to Reduce the Demand for Drugs was published. This was initiated by
Minister Pat Rabitte and is available from the Department of Tourism,
Sport & Recreation, Kildare St, Dublin 2. |
|||||||||||||
The
National Drugs Strategy Team (see below) was set up in late 1996 to
co-ordinate a response to the drug problem at central level. The Team,
which reports to the Minister of State for Local Development and with
special responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, Mr. Eoin Ryan,
T.D. is specifically mandated to assist the Local Drugs task Forces
in their work. |
|||||||||||||
A
handbook giving information on the Local Drugs Task Forces was published
by the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation on behalf of the
National Drugs Strategy Team, and is available from the National Drugs
Strategy Team at |
|||||||||||||
| 4/5
Harcourt Road, Dublin 2, ph. 475 4120, fax. 475 4045. |
|||||||||||||
| Objectives of the Local Drugs Task Forces | |||||||||||||
| The overall aim of the Government's drugs policy is to provide an effective, integrated response to the problems posed by drug misuse. The key objectives of that policy are: | |||||||||||||
To reduce the numbers of people turning to drugs in the first instance,
through comprehensive education and prevention programmes; |
|||||||||||||
|
To provide appropriate treatment and aftercare for those who are dependent
on drugs; |
|||||||||||||
|
To have appropriate mechanisms in place at national and local level,
aimed at reducing the supply of illicit drugs; and |
|||||||||||||
|
To ensure that an appropriate level of accurate and timely information
is available to inform the response to the problem. In contributing
to these overall aims and objectives, the Local Drugs Task Forces were
set up to develop and implement a drugs strategy for their areas which
co-ordinates all relevant programmes and addresses any gaps in services.
Of equal importance, the Task Forces provide a mechanism which enables
locla communities to work closely with State and voluntary agencies
in designing and implementing that strategy. |
|||||||||||||
| Community Roots | |||||||||||||
It
was recognised that as the problem was embedded firmly in communities
in and around Dublin this was where the solution was going to come from.
The Task Forces were put in place as a top-down structure but the real
substance to the Task Forces came from a grass roots level. |
|||||||||||||
Already
there were people in the community who were concerned about drugs and
the effects that they were having on individuals, families and the community
as a whole. It was these people who were the initial driving force behind
a movement to tackle the drug problem. It is one of the aims of the
Task Force is that they remain a major driving force in developing policy
and community based projects. |
|||||||||||||
Eight
community representatives have been nominated to the Dublin North East
Drugs Task Force following wide consultation among local community groups.
Representatives were nominted based on the following criteria: |
|||||||||||||
|
Having an appropriate and adequate geographic spread of representation
for the area. |
|||||||||||||
|
Giving priority to groups with a strong track record in community development
|
|||||||||||||
|
Nominating individuals who have hte relevant knowledhe and experience
of the drugs issue necessary to play a full and productive role on the
Task Force; and |
|||||||||||||
|
Nominating representatives who have the active support of the communities
they represent. |
|||||||||||||
Before
projects establish themselves in an area, they carry out extensive consultation
with local people to let them know that there are plans for a drug related
project in the area and what services they can expect it to provide.
|
|||||||||||||
As
most community representatives are voluntary members of the group, the
Task Force has agreed that, as a principle, employment commitments,
childcare or disability should not be barriers to attending the monthly
meetings of the Task Force and that they will be supported as much as
possible. |
|||||||||||||
Our
catchment area stretches from Clonshaugh to Howth and Beaumont to Baldoyle.
There is a population of about 105,000 people - in general it is a very
young population. |
|||||||||||||
The
main areas covered by the Task Force are |
|||||||||||||
Darndale/Belcamp/Moatview,
|
|||||||||||||
Donnycarney,
Edenmore, Kilbarrack, |
|||||||||||||
Kilmore,
Howth & Bonnybrook/Fairfield. |
|||||||||||||
| We held our first meeting in March 1997 and, since then, have both grown in size and matured as an organisation. The membership is comprised of a mix of statutory, public and community representatives. It is this mix of people is considered the key to the success of the Task Force. These are the people that currently make up the Dublin North East Drugs Task Force: | |||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
