Madness of drug deaths must end - grieving father

Rory Carlin died a year ago

A Strabane man who lost his son to addiction has said the “madness” of young people dying due to drugs has to come to an end.

The police in the north west have insisted that catching drug dealers and putting them before the courts remains a priority.

Rory Carlin, 22, died a year ago.

His family say he took his own life due to drink and drugs addiction.

His family, friends and football teammates gathered to remember Rory on Wednesday and raise awareness about drugs misuse.

Dominic Carlin, who lost his son a year ago, appealed to young people to say no to drugs

“It’s heartbreaking you know, as it’s happening in every town and every village. There are so many loved ones being lost to addiction and this madness has to come to an end,” said Dominic Carlin, Rory's father.

“There’s drugs everywhere and sadly it leads to mental health issues. I would appeal to the young people - please say no to drugs. Drugs will ruin your life. It will ruin your families’ life.

"There’s no happy ending with drugs."

Orlaith Sweeney, a friend of Rory Carlin’s, said it was important to raise awareness.

“It’s something you shouldn’t be ashamed of and I just think it’s something that young people especially my age are struggling with and I think they need to know that there’s help out there.”

Orlaith Sweeney, a friend of Rory Carlin's

Adrian Loughrey, the manager of the Koram Centre which supports people with emotional, health and wellbeing issues, said substance misuse affects all communities across Northern Ireland

“Strabane is a very close knit community, very close knit town and sometimes in towns like that, these incidents and these deaths are felt more acutely," he said.

“But it's right across every community and we know from recent statistics that substance-related deaths are on the increase.”

How bad is Northern Ireland's drugs problem?

There has been a 40% increase in the number of drug-related deaths over the last 10 years, according to Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) figures for 2022.

The statistics, released in January, said there were 154 drug-related-deaths registered in Northern Ireland in 2022.

“So it’s a complex issue that requires long-term planning to get a grip of," he added.

PSNI Supt Pete Brannigan said the police have “a clear focus on the risk and harm resulting from the sale, supply and use of illicit drugs”.

"In recent months, we have made a number of drug seizures, arrested and charged people with drug-related offences," he said.

This included seizing suspected Class A and Class B drugs during searches in Strabane and charging four men with a number of drug-related offences after searches in the Strathfoyle.

"We recognise that drug use can be a reflection of underlying societal problems, and that law enforcement is only one aspect of a collaborative response and therefore we work with a huge range of partners," Supt Brannigan added.

Mr Carlin said the government needs to do more.

“We have to reach young people around 14 or 15 years of age through education programmes in GAA clubs, in sporting clubs. If we don’t sadly there are going to be more deaths. This is not only Strabane – this is a big problem.

“We need to get a grip on this. This has really escalated over the last ten years. Where’s it going to end?”