In Pictures: Public gather to launch survey in Limerick village

DOZENS turned out at the Hospital Family Resource Centre (FRC) for the launch of a new drugs and alcohol survey.

The new survey was conducted by Hospital FRC as many in the area were concerned about drug and alcohol use.

“As we are not a drug and alcohol specialist we wanted to find out more about what people were concerned about,” Mary McGrath, co-ordinator of Hospital FRC said.

The survey involved asking the community and agencies what their main concerns around drugs and alcohol were.

Some of the main concerns raised by locals in the survey were around the connection between mental health and drug and alcohol use.

“People believe there needs to be a response to support those people,” Ms McGrath mentioned.

Concerns around the prevalence of drug use and the accessibility to them and particularly to young people were also major concerns raised by the community.

“Young people may not be aware of the long-term effects of drug use, the negative impact. We need educational awareness,” Ms McGrath said.

Hospital FRC want to continue working with agencies to service the area in relation to drugs and alcohol use.

They also intend on using the results from the survey to continue raising awareness around the supports available as many were unaware of what was available to them in the area.

“We want people in rural areas to know there are supports available and that they have access to them. Information, awareness and education are huge,” she added.