Over 1,000 people used services of Limerick-based charity last year

OVER 1,000 people availed of the services provided by Ana Liffey in the Mid-West last year, a new report has revealed.

95 people accessed the outreach addiction service in Limerick and 98 availed of the Limerick Rough Sleeper Outreach programme in 2025.

305 people engaged with the Clinic Inreach Programme, with the same number accessing the Harm Reduction Supplies Service.

Housing needs and homelessness have overtaken substance use as the most common reason people seek support from the charity, with new figures from Ana Liffey showing that housing-related issues accounted for 27.8% of all support needs in 2025, ahead of substance use and treatment at 23%, marking a shift in the challenges facing the 4,609 people that were supported by the organisation nationwide.

The figures were part of The Ana Liffey 2025 Annual Report, being launched today at Thomond Park.

The low-threshold, harm reduction charity has centres in Dublin, the Mid-West and the North East of Ireland and operates a number of outreach programmes for people experiencing “the profound impact of social harms”.

The report stated that the total number of unpaid volunteer hours given to the charity in 2025 was 8,749 hours.

31 University of Limerick paramedic students formed part of the volunteer force.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Ana Liffey CEO, Dawn Russell said: “Supporting people out of long term homelessness is an important goal for us at Ana Liffey, and we are supported by both Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and Limerick City Council to do our work. Our Dublin Private Emergency Accommodation Assertive Case Management (PACT) Team and Limerick Rough Sleeper Project work at the coal face of homelessness, meeting people who are in crisis and supporting them to stabilise their lives and access supported accommodation and plan for their futures, while they face incredibly challenging circumstances and with limited resources.

“Increased economic pressures have undoubtedly been the reason for some of the people we see ending up in homelessness. The sense that we are all only one pay check away from the risk of homelessness really resonates at the moment. We are also working with younger people who have become homeless after leaving State care and women who have nowhere to live as they flee domestic violence.”

She added that, while there was often a crossover between addiction and homelessness, many of the people Ana Liffey supported were not in addiction, just struggling to find somewhere to live.

“It’s not always the case that homeless people are using substances. Neither is it the case that all of our clients using substances are homeless. These social harms can impact lives all across Ireland, regardless of background or other factors. Our goal as a harm reduction charity is to meet people where they are at and support them from harm to hope, whatever that means for them in their own circumstances.”

The charity, which started in the 1980s as a drugs project, has recently broadened its reach to also proactively help people experiencing gender based violence, homelessness, mental health issues and other social harms.

According to the 2025 report, the requests for support were based on issues that included housing/homelessness (27.80%), substance use/treatment (23%), social support/welfare (15.3%), training and education (10.1%), physical health (9.1%), legal/criminal justice (5.3%), harm reduction supplies (4.8%), mental health (4%), and family/relationships, including domestic violence (0.6%).

The report has also shown “early successes” through Ana Liffey’s partnership with Dublin’s Drug Treatment Court Programme, which is supported directly by the Department of Health and the HSE. Ms Russell believes this model can work in different communities across Ireland.

“The programme is an important collaboration, which supports people away from criminality and towards their personal recovery,” she said.

“We developed the in-reach programme with the Dublin Drug Court service which was first delivered in September last year and received funding from the Department of Health in the 2026 budget.

“We have seen many early successes, the enhanced work is already helping participants to achieve much better outcomes as we are there beside them, supporting them to succeed.”

The courts programme complements the charity’s Law Engagement and Assisted Recovery (LEAR) programme which provides intensive, person-centred case management to people with complex needs related to addiction, criminality, homelessness and mental health.

It currently runs in Limerick and Dublin cities, in partnership with An Garda Síochána. In 2025, the charity rolled out its Good Neighbour outreach programme, delivering 651 pro-social and support interventions during the year.

Guest speaker at the launch event, Brian O’Connell, award winning journalist, author and recovery role model, said: “It is an honour for me to help launch Ana Liffey's annual report today in Limerick and a privilege to hear from workers and service users who have embraced recovery over the past year. It was particularly important to read about the impact of the Drug Treatment Court. Having spent some time in the court for my work, I saw first hand the positive impact a non-custodial health-led approach can have on people's lives and their addictions.

“Just as addiction can be non-discriminatory, society should not be placing barriers to recovery in people's way, and this annual report and the ongoing work of Ana Liffey underlines the need to look in a holistic way at how we can meet people's needs as they present.”

The Annual Report also detailed the development of other new services and partnerships in 2025, such as the Housing First Health MDT in Dublin with Coolmine Therapeutic Community, a partnership with the Health Research Board for a new frontline tool to monitor street drug trends, and overdose prevention and naloxone training in Dublin with mothers and their adult children who use Ana Liffey services.

“With the support of the HSE National Naloxone Lead, our Dublin and Mid-West Circle trainers also reached out to other organisations across Dublin and the Mid-West to support them in overdose prevention training,” Ms Russell said.

“We have also worked with the staff and service users of Cuan Dara, Midwest Simon, Mountjoy Prison and Peter McVerry Trust.”

With today also being International Overdose Awareness Day, the charity took time at the launch to provide training on overdose prevention and naloxone administration, facilitated by Circle graduates from Dublin and the Mid-West.

Ms Russell said the team at Ana Liffey had worked even harder to reduce harm in the face of rapidly evolving risks for service users from synthetic opioids to crack cocaine and illicit street tablets, working alongside the HSE’s National Social Inclusion Office and Emergency Drug Trends Lab to identify and test concerning drug samples. Ana Liffey is also currently piloting tools for frontline staff to monitor street drug trends, in partnership with the Health Research Board.

She said the team celebrated with many recovering clients, but in 2025, they also grieved those who passed away through overdose, suicide and complex health conditions related to poverty.

Looking ahead, she said the team are expecting increases in risks facing their clients, through domestic violence, homelessness and the threat of new potent street drugs: “And sadly, we continue to see a notable rise in stigma towards those which society has let down.”

Ms Russell said one of the charity’s goals is to encourage a compassionate society by providing a safe space for people “enduring social harms in our communities”.

Working in partnership with State agencies and services, the charity operates in five centres in Dublin, across the Midwest region - covering Limerick, Clare, North Tipperary - and the North East, through its new Louth service.

Services provided include addiction services, housing assistance, support in attending medical appointments, gender-specific health and counselling services and mental health supports.

Ms Russell explained that Ana Liffey’s low-threshold ethos means they can offer support to people regardless of where they are in their life or the level of complexity their cases present.

If you or a loved one needs support from the Ana Liffey Project, you can call them on their freephone 1800 78 68 28. The charity has also launched a new website at AnaLiffey.ie.