Intergenerational patterns of drug use will be among the themes explored at a major conference tomorrow (23.03.11), taking place at the conference centre in the Upper Courtyard of Dublin Castle from 9.30am to 3.30pm. The conference has been organised by the Ballymun Youth Action Project (BYAP), Ireland’s longest-running community drugs project, as part of a programme of events to mark its 30th anniversary.
According to Dermot King, Director of BYAP, intergenerational drug use is now apparent in many communities in Ireland. “We have witnessed an intergenerational pattern of drug misuse within some families in Ballymun, and similar patterns are being reported in other communities,” he said. “In some cases, we are now treating the grandchildren of people who attended our service when it was first established 30 years ago.”
In addition to intergenerational drug use, the conference will also discuss the need to support community-based responses to drugs; changing trends in substance misuse in the past 30 years; and the role of the media in portraying substance misuse.
As well as Mr. King, other speakers at the event will include: John Lonergan, former Governor of Mountjoy Prison; Professor Joe Barry, Head of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Trinity College Dublin; and Dr. Mary Ellen McCann, Vice-Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs. A number of journalists from leading national media outlets will also take part in a panel discussion.
The full conference agenda is available here. Spokespersons from BYAP – and a number of the conference speakers – will be available for media interviews at 11.15am. However, media representatives are also welcome to attend the event at any other time during the day (9.30am to 3.30pm).
ENDS
Contact: Dermot Ryan / Noomi Egan DHR Communications Tel: 01 4885808 / 086 6002306 / 087-7449915