Councillor urges action after needles found in City Hall’s toilets
or less, Fr Morely said Mr Carson had answered in a typically modest fashion: “Happy to meet and sorry to part. It’s the name of a jig I have been playing on the flute for at least half my life.”
Risks: Paul McCusker A BELFAST councillor has demanded action after used heroin needles were found in the toilets of City Hall.
The SDLP’s Paul McCusker said in 2018 there was a 90% increase in heroin use in Belfast, adding that “we have gone way beyond that” with a growing number of people accessing addiction services.
He said that the City Hall discovery highlights the severity of the problem gripping the city.
“Belfast City Council community safety staff have seen an increase in used needles throughout the city and we are finding needles in areas where we haven’t before,” Mr McCusker said.
“I have written to directors to organise training for our staff who are finding needles in order to limit any risk to them and ensuring safe disposal to minimise risk to the public.
“We have seen an increase in the need for needle exchanges and the use of naloxone for those who experience an overdose with many charities such as Extern and the Belfast Trust outreach team working hard to support those using heroin.”
The SDLP councillor said the need for safe injecting facilities in Belfast needed to be explored further and that this would allow agencies to work with drug users to provide support.
“The Department for Health and the Public Health Agency along with police have a responsibility on dealing with this to show direction on how we deal with this escalating opioid use and it’s important to involve those drug support agencies who are working on the front line,” he said.
“Used needles cause a significant risk to the public and we need to ensure there is early intervention and the user is educated on how to safely dispose of needles and to work to reduce the amount of needles being found in buildings and streets.”
Anyone who finds drug paraphernalia can report it to the Community Safety Unit by calling 9027 0469 between 8am to 5pm or 078 5049 9622 between 5pm to 8am.