Needle finds in Belfast show ‘drug crisis' and urgent need for overdose prevention centre, says councillor

Belfast Telegraph

22-04-2025

A Belfast city councillor has reiterated the need for an overdose prevention facility to deal with the 'drug crisis' after hitting out at an image of a pile of needles found in the city centre.
Green Party Councillor Brian Smyth said he is often sent photos of needle finds in the city centre.
He shared one from 9am on Tuesday morning which he reported to have since been cleaned.
'Some in Belfast City Council want to ignore the issue and for me to be quiet. I'm not going to and I'll get louder, we need an overdose prevention centre: Save lives and build collective safety,' Mr Smyth added.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph he said there is a 'serious drug crisis going on in Belfast city centre' right now.
The Lisnasharragh representative explained he is aware of 20-30 people injecting every day, with charity Extern lifting approximately 600-700 needles from private land around the city centre and the council collecting similar.
'You don't have to look far away from the city centre,' he said, 'this all goes back to the need for an overdose prevention facility.'
Mr Smyth has been raising the need for such a facility for years and said other parties are beginning to get on board, but claimed some councillors are reluctant to highlight the issue.
It comes just days after an interview with the city's Lord Mayor Micky Murray, in which the Alliance Party politician told Hot Press magazine the city needs to 'look at things like safer injection spaces or overdose prevention facilities'.
Making reference to the city centre living plan, set out in the Belfast Agenda and the council's Bolder Vision for Belfast, Mr Smyth said there is an aim to grow the city by 66,000 residents by 2035.
He believes by taking drug usage off the streets and into a facility, it will make the city centre a more attractive proposition, while accepting it is 'not a silver bullet solution'.
The latest figures from the NI Research and Statistics Agency (NISRA) show that in 2023 there were 63 drug-related deaths in Belfast, which was the highest rate of any local government district at 14.3 per 100,000 of population.
'This problem is not going away; if anything it's getting worse. We need a facility to save lives and make the city centre safer,' he said.
'Nobody has died at an injection facility. Police don't have the resources to deal with these issues. It would free police up to pursue those higher up the chain who are flooding the city with drugs.
'We need to reduce the stigma. There are drug injection facilities in Glasgow and Dublin, why can there not be one here?
'The council has been playing its part, along with a handful of organisations, it is time for Stormont to step up.'
Belfast City Council said it continues to work closely with partner agencies, their outreach teams and the PSNI to develop longer term solutions to address substance misuse and anti-social behaviour in Belfast city centre.
'We are also continuing to engage with our partners to seek a suitable location for the installation of specific needle/drug waste bins,' a statement added.
'When council receives reports of discarded needles or other drugs paraphernalia, we act to remove them as quickly as possible.
'Any incidences of discarded material can be reported directly to [e-mail] where they are dealt with as soon as possible.'