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General Publications
Merchants Quay Annual Review (2008)
Merchants Quay Project
This report shows that 5,286 persons attended MQI’s drugs services in 2008. Of these 942 were new clients at our needle exchange services – this represents almost 20 new injectors per week, every week, over the course of the entire year. The report also highlights a continuing high level of demand for homeless services with an increase of 12% in interventions made with homeless people and a 4% increase in the number of meals provided during the year.
The report identifies the growing need for new services addressing heroin use in cities and towns outside of Dublin, with MQI now delivering much needed services in Carlow, Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and Longford as well as in their traditional Dublin base.
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Merchants Quay Annual Review (2007)
Merchants Quay Project
In reflecting back over 2007 one can’t but help being struck by the harsh reality of life for our service users. It is ironic that while Ireland enjoyed unprecedented economic success and prosperity the drugs issue continued to grow and people continued to sleep rough on our cities streets. The old adage “a rising tide lifts all boats” was not true for the people availing of our services.
Reflecting the harsh reality of homelessness and life on the streets the demand for our homeless services has continued to rise. Merchants Quay Ireland provides a crucial safety net for homeless people. Every morning seventy or more rough sleepers come into our service for breakfast and perhaps a shower. Homeless people are increasingly vulnerable to ill health. Our primary health care services (G.P. services, nursing, dentistry and chiropody) delivered 6,658 interventions in 2007 – a 32% increase on 2006.
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Merchants Quay Annual Review (2006)
Merchants Quay Project
At Merchants Quay Ireland we seek to provide a range of positive options for people experiencing problems related to homelessness and drug use and throughout 2006 our services were extremely busy. Despite the definite progress made at National level in addressing the issues of homelessness and problem drug use the numbers of people availing of our services has continued at high levels.
Looking to the future, Merchants Quay Ireland are committed to providing quality homeless and drugs services to those most in need. We have just commenced a counselling service for prisoners across the Irish Prison Service and are also developing social housing projects for drug users around the country. We are expanding our health promotion and harm reduction services, including needle exchange, on an outreach basis with a view to providing greater access at local level.
Merchants Quay Annual Review (2005)
Merchants Quay Project
When we first opened our doors in 1989 we were operating out of one room in the Franciscan Friary in Merchants Quay as a small team of volunteers.
Fifteen years on, the problems of drug use and homelessness continue to devastate many thousands of people across the country every year; however we are now much better equipped to address these problems. We are able to work with between two and three hundred homeless people and drug users every day. The services we provide for homeless people include meals, primary healthcare, counselling, crisis support, advice and information, settlement services and transitional housing. For drug users we offer needle exchange and health promotion services, structured day programmes, family support services, group and individual counselling, a range of treatment options, two residential drug-free treatment programmes and aftercare services.
Our experience is that where resources have been invested and where services have been established, people's lives have been transformed.
Merchants Quay Annual Review (2004)
Merchants Quay Project
When we first opened our doors in 1989 we were operating out of one room in the Franciscan Friary in Merchants Quay as a small team of volunteers.
Fifteen years on, the problems of drug use and homelessness continue to devastate many thousands of people across the country every year; however we are now much better equipped to address these problems. We are able to work with between two and three hundred homeless people and drug users every day. The services we provide for homeless people include meals, primary healthcare, counselling, crisis support, advice and information, settlement services and transitional housing. For drug users we offer needle exchange and health promotion services, structured day programmes, family support services, group and individual counselling, a range of treatment options, two residential drug-free treatment programmes and aftercare services.
Our experience is that where resources have been invested and where services have been established, people's lives have been transformed.
Merchants Quay Annual Report (2003)
Merchants Quay Project
For Merchants Quay Ireland 2003 proved to be yet another very busy year. In our drugs services we saw almost 4,000 individual drug users, of whom over six hundred were new presenters. We also worked more than one thousand homeless people meeting basic needs for food, social support, and basic health care and supporting people to access a bed for the night or permanent accommodation. This level of continued problem drug use and homelessness is a clear indication that the situation is extremely serious.
While the development of the National Drug Strategy and the Homeless Action Plans has made an impact on these problems, serious deficits in service provision remain to be addressed.
Breathe: A Collection of Poetry & Prose
from the Residents at St. Francis Farm
Merchants Quay Project
Merchants Quay Ireland has launched "Breathe" a collection of poetry and prose written by the residents of their drug rehabilitation project at St. Francis Farm, Tullow Co. Carlow. The book contains 33 poems or prose pieces including "Brown Blob", a tale of culinary disaster, "The Evil Turkey", a poem about a foul fowl and many other light hearted pieces. There are also a number of serious pieces about life on the farm or in the city, about problem drug use and recovery and about hopes for the future.
Merchants Quay Annual Report (2002)
Merchants Quay Project
Looking back 2002 was an extremely busy year for Merchants Quay with a number of significant events and themes.We started the year with a high profile visit from HRH Charles, Prince of Wales. He was here to see the work we do and meet some of our clients as part of his commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility with the "Business in the Community" organisation.
In the summer we hosted a hugely successful international conference on the issues of homelessness and drugs in Dublin Castle. It brought together international experts in these fields along with service providers from around the world to look at innovations in service development and best practice.
Merchants Quay Annual Report (2001)
Merchants Quay Project
In Ireland 2001 was a boom year that promised hope of greater prosperity and improved standards of living for all. The economy was buoyant and unemployment was at an all time low. In the area of drugs and homeless services the prospects also looked good.
The boom years bypassed our service users. At the time when the sales of Mercedes-Benz cars exceeded all records so did the numbers of persons homeless and the numbers engaged in problem drug use. While we welcome the fact that additional resources were targeted at drugs and homeless services, we deeply regret that the Government did not take the opportunity to eliminate the poverty which drives these problems.
Merchants Quay Annual Report (2000)
Merchants Quay Project
The year 2000 saw the establishment of Merchants Quay Ireland, bringing together the Merchants Quay Drugs Project, the Homeless Services of the Failtiu Resource Centre and the Church Services of the Franciscan Community at Merchants Quay under a single management structure. This new structure provides a solid foundation to enable us to consolidate and develop our services in the coming years.
Mapping a Route From Exclusion to Integration
Merchants Quay Project
Randall, N (2000)
This report presents a model of reintegration for former drug users based on two years of learning from the Merchant's Quay Project programme 'From Residential Drug Treatment to Employment' which was funded by the Integra Employment Initiative from January 1998 to March 2000.
This programme responded to a gap in drugs services provision highlighting the difficulties former drug users experience accessing employment, education and training opportunities once they have achieved a drug free status. The programme also aimed to engage employers and training providers and to assist them in coping with issues surrounding drug use and ease the insertion of former drug users into the labour market.
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