The Drogheda Implementation Board hosted a very succesful drug and alcohol seminar for education providers last Thursday, 20th May, in the Barbican Centre. In fact it was so succesful it attracted double the number of attendees they had expected.
This, their first public event, was designed to give staff working in the education sector the information and contacts to help them feel more comfortable and confident in addressing issues related to youth drug and alcohol use, drug indebtedness and family support.
A large attendance included Principals, Deputy Principals, Guidance Counsellors, Home School Community Liaisons, Year Heads and other key staff from Primary, Secondary, Further and second chance education. Local elected representatives were also in attendance.
The focus was very much on local information and supports with presentations by Inspector Aidan McCabe and Superintendent Andrew Watters from An Garda Siochána Drogheda, Philip James of the HSE Substance Use Service for Teens (SUST) and Andy Ogle of the North Eastern Regional Drug & Alcohol Task Force.
Representatives from 18 community and statutory agencies who provide supports in Drogheda hosted stands at the event and each attendee received a pack with information leaflets and a directory of services available in the local area.
Attendees said they found the presentations extremely informative. Many also said that the opportunity to meet with community gardaí; get advice from local service providers, as well as network with others working in education was really useful.
Superintendent Andrew Watters said that community safety is about much more than policing, and shared information on the expanded Community Policing team in Drogheda with members of the unit now available 7 days a week, strengthening their community engagement capacity.
The event was also attended by Chief Superintendent Alan McGovern who has recently been appointed to the expanded Division of Louth Cavan Monaghan. Chief Superintendent McGovern said “I am committed to continuing and building on the good work done by my predecessor, Chief Superintendent Mangan, and the team here in Drogheda in addressing drug crime and community safety in the town.
“I am also committed to working alongside my colleagues in the Drogheda Implementation Board. An event like this really shows the value of what they are doing for the community as a whole, and I look forward to getting stuck into the delivery of the actions on the Drogheda Report Implementation Plan”.
The Drogheda Implementation Board was set up late last year after the publication of the Geiran Report on Community Safety and Wellbeing in Drogheda. This report was a response to the activities of organised crime in the Drogheda area, often called ‘the drug feud’ and had over 70 recommendations which became actions in the Drogheda Report Implementation Plan.
The Board is supported by the Department of Justice and hosted by LMETB. The event was an initiative of Policing and Drugs subgroup of the Board who identified that education providers are in the frontline when it comes to supporting young people and families in our community and the need to support them with good quality information and resources.
Coordinator of the Drogheda Implementation Board, Gráinne Berrill, said “With almost 100 people in the room, double our original target, it is clear that there is a need for events like this to support education providers. Many attendees and a number of speakers also reflected that it should be a regular event and could be replicated in other areas, so we hope that this will become a long-term outcome from the work of the Board”.
If you would like to find out more about the Drogheda Implementation Board go to www.droghedaimplementationboard.ie or email implementationboard@lmetb.ie.
