In December 2022, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD launched the Dublin North East Inner City (NEIC) initiative’s 2022 progress report.1 Since its establishment in 2017, the NEIC’s vision is of ‘making the North East Inner City a safe, attractive, and vibrant living and working environment for the community and its families with opportunities for all to lead full lives’ (p. 6).1 This most recent progress report describes the activities undertaken in 2022 to meet this aim.

At the launch of the NEIC report were An Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD (centre) along with members of the Hill Street Family Resource Centre board (L to R): Olivia Gorman (chairperson), Jaqueline Furman, Vanee Renghen, Sinéad Lucey and Peter Lynch

Background
In June 2016, a ministerial taskforce chaired by the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, was established to support the long-term economic and social regeneration of Dublin’s NEIC. A report on the area and the challenges it faced was subsequently published, known as the Mulvey Report, which outlined a plan for the area’s regeneration, grounded in a combination of place-based and people-based approaches to inform regeneration in the NEIC.2 The report led to the establishment in 2017 of the NEIC Programme Implementation Board (PIB). Six subgroups were set up based on the priority areas of work identified in the report and the subsequent NEIC Strategic Plan 2020–2022.2,3,4 These priorities were enhancing policing; maximising educational, training and employment opportunities; family wellbeing; enhancing community wellbeing and the physical environment; substance use, misuse and inclusion health; and alignment of services.

The NEIC PIB had been working to a three-year strategic plan for 2020–2022, which given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was extended to 2023.

2022 progress report and substance use
The 2022 progress report outlines the wide range of projects and programmes delivered in the NEIC over the year. Activities reflect the broad range of priorities across the six subgroups listed above. Many of the activities relate directly or indirectly to drug use and initiatives that may help reduce the harms it causes at a community and individual level. Among the many initiatives outlined in the report are:

• The Community Dialogue Initiative, which aims to improve relationships between young people and members of An Garda Síochána in the NEIC. The initiative adopts a restorative model of working.
• The Law Enforcement Assisted Recovery (LEAR) Project, developed by Ana Liffey Drug Project, which established a specific team to work in the NEIC in 2022. The LEAR Project aims ‘to support people who have complex and multiple needs such as addiction, criminality, homelessness and mental health to engage effectively with support services, often for the first time, and to identify and achieve their goals’ (p. 16).1 It supports people to move away from criminality and antisocial behaviour and towards their personal recovery.

Substance use subgroup
The subgroup on substance use, misuse and inclusion health is chaired by Mr Jim Walsh of the Department of Health. It focuses on improving health outcomes for people who use and misuse drugs and alcohol and on promoting inclusion health for socially excluded groups experiencing severe health inequalities. Activities in 2022 included:

• Healthcare Navigation Service (HNS): The HNS is a pilot community aftercare programme aimed at supporting people leaving prison and returning to live in the NEIC. It sets out to support these people navigate and engage with health services. An individualised care plan is developed prior to release with the aim of bridging the gap between custody and community living, which in turn can help improve the physical and mental health outcomes of vulnerable adults.
• Prevention and treatment of non-fatal drug overdose: The subgroup identified the need to develop a targeted drug-related death prevention initiative among high-risk groups. A team at Trinity College Dublin was commissioned by the NEIC to conduct an exploratory study of non-fatal overdose in the community. It will develop recommendations on the prevention and treatment of non-fatal overdose. The study is expected to be completed in Q3 of 2023.
• Community Addiction Assessment Hub (CAAH): Initially funded by the NEIC, the CAAH is a Health Service Executive led service established in 2022. CAAH works with individuals or family members who have concerns regarding drug use, gambling, and other behavioural addictions. It has a multidisciplinary team including an addiction specialist nurse, doctor, and counsellor. It also has access to residential stabilisation and detoxification, addiction psychiatry, and case management.
• Dual diagnosis: A community development worker has been employed to support the building of capacity among stakeholders in the community to meet the needs of those experiencing dual diagnosis.
• Anti-stigma training linked to drug use and addiction: A programme of training has been delivered to address drug-related stigma in NEIC services. It has worked to educate professionals in the community with the aim of ensuring that people who use drugs can access and avail of services in the NEIC ‘in a fair and equal manner’ (p. 52).1

Ambitions for 2023
In 2023, the subgroup on substance use, misuse and inclusion health aims to further build on its work. It intends to specifically develop a community response to domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence and thus support the local implementation of the national domestic, sexual and gender-based strategy.5 In addition, it seeks to develop an interagency response to drug-related intimidation and violence using the Drug-Related Intimidation and Violence Engagement (DRIVE) model, in association with the Local Community Safety Partnership.

Conclusion
The PIB progress report for 2022 illustrates the ongoing challenges facing those living in the NEIC, as reflected in the profile of projects and programmes receiving funding. A key objective of the PIB is ‘to develop services that are evidence-based and sustainable in the long-term’ (p. 53). The report identifies some initiatives initially funded by the PIB that are now receiving core funding through the Department of Health.

1    North East Inner City Programme Office (2022) Dublin North East Inner City progress report 2022. Dublin: Dublin City Council. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/37662/

2    Mulvey K (2017) ‘Creating a brighter future’: an outline plan for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin’s North East Inner City. Dublin: Government Publications. http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/26859/

3    North East Inner City Programme Office (2019) The social and economic regeneration of Dublin’s North East Inner City (NEIC): 2020–2022 strategic plan. Dublin: Dublin City Council. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/33752/

4    North East Inner City Programme Office (2020) Dublin North East Inner City progress report 2020. Dublin: Dublin City Council. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/33577/

5    Department of Justice (2022) Zero tolerance: third national strategy on domestic, sexual & gender-based violence 2022–2026. Dublin: Government of Ireland. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/36540/