The Ana Liffey Drug Project (ALDP) is a ‘low-threshold, harm reduction’ project working with people who are actively using drugs and experiencing associated problems. ALDP has been offering harm reduction services to people in the north inner-city area of Dublin since 1982, from premises at Middle Abbey Street. ALDP offers a wide variety of low-threshold, harm reduction services that provide pathways for people who use drugs out of their current circumstance, including addiction and homelessness.

The services offered in Dublin include:

• Open access
• Assertive outreach
• Needle and syringe programme
• Medical services
• Stabilisation group
• Detox group
• Harm reduction group
• Treatment options group
• Assessment for residential treatment
• Key working and case management
• Prison in-reach.

Midwest region
The ALDP Midwest region provides harm reduction services in Limerick city and three counties to people affected by problematic substance use, their families, and the wider community. The counties served are Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary. The ALDP Online and Digital Services team also offers support and information to the general public and to people who use drugs, as well as to other agencies that work with people with problematic drug use.

Annual report
The ALDP annual report was published in December 2022.1 The report noted that, in 2021, the Dublin Services team worked with a total of 1,301 individuals across multiple projects. These included private emergency accommodation in-reach; Granby Clinic in-reach; outreach overdose prevention; low-threshold stabilisation; and dual diagnosis support work. In addition, the Ana Liffey management team continued to provide specialist Covid-19 support to the homeless sector across Dublin city and county. The Assertive Case Management team based in Dublin city, comprising five team members, worked intensively with 127 individuals in 2021. Of these, 64 people availed of key working or case management supports, while 63 availed of harm reduction interventions.

In the Midwest region, 352 people received key working, case management and harm reduction interventions from ALDP in 2021. The ALDP team also provided 2,908 needle and syringe programme interventions, which include overdose prevention interventions, the provision of sterile crack pipes, and the delivery of naloxone training and product.

1    Ana Liffey Drug Project (2022) Ana Liffey Drug Project annual report 2021. Dublin: Ana Liffey Drug Project. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/37822/