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WATCH Ana Liffey Drug Project celebrates the HSE Circle Programme
On September 2nd, 2025 the Ana Liffey Drug Project team and service users celebrated the participants of the HSE Circle Programme run by Ana Liffey in Limerick. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
Ana Liffey Drug Project celebrated the HSE Circle Programme, teaching participants how to prevent overdose, as well as marking Overdose Awareness Day and Recovery Month
Ana Liffey Drug Project celebrated participants of the HSE Circle Programme, teaching participants how to prevent overdose, how to respond in case of an overdose and how to use naloxone, a medication which can reverse an opioid overdose.
The event also marked Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, leading into Recovery Month, celebrated throughout all of September.
Dawn Russell, CEO of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, said, “We are in Limerick celebrating the HSE Circle Programme, a peer-to-peer overdose prevention programme, and we’re also celebrating the start of recovery month – September is recovery month. Ana Liffey Drug Project provides accessible addiction supports to people in Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary.”
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Ana Liffey Drug Project have been providing addiction services in Limerick and across the Midwest since 2012, where the team work on outreach across Limerick to reach people who need their support.
The service supports people who experience serious challenges, including addiction, homelessness, mental health, domestic violence and criminality. Ana Liffey work with a low threshold, harm reduction ethos, meaning they are easy to access and meet people wherever they are at in their addiction.
Each year, August 31 marks International Overdose Awareness Day. In Ireland, approximately 350 people each year die from drug poisoning, and the majority of these cases are opioid overdoses. Ana Liffey has recently called on the Government to make naloxone more accessible to loved ones and community members who wish to carry it.
September is recovery month, and Ana Liffey celebrated the achievements of their service users who are on their journey of recovery and have achieved significant goals in their lives, such as becoming substance-free, gaining employment and building new relationships.
Ana Liffey service user, Declan Mahon, spoke about the support Ana Liffey has given him. He told I Love Limerick, “I’m a recovering heroin and crack-cocaine addict. I did the Circle peer-to-peer programme last March and it actually helped me a lot, because I had to administer Naloxone two or three times in the streets, and I wouldn’t have been able to save people’s lives unless I had got the training here with Ana Liffey.”
Declan extended his gratitude to Ana Liffey for the help they have given him, saying, “I’d like to thank Ana Liffey too for all the help they give me when I was in my active addiction.”
Dawn Russell urged the public to reach out for support where it is needed, she said, “If there’s a person who’s struggling with their addiction and needs help, we will go to them and we’ll provide them with the support that they need in the way that works best for them.”
Pictures: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
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