The director of the Merchants Quay Project should be removed from his post for advocating the distribution of free heroin to certain addicts, according to the head of a European anti-drugs agency.
Ms Grainne Kenny, speaking on behalf of Europe Against Drugs (Eurad), has also urged the Franciscan friars, who house the project at Merchants Quay in Dublin, to take a "hard look" at what the centre is doing.
Calling last night for the sacking of Mr Tony Geoghegan, she described as "spurious" and "untrue" his claim that the distribution of heroin to addicts was well established in other European countries.
She added: "For too long now we have had to listen to this rubbish being fed to the public by Merchants Quay. To offer heroin to a heroin addict is as stupid as asking an alcoholic what his favourite tipple is, so that the treatment centre can offer a steady supply."
Responding to Ms Kenny's comments, Mr Geoghegan said that he was not surprised, as Eurad had a particular perspective on the drugs issue, which was one of total abstinence. "They're against even methadone," he said.
His comments had been sensationalised and distorted, he said. What he had proposed was merely that all options should be considered, including the controlled distribution of heroin in some cases.
This might be done with a view to getting users off the drug eventually, if that was possible; but also from the viewpoint of improving other areas of their lives, such as eliminating crime, helping relationships or increasing employability. Similar schemes were in place in Switzerland and in the Netherlands, he said.
"Ireland has the highest rate of drug deaths in the EU, and I would just argue that we shouldn't be blinkered about this. There are many different ways of dealing with drug use in Europe."
Ms Kenny said that Fianna Fail's drug policy, on which she had advised, was against the so-called "harm-reduction approach", which included free needle exchange and long-term distribution of methadone.
