National Drugs Conference

‘A Continuum of Care within Drug Services’

4th and 5th November 2010

The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Golden Lane

Dublin 8.

27/8/2010 ********Please Note reservations will be on a first

come first serve basis, please book early to avoid disappointment********

Abstracts Announcement download

Building on this experience, and under the guidance of the INEF Advisory Group (made up of members of the Voluntary and Statutory sectors), the INEF has come together with the Irish Association of Alcohol and Addiction Counsellor’s (IAAAC ), Ana Liffey Drug Project and Coolmine Therapeutic Community to hold an National  Drugs Conference in November 2010.

This conference to be held on 4th & 5th November at The Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Golden Lane Dublin 8. will include national and international speakers from across the spectrum of service provision and policy arena available within the response to the drugs issue i.e. this is not a Harm Reduction Conference or an Abstinence Based Conference; this is an all inclusive Drugs Conference.

Drug services can and must work together to ensure that people, experiencing problems relating to substance misuse can access the supports they need as efficiently as possible; and future drug policy must reflect this. As such, the theme of this year’s conference is ‘A Continuum of Care within Drug Services’.

The conference is an excellent opportunity to bring together policy developers and practitioners from right across the drug treatment spectrum and will provide a forum to network and share information , good practice and learning across the substance misuse field

Download Abstract presentations

Download Booking form

• €200.00 2nd July – 21^st September
• €250.00 22^nd September – 22^nd October

• Scott Kellogg Transformational Chairworkworksho €40.00

Confirmed speakers

More speakers to be confirmed……

Minister Pat Carey

Appointed Minister Community, Equality & Gaeltacht Affairs in March 2010. who has the responsibility of overseeing the development of the  National Substance Misuse Strategy

Rowdy Yates- Iron Curtain Thinking: harm reduction, abstinence and the positioning of strange bedfellows.

Senior Research Fellow and facilitator of the Scottish Addiction Studies group in the Department of Applied Social Science, University of Stirling.

Stephen Bamber - Recovery and Harm Reduction: Strangers, Rivals, Partners or Friends?

Stephen Bamber is  based at Liverpool Hope University, where his research interests lie at the intersection of addiction, spirituality, and recovery and extend into policy, practice and critical theory. Stephen’s eclectic past informs his present. With a personal history of chronic substance use, homelessness, and experiencing (on both sides of the fence) the best and the worst of the UK’s drug treatment services, Stephen is a passionate advocate of recovery as a central organising and motivating principle for UK drug services. He authors “The Art of Life Itself” blog dedicated to progressive thinking in addiction and recovery.



Dr David Best - What does recovery mean for Harm Reduction


Dr David Best is Reader in Criminal Justice at the University of Western Scotland. He was a senior lecturer in addictions in the department of psychiatry at Birmingham University, and worked for Birmingham DAT.

Dr. Scott Kellogg - Gradualism and the Building of the Harm Reduction-Recovery Continuum

Scott Kellogg, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist and a Gestalt-trained Schema Therapist who works as a psychotherapist and supervisor at the Schema Therapy Institute in New York City. Currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University, Dr. Kellogg is the past President of the Division on Addictions of the New York State Psychological Association, a board member for the Institute for Professional Development in the Addictions, and a co-director of the Harm Reduction and Mental Health Project at New York University

Mat Southwell Ticking Boxes or Transforming Relationships - A commentary on the meaningful participation of people who use drugs

Mat Southwell is a drugs specialist with both professional and experiential expertise who has a particular expertise in management, organisational development and network building.

Mat has run local, national and global networks of people who use drugs and is a recognised expert in drug user organising. He has also worked in the health and NGO sector within professional drug services and a senior manager and professional head of service.

Dr Brion Sweeney - Brief interventions for substance misuse


Dr Brion Sweeney practices as a psychiatrist in substance misuse in Dublin in the Health Service Executive and is Clinical Director for Drug Addiction Services for Greater North Dublin. Dr Sweene has been involved harm reduction approaches including needle exchange programmes, substitute prescribing since the early 90s and since 2000 with the development of care pathways for substance misusers. This has included research in brief interventions for alcohol and cocaine misuse and longer term detoxification and residential programmes for those who are opiate dependent.

Dr Joe Barry - The impact of alcohol on Irelands drug story


Dr. Joe Barry is Clinical Professor in Public Health Medicine and Head of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care in Trinity College.

Sandra Deleamere

Sandra Delamere, SRN, SCM, BNS, Msc Nursing, has been working in Sexual Health since 1987 and was accredited as the first Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Sexual Health) by the National  Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery, in September 2002

Dagmar Hedrich

Dagmar Hedrich is a scientific analyst at the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), a Lisbon based, de-centralized agency of the European Union responsible for data collection and analysis on drug use and drug policies.

Professor Pat O Hare - Harm reduction: past, present and future

The Honorary President of IHRA is Professor Pat O’Hare who was the Executive Director of IHRA from its founding in 1996 until he stepped down in 2004.

Pat started working in the drug field in the mid-1980s when he became Drug Education Coordinator for Sefton on Merseyside and then Director of the Mersey Drug Training and Information Centre in Liverpool. In 1989, he founded the International Journal of Drug Policy and was the Editor from 1990 to 2000. In response to the interest created by the innovative ‘Mersey Harm Reduction Model’, Pat initiated the First International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm in 1990.

Dave Gordon - young  people,  needle exchange and vending machines


Dave Gordon is Team Coordinator, Harm Reduction Unit, in Southampton he has been working in the field for over 15 year and started as a youth worker. He joined the NHS, delivering prescribing services for IDU’s in Southampton, of which he became prescribing coordinator. In 2003 he completed a needs assessment for harm reduction services and 2004 opened a unit including wound care, inoculation programmes, health assessments and NX In 2006 he was presented an award by The Home Office as practitioner of the year for his work managing the local needle exchange and for his tireless efforts to provide support for service users.. Since then he has continued to develop harm reduction services in Southampton.

Neil Hunt What does Har Reduction mean for recovery


Neil Hunt (MSc Social Research) is an Honorary Senior Research Associate at the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent ; Honorary Research Fellow with the Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and, Director of Research for the treatment agency KCA (UK). He also works as a freelance researcher and trainer.

Danny Morris- Naloxone: Improving access, overcoming obstacles to it’s use and saving lives

Danny Morris has been involved in the drugs field for over 20 years. He works as a development manager for an NHS drug treatment service in the UK and increasingly as a freelance trainer, writer and consultant focussing on supporting services and users in initiating changes that focuses on the sustainable reduction of drug related harm.

Austin Prior - The 12 step model how relevant is it today


Born Sligo 1949 Educated St Nathy’s College, Ballaghereen, Co Roscommon, and University College, Maynooth. Worked in the Entertainment and Catering business for many years before joining The Rutland Centre in 2001 as an addiction Counsellor. He was appointed Continuing Care Coordinator in 2002, and was Interim Head of Treatment Services from mid 2008 to end 2009.  He is currently Head of Continuing Care and Deputy Director.


For more information email conference2010@inef.ie

Sponsors and Exhibitors email tim@inef.ie