The scale of Ireland’s heroin problem has been brought into sharp focus by a new pan-European report which concluded that seven in every 1,000 people in Ireland are heroin users.

And the report from the Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) warned: ‘drug problems have no age limits.’

One such self-confessed heroin addict in Galway is a 40 year old with three teenage children; slight and greying, he admits that over 20 years of drug and alcohol abuse have taken their toll.

It takes a few minutes to get started with the interview as his phone keeps ringing he mentions there is currently a “drought” in Galway and there is not much heroin available so everyone is on the “hunt”.

He’s a Galway native, one of eleven children. His father always worked as did his older brothers and sisters. He’s the only member of his family who takes drugs, a habit he started in his teens.

“I started on Tipex, then glue and onto petrol. And you’d be smoking hash, and then gradually you’re taking ecstasy, then you’re taking coke. You’re getting so far on your highs that they’re not doing it anymore. So you hit heroin. And that’s the end of the road,” says the addict, who wishes to remain anonymous.

As his drug-taking started to take hold, the criminal convictions started to mount – they currently number somewhere between 50 and 60.

Read his full story in this week's Connacht Tribune.