Shoes laid on Stormont steps illustrate the number of deaths from drug addiction as Independent Belfast City Councillor Paul McCusker calls for 'better support'

The People's Kitchen have held a demonstration titled Lost Lives, Empty Shoes - where 212 pairs of shoes were lined up outside the Parliament Buildings to illustrate the loss of life from substance misuse.

Independent Belfast City Councillor Paul McCusker is a leading figure in The People's Kitchen who organised the demonstration on Saturday.

He said families of those lost to drug addiction can feel those they've lost are forgotten.

"It was to remember those lost their lives to an addiction to drugs. In 2021 212 people lost their lives. The shoes placed at Stormont was to humanise those people because a lot of families feel that they're almost forgotten about, and a lot of families also feel forgotten as well," he said.

"So today was to remember those people who've died but also to call for better support."

The People's Kitchen is a Belfast-based group that began by serving warm drinks and sandwiches from a tea trolley and has expanded its remit to help those experiencing homelessness and addiction problems.

Mr McCusker said drug addiction was an increasing problem across Northern Ireland and more needed to be done to tackle it.

"We know issues around drugs is increasing year on year in terms of people dying through drug addiction, but also the challenges that we've seen on the streets in Belfast," he said

"And addiction doesn't just affect the homeless community, it affects every community right across Northern Ireland.

"So we've been calling for the last couple of years, the need for dual diagnosis, the need for rehabilitation and also crisis response. What's going on when people go and ask for help? You have to know when weeks and months before we can access the community addictions or access to services."

Mr McCusker also stated that a number of people supported by People's Kitchen Belfast are looking to organisations across the UK and Ireland for access to support they cannot receive in Northern Ireland.

"Many people who we support also have to travel to Liverpool and England and down South to access rehab through other charities," he said.

"So on our health service here there are very limited beds for rehabilitation and we need a lot more increase in that type of service that is going to help save more lives.

"And every drug overdose is preventable so to prevent more deaths we need to support people better as well.

The Department of Health statistics show that in Northern Ireland in 2021/22, a total of 3,092 clients presented to services for problem substance misuse.

Mr McCusker said more awareness of the problem of drug addiction and immediate availability of rehabilitation services were required.

"Today is very important to raise awareness but it's also to encourage people to ask for help because I know there's a lot of people out there that maybe have an addiction that are also afraid to ask for help," he said.

"So I think ultimately, the quicker we get people that access to the services, the better outcomes it's going to have for them, to prevent them from overdosing."

He added: "So I think more awareness is needed and quicker access to services too."