Nicki is a Project Manager on Emerging Drug Trend Programmes in the Health Service Executive (HSE), the national public health service in Ireland. Nicki holds an Undergraduate Degree in Social Science, Masters in Addiction Studies and has completed further studies on the areas of Project Management and Drug Policy Management.

Nicki has experience in developing initiatives both in community and statutory organisations, with an interest to improve health strategies, research and interventions to meet the need of the current drug use landscape in Ireland.

Through her current role Nicki has developed several new national projects including the HSE Safer Nightlife Programme, a volunteer-led harm reduction outreach programme to support ‘back of house’ analysis across a range of festivals and dance events. In addition to developing initiatives for nightlife settings, Nicki is currently working on improving drug early warning structures, is developing new monitoring methods with stakeholders and coordinates outbreak responses, such as to the recent emergence of nitazenes in Ireland. Nicki also acts as a health representative on the Night-Time Economy Task Force, The Early Warning and Emerging Trends Group and the National Red Alert Group.

Nicki's abstract

A New Era: Drug trends and developments in Ireland since Club Health 2017

Nicki will discuss the latest drug trends, health challenges and developments in nightlife settings based on results from the HSE Safer Nightlife Programme as well as from targeted research and data obtained from the European Web Survey on Drugs 2023. Nicki will provide experiences from both a policy and management perspective as well as from a service provision lens having delivered interventions at Ireland’s largest festivals and dance events.

The progression of the Safer Nightlife Programme was a significant milestone for Irish drug policy as it was the first time that analysis was conducted to rapidly identify drug trends to inform public health responses in Ireland. The pilot programme was developed in 2022 as a response to an identified gap in service provision, with an aim to provide harm reduction interventions to people who use drugs in nightlife settings. These groups are otherwise not reached through traditional structures in Ireland and have limited access to harm reduction supports. Through the pilot, interventions have been provided at 10 licensed festivals since 2022, with 8 of these events also including the provision of ‘back of house’ analysis to inform harm reduction engagements, risk communications and local monitoring activities. To date, over 100 volunteers have been recruited and trained to provide the service, over 180 hours of harm reduction interventions have been delivered, 476 drugs have been submitted for analysis with 7 of these being new drugs never detected before in Ireland. A unique element of the project is the adaptation of law enforcements role to improve health-led responses. Lessons will be shared on working with new stakeholders such as law enforcement to achieve public health objectives. 

In addition, Nicki will highlight the on-going work since Club Health Dublin to improve nightlife responses, research and early warning structures locally.