Parents of the children attending a city centre primary school have slammed the "disgraceful" plans for a supervised drug injection centre 150 yards from St Audoen's National School.
Plans for the first of its kind facility on Merchant's Quay were approved by An Bord Pleanala during the Christmas period, Dublin Live previously revealed. Drug users would be legally allowed to inject drugs, which they have to purchase illegally outside, in the facility.
The injection rooms are set to be in the basement of the River Bank building on Merchant's Quay. The frustrated parents told Dublin Live the area already has severe problems with drug use which impacts on the children.
Read more: Supervised drug injection centre gets green light despite objection from school
There is a patch of grass directly across from the school at the back of St Audoen's Church which users sit on to take drugs, the parents claim. The problem is so bad that the teachers have to regularly close the blinds during class.
Joe Thomas, who has a son in the school, said his son was pricked by a needle on the walk home from school one day. He said: "My son was pricked by a needle coming home.
"They have to close the blinds in the school during the day because of trouble on the grass opposite the front door. I think there were four deaths there last year. They always put them [facilities like the injection centre] in areas like these."
Joe added the school is "brilliant" for the area and they always have after school activities for the kids. "It is like a safe haven for them," he added.
A concerned mother of a daughter at the school said: "When she was in pre-school they had to pull down the blinds because a man was being revived on the patch of grass outside. It's disgraceful that they are putting it there with a school so close."
Another frustrated mother said her daughter has got an image she saw coming out of school stuck in her head. She said: "My daughter can't forget seeing the purple lips of a person who had overdosed on her way home."
A third mother said: "It is ridiculous because it is right beside a school and you can't put a McDonald's beside a school", a reference to the Government's no-fry zone health policy. She added that the facility would "bring dealers into the area".
"I am very concerned [about my kids]. You should see what they see coming in and out. The place is covered in syringes."
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