The problem of alcohol in rural Ireland has often reared its head over the years, but the number of farmers presenting at rehab clinics for drug treatment over the last 10 years has been on the rise.

Speaking with Jack*, a dairy farmer from Munster and a recovering cocaine addict, you can’t help but be touched by his story.

Having battled his addiction since the age of 18, he has been on a rocky road, including being imprisoned for possession when he started selling drugs to other neighbours and farmers.

I probably started drinking when I was 15 and it progressed with my drinking then

It’s impossible not to feel the pain in his voice when he describes how the grief and shame nearly “broke” his parents.

“I used to go out at the weekends. I probably started drinking when I was 15 and it progressed with my drinking then, I kind of experimented with cocaine just to stay out longer at night time,” he said.

“I never had any issues getting cocaine. I did it just to keep going with the lads because everyone was doing it. It was more peer pressure than anything else and they seemed to be enjoying it.”

I loved the machinery and driving side of it

Jack’s story is similar to many farm families, he is from a family of five but was the only son with any interest in the farm.

“I liked the machinery side of it. I didn’t mind the manual work as well, but I loved the machinery and driving side of it,” Jack explains.

About six months into his addiction problem, his family began to notice a change in his behaviour, but Jack’s battle with addiction meant he started a cycle of lying to cover up his habit.

“I had been doing slurry spreading and a lot of the machinery work but I just wasn’t as able to do as much around the place.

My family saw a change in my behaviour, but I just lied my way out it

“My concentration would also start to go and I’d forget to do stuff. I’d be more short-fused too. I was taking cocaine on the farm just to stay awake. My family saw a change in my behaviour, but I just lied my way out it. They obviously knew something was wrong.

“People noticed some money going missing from the farm, but I’d always lie my way out it.”

Jack describes how his addiction became all-consuming. He admits to using money his family gave him to pay the co-op bill to fund his addiction. He also started dealing to neighbours and fellow farmers which eventually landed him in trouble.

I got caught with a small bit of cocaine and the gardaí let me go at the station but they called out to my home

“My family didn’t realise I was doing cocaine until I was about 20 years old.

“I got caught with a small bit of cocaine and the gardaí let me go at the station but they called out to my home about a week later to charge me.

“I wasn’t there but they told my parents what it was about, so my family put two and two together then and realised why everything before that had happened. It made sense to them then.”

He was later caught with a larger amount of cocaine and imprisoned.

“Prison was tough. It was a reality check going from the farm to an 8×4 cell,” he says.

The party drug

Cocaine was labelled the party drug of the Celtic Tiger years, but senior drugs counsellor with the addiction treatment service Cuan Mhuire Michael Guerin says the type of person using cocaine has changed radically.

“There’s a cocaine problem now amongst farmers that was never there.

“You’re as apt to be a sheep farmer from west Cork or west Clare with a cocaine problem now as you are to be a university graduate from south county Dublin,” he said.

“There’s cocaine being snorted in John Deere tractors.

It’s now happening in the back waters of Ireland

“I don’t think we have necessarily got away from the fact that we think this is only happening in cities and towns. It’s now happening in the back waters of Ireland,” he said.

Michael says it should become a party priority for the next Government and Minister for Agriculture.

Jack is undergoing rehab treatment at Cuan Mhuire but says he had to wait three months before being admitted because of a shortage of beds.

He’s now at the final stage of treatment but acknowledges that there is a long road of recovery ahead of him.

“I’m a small bit worried about seeing my old friends,” he explains.

I’m taking every day as it comes. I want to help my father on the farm and give back to my parents for all that they’re after doing for me

“If we bump into each other in the shop or the co-op fair enough, but I won’t be going out of my way to meet up with them.

“I’m taking every day as it comes. I want to help my father on the farm and give back to my parents for all that they’re after doing for me.

“It’s about time that I should be looking after them, not the other way around. They’ve done their fair share of it now.”

*Pseudonym being used

Cocaine stats

The latest figures on cocaine addiction and treatment in Ireland

  • Threefold increase in national treatment for cocaine between 2012 and 2018 (Health Research Board).
  • On average three-month waiting list for detox bed.
  • Cuan Mhuire in Bruree treats roughly 80 farmers a year.
  • Fifteen per cent of farmers treated by the centre are cocaine addicts.
  • Contact

    If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, you can contact the Cuan Mhuire head office at 059-863 1090.

    You can also contact the HSE drugs and alcohol helpline which is a free service and can be reached at 1800 459 459.

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