The Health Research Board recorded 13,295 cases treated for problem drug use in 2024 alone, the highest annual number ever recorded, with cocaine remaining the most common drug treated, accounting for 40% of all drug treatment cases. Alcohol remains one of the most deeply embedded public health challenges that the health services in Ireland face. Due to the rise of online gambling, problem gambling is increasingly linked to depression, mental health difficulties and, in the most tragic cases, suicide. Amongst those who have spoken publicly about their recovery journeys are musicians Christy Moore or Mary Coughlin, actor Colin Farrell, and ex-GAA All-Ireland winning player and current Wicklow GAA manager Oisín McConville, all of whom have used their platforms to shine a light on addiction and the possibility of recovery. If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available.
Before we begin, if you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, there a number of support lines you can call. The HSE Narcotics and Alcohol Helpline offers free, confidential support on Freephone 1800 459 459 or by email at helpline@hse.ie, Monday to Friday, 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. For those affected by problem gambling, the national helpline can be reached on 1800 936 725, with further information and support available at Gamblingcare.ie. Alcoholics Anonymous can be reached at www.alcoholicanonymous.ie, Narcotics Anonymous at www.na.ie, and Gamblers Anonymous at www.gamblersanonymous.ie.
Frances Black grew up in inner-city Dublin in a household shaped by financial hardship, experiences that would later contribute to her struggles with alcohol. A celebrated singer who left school at 15 and was performing full-time by 17 with The Black Family and later Arcady, Frances spent years battling an addiction she did not initially recognise. She was shocked when she was told she had an alcohol problem, having believed her drinking was entirely normal, and only realised the extent of her dependency when she tried to stop and found she could not. Throughout her drinking years, she struggled with feelings of failure and a deep need for the approval of others, and was not aware that alcohol was making her feel darker and making things worse. Frances has been teetotal since the age of 28.
Recovery proved transformative both personally and professionally. In 2004, Frances returned to college and qualified as an addiction counsellor, training at the Rutland Centre with renowned addiction specialist and Clinical Director Stephen Rowen.
It was through this work that she witnessed the stress, anxiety, and worry that addiction places on entire families, inspiring her to set up the RISE Foundation alongside Stephen Rowen. Founded in 2009, The RISE Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to supporting family members of those with addictive behaviour across alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, and sex addiction, offering counselling, group programmes, and therapeutic courses guided by the belief that the whole family must step into recovery together
Niall Breslin (Bressie) struggled with alcohol and anxiety during and after his rugby and music careers, and he has been open about how drinking and poor mental-health coping strategies affected his life and mood. He moved into recovery by prioritising mindfulness, therapy and peer support, describing a shift from self-medication with alcohol towards evidence-based strategies for managing anxiety and staying sober. Those lived experiences of addiction and recovery directly shaped his decision to co‑found the youth mental‑health charity A Lust For Life, which focuses on early prevention education and peer‑led supports to help young people develop resilience and reduce reliance on substances; the charity’s programmes and public advocacy draw on Bressie’s advocacy for mindfulness, conversation and prevention work born from his own recovery journey.
A Lust For Life is an Irish youth mental‑health charity whose origin and mission are rooted in recognising how mental‑health difficulties and substance use often intersect in young people, with founding stories emphasising lived experience and recovery-informed education.
The organisation promotes early preventative programmes, peer support and skills teaching to reduce the likelihood that young people will turn to alcohol or narcotics as coping mechanisms, reflecting the founders’ belief that recovery and prevention should inform service design and public education. Its work, training, school programmes and community projects were shaped by real recovery narratives and by founders who turned personal struggles into a public‑facing charity aimed at stopping addiction before it begins.
Paddy grew up in Tarbert, Co. Kerry, and during his early twenties struggled with alcohol dependency, which defined a significant and painful chapter of his life. In the autumn of 1977, a consultant at Baggot Street Hospital diagnosed him with a chronic alcohol problem. That November, he put the drink down for the last time and entered recovery. The road to sobriety was not simple, but Paddy embraced it with conviction, building a life grounded in purpose and service. Being in long-term recovery from alcohol dependence gave him a deep, firsthand understanding of the core issues surrounding addiction—an insight that proved invaluable in the decades of advocacy work that followed. He counts himself as one of the lucky ones and has gone on to become a passionate and grateful recovery advocate for people suffering from all forms of addiction, as well as their loved ones
Drawing on nearly five decades of sobriety, Paddy channelled his lived experience into creating meaningful change at a community and policy level.
His vision for Voices of Recovery was to mobilise the recovery community into advocacy networks across Ireland and to drive evidence-based policy change, including better alcohol treatment services and curbs on alcohol marketing. As a recovery advocate and board member of Alcohol Action Ireland, Paddy became one of the founding signatories of the Voices of Recovery charter, helping to build a movement that amplifies the experiences of those in recovery. He has also published four books of poetry: *Mind the View*, *Mind the Voice*, *Unrecorded Places in Between*, and his latest, *No Small Talk*, published in March 2026. To date, proceeds of over €12,000 from all his publications have gone to the RISE Foundation
His latest initiative delivers poetry workshops with a musical twist for children aged 9-12 years old. Paddy holds a B.A. Management (1990-94) and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Vlerick Business School in Belgium (2000-2002)
Michael grew up in Cork and spent decades building some of the city’s most beloved pubs and nightclubs, all whilst privately battling a severe addiction to alcohol and narcotics. In private, he was self-medicating decades of unresolved trauma with alcohol and narcotics, hiding his pain behind work and busy bars. The roots of his addiction ran deep, and he has spoken openly about the childhood abuse he suffered, which he felt unable to share with others, leading him to turn to substances to dull the pain. Shame trapped him in addiction for 30 years, destroying his life, family and relationships, and at his lowest point, he was told by a medical professional that his alcoholism was so acute that suddenly stopping drinking could kill him. Despite founding some of Cork’s most celebrated venues, the success he projected publicly stood in stark contrast to the suffering he endured privately.
Recovery brought Michael both clarity and a renewed sense of purpose. Frequent saunas and cold therapy became an important part of his recovery, which he credits for his mental health, describing himself as never having been stronger or more grounded. He founded several of Cork’s most popular venues, including The Sextant, Deep South, The Bowery, O’Sho, Crawford and Co, Aye, Gaia and Rosie Maddison, and has since worked to introduce wellness elements and non-alcohol-related activities into his pubs, believing they must become community spaces again in order to have a future. He also launched the exhibition “Finding Beautiful,” sharing his story publicly to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding addiction and to let others know they are not alone.
Kenneth Egan is one of Ireland’s most celebrated amateur boxers, born and raised in Clondalkin in Dublin, where he discovered boxing at a young age at Neilstown Boxing Club. His journey took him from the local club all the way to the world stage, culminating in a silver medal in the light-heavyweight final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Widely regarded as one of Ireland’s finest boxing talents of his generation, many felt he was unlucky not to have taken gold in Beijing.
However, the aftermath of Olympic glory proved deeply difficult. Post-Beijing, loneliness, isolation, and anxiety took hold as he found himself ill-equipped to deal with his exalted status, turning to alcohol to ease the transition. One of his lowest points came when he found himself in a pub in Naas with little idea how he had got there.
It was his mother walking in and telling him he needed help that proved to be the turning point, on August 12th, 2010. He has not touched alcohol since. He returned to education, pursued a career in addiction studies, and graduated with a BA in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy. That journey led him to establish himself as a qualified and practising therapist and motivational speaker, working in the areas of mental health, alcohol abuse, and addiction. Eventually, this led him to create his own business kennetheganoly.com, which offers 1:1 corporate fitness classes
John grew up in County Wexford and experienced a loved one’s death early in life, losses that left a deep mark on him and contributed to a long struggle with addiction. He has spoken candidly about his personal journey through addiction, describing it as an incredibly isolating experience, and one that was a long and difficult road before he found a way forward through the support of his community and professional help. Alongside his addiction, John also carried the weight of profound grief, and he has reflected that losing loved ones changes how you see the world, whilst deepening your empathy for others who are suffering. Any wisdom he carries, he says, was learned the hard way, through firsthand experience of the impact of addiction and loss. He went on to train as a counsellor, channelling his lived experience into a professional understanding of how community and therapeutic support can provide a lifeline to those in crisis.
It was this hard-won empathy that ultimately drove John to found one of Ireland’s most impactful social movements. Having spent years trying to get men involved in community and education projects without significant success, he came across the Men’s Sheds model from Australia and was immediately inspired, recognising it as the vehicle he had been searching for. He set up the Irish Men’s Sheds Association in 2011, and the movement grew to over 300 sheds across the island of Ireland, offering men a space to connect shoulder to shoulder, to work on something practical, and to talk openly about struggles, including bereavement, addiction, and mental health. John won a People of the Year award in recognition of his work, a movement that has significantly impacted men’s mental health and social well-being across Ireland. Although John has since moved on from the business, he is now involved in social entrepreneurship, through developing Grow Remote for people who work remotely in Ireland, and having several board member positions in socially responsible organisations
Sean grew up in Finglas, Dublin, and struggled from an early age with the impact of a difficult home life. His father was a drug addict, and as a child, Sean would wait for him at weekends only to be left behind whilst his father went out drinking, leaving Sean crying at the window. Going largely undiagnosed with ADHD through his school years, he left the education system without direction and quickly found himself drawn into substance misuse. He fell into drug addiction on and off from the time he left school, with cocaine and alcohol abuse filling a void, leaving him feeling lost and without purpose. For seven or eight years, he cycled in and out of employment, returning to college twice but never completing his studies, with periods of recovery followed by relapse. It was the death of his father and meeting his partner Clodagh that proved to be the turning points, prompting him to attend NA meetings and begin getting his life back together.
With recovery came renewed purpose, but Sean’s path to entrepreneurship came through further adversity. A dental visit saw a sore on his lip misdiagnosed as oral cancer, leading to him losing his job whilst still on probation, and the young family, including their baby daughter Eabha, found themselves sleeping in their car before eventually securing emergency accommodation. Eabha suffered from severe eczema and required specialist bamboo clothing that the couple could no longer afford, which sparked the idea for Goosey Goo, an organic hypoallergenic babywear brand created to make skin-friendly clothing affordable for all families. Built on a second-hand laptop from their emergency accommodation flat, Goosey Goo clocked up almost €2,000 in sales within its first month, with Sean enrolling in the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers programme and quickly attracting the attention of angel investors.
Niall spent much of his adult life as what he describes as a functioning alcoholic, building a successful media business in Dublin, such as Simply Zesty (note, full disclosure, I was briefly an intern there) and Lovin Group (such as Lovin Dublin, etc.) whilst privately managing a 25-year battle with addiction, depression and anxiety. He had always been a functioning alcoholic throughout his life, and when he moved to Thailand, tired of the rat race and with nobody around to keep him in check, his drinking spiralled dangerously out of control. With the freedom and quiet of Thailand giving his addiction space to grow, he drank until he blacked out every day for months, surrounded by beaches and blue skies but wanting to disappear. It was the culmination of 25 years of managing addiction, depression and anxiety that ultimately landed him in the ICU, the close call serving as the wake-up call he needed. Lying in hospital, he realised he had spent his life chasing money, possessions and status, none of which had brought him any real meaning or peace.
The hospital stay was a sliding-doors moment for Niall, who resolved that if he survived, he would do something meaningful with his life. He left the hospital and never touched a drink again, and it was the street dogs of Koh Samui that gave the day’s shape and purpose during his recovery. What began as feeding a few hungry street dogs on Sunday mornings grew into Happy Doggo, a global movement that now feeds and cares for over 1,000 street dogs every day, operating a sanctuary, a field clinic and a mobile sterilisation programme. Niall has since written two books about his journey, with his memoir becoming a Sunday Times bestseller and his follow-up appearing on the New York Times bestseller list in 2025.
The company they founded: Tweet Goddess and Samatha Kelly Media
Type of addiction: Alcohol
Samantha Kelly, formily known as the “TweetGoddess,” on Twitter is an Irish entrepreneur and leading expert in executive personal branding and social media strategy. Founder of SamanthaKellyMedia since 2016, she specialises in elevating professionals’ LinkedIn presence through content strategy, profile optimisation, and audience growth, particularly in B2B sales. Her career began with Funky Goddess, a startup promoting first period gift boxes – which she bootstrapped using Twitter to drive sales, media appearances, and global reach without a marketing budget. Samantha then transitioned into consulting, helping brands build authentic connections, boost engagement, and secure opportunities like speaking gigs and journalist features.
Having entered the twelve-step programme for alcohol addiction over eighteen years ago, Samantha is now a prolific speaker and community builder. Samantha has spoken at events worldwide, including Social Media Marketing World in San Diego and INUSA in New Orleans, sharing insights on leveraging Twitter for visibility, event trending, and relationship-building. Her strategies emphasise genuine interactions, high-quality content, and adaptability in digital marketing. Having successfully pivoted from Twitter to LinkedIn, Samantha now does personal brand consulting for executives and companies.
Dave grew up in Cork and found that alcohol was deeply woven into the fabric of social life around him. Over time, his relationship with drink became something he recognised as problematic, and in August 2010, he made the decision to give it up entirely. In the months that followed, he found it a real challenge to go to the pub with friends and not drink, quickly realising that sobriety in Ireland came with a high social cost. He observed a high tolerance of alcohol in Irish culture and an undercurrent of depression linked to excessive consumption among young people that was not being adequately addressed, and it was this awareness, combined with his own experience of navigating early recovery, that planted the seed for something new.
A year after giving up alcohol, Dave channelled that experience into action.
He founded A Sober Slice of Dublin in 2011, a meet-up group built on the idea that people could enjoy life in Ireland with like-minded people without drink being at the centre of everything. Sober Slice grew to over 3,000 members, with social events held mostly in Dublin, and Dave hoped to expand the network nationwide, welcoming people in recovery, those disillusioned with the drinking scene, and those simply looking for an alternative way to socialise. The group has since grown to over 10,000 members.
The company they founded: SOCO The Sober Colours
Type of addiction: Alcohol and Narcotics
Stephanie grew up in Dublin and was drawn into substance misuse at a young age. As a teenager, she discovered alcohol, and at 16 tried cocaine for the first time, later reflecting that her brain went “oh my god, this is brilliant”, a reaction she now understands was linked to her undiagnosed ADHD, which left her brain craving a certain level of stimulus. By the age of 21, she was living in a treatment centre, having had her first child, yet at that point, she still had no real desire to give up Narcotics. Her addiction escalated over the years, eventually including crack cocaine, and she found herself drinking whilst bringing her children to school. She has described addiction as a spiritual sickness as much as a physical and mental one, rooted in trauma that blows a hole inside you, which people then try to fill with substances. It was only when she reached a personal turning point, a moment of conceding to herself that she was truly done, that her recovery journey began in earnest.
Sobriety transformed Stephanie’s relationship with her craft and herself.
She credits education, both learning and teaching, as the key to rediscovering her passion and purpose, saying it didn’t just change her craft, it saved her life. She went on to open The Sober Colourist salon in Dublin, describing it as a nod to her new life and an act of placing her vulnerability right above the door. Now known as SOCO by The Sober Colourist, the salon is a space built around rich, dimensional colour with a lived-in feel, and Stephanie has built a loyal following whilst also educating nationally as a Redken Artist. She has spoken openly about her plans to establish a hairdressing course specifically for women in early addiction recovery or leaving prison.
Niall grew up in Rhode, Co. Offaly, playing Gaelic football and became one of the county’s most celebrated forwards. Beneath the sporting success, however, he was quietly battling a gambling addiction that had taken hold in his late teens. He began gambling on horse and dog races because of their short durations, quickly spending most of his time in the bookmakers, and by the age of 21, he knew his relationship with gambling was irregular, yet his compulsion was already too strong to pull away from. By late 2011, he had accumulated debts of close to €80,000, having spent over €200,000 fuelling his addiction, and at his lowest point, found himself contemplating suicide, waking each morning in his house, terrified to face the world. He has spoken candidly about the secretive nature of gambling addiction, noting that he could walk out of the bookies having lost the price of a car, meet someone on the street, and they would walk away thinking he was in great form.
Recovery began in November 2011 when Niall admitted himself to the Rutland Clinic for five weeks of treatment. His recovery took precedence over everything else, including attending meetings and aftercare, rebuilding relationships, and working hard to stay free of placing a bet, with GAA football providing a vital release throughout.When the time came to found his sports apparel business, he chose the name Twelves deliberately, taking the 12 from the twelve-step recovery programme and the S from step, as a daily link between his business and his ongoing recovery from gambling addiction. Twelves has since expanded beyond clothing into education, with Niall developing gambling awareness workshops to be delivered into schools, clubs and workplaces, channelling his lived experience into advocacy for those still struggling.
Rory grew up in County Meath and struggled throughout his school years, written off by many as someone who would not amount to much. Lacking direction and confidence, he found his way into gambling in his twenties, initially drawn in by an early win on the horses. That hot tip and early win was the beginning of a dangerous spiral into a gambling addiction that gnawed away at his self-esteem and sent him into the depths of depression. He suffered with the addiction for most of his twenties, alongside bouts of depression and deep self-doubt, at one point reducing his finances to just €200. The loss of a first cousin to suicide in his teenage years had already left a profound mark on him, and the gambling compounded an already fragile sense of self, leaving him at times feeling he had nothing to live for.
The turning point came in 2013 when Rory sought help at the Rutland Centre.
A counsellor there told him he needed to find something to replace his itch for bets, and that is where Rory’s Stories came from. Starting as a Facebook page in 2014, the platform grew into one of Ireland’s most beloved comedy and storytelling brands, lampooning GAA culture and everyday Irish life with warmth and sharp observation. Rory has since amassed over 1.2 million followers and 2 billion video views across his social media channels, sold out theatres across Ireland, the USA and Australia, and written a candid memoir about his mental health journey, turning what began as a coping mechanism into a career that has inspired millions.
Tony O’Reilly was living in County Wicklow and worked as a post‑office manager before his life was upended by an escalating gambling addiction. What began as occasional bets developed into a relentless compulsion over more than a decade. According to The Racing Post, “Over eight years from 2003, O’Reilly had earned winnings of €9m and staked nearly €10.5m on his Paddy Power account.” The secrecy and shame of that habit drove him to steal €1.75 million from the branch where he worked; small, systematic pilferings of cash eventually ballooned into large‑scale thefts that were concealed until an audit exposed the losses. When the fraud came to light, he fled briefly, was later arrested and sentenced to three years in prison and faced the full legal and personal consequences of his actions
At rock bottom, O’Reilly entered residential treatment and engaged fully with counselling and peer support, describing recovery as a process of accepting responsibility, learning practical relapse‑prevention skills and rebuilding trust with family and community. His path through treatment and ongoing involvement in recovery communities taught him how to manage urges and replace gambling with purposeful work and advocacy. That lived experience became the foundation for Tonyoreilly.ie, a platform he established to share his story, raise awareness about gambling harm, and provide education, workshops and counselling to help others seek help earlier and reduce stigma. Through public speaking and practical resources, he uses his recovery to inform prevention and support initiatives aimed at those affected by problem gambling.
Pat grew up in Cork, the son of a publican, and worked as a butcher and chef before his life became increasingly consumed by alcohol dependency. He openly admits that for years, alcohol wore him down steadily, financially and personally, leaving him with a deep sense of shame. At his lowest point, he had two children and a wife, owned neither a house or a car, and felt he had simply not provided, carrying the weight of that failure against the memory of his father, who had been a great provider. When asked where he thinks he would be now had he never quit drinking, Pat’s answer was simple: dead. The exhaustion of feeding the habit, the constant wearing down, and the recognition of what he stood to lose ultimately brought him to a turning point that would change the entire course of his life.
Pat stopped drinking in 2000, describing it as a spark going off, and from there it was, in his own words, a run to the finish line. What followed was one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial journeys in Irish business history. He co-founded Cubic Telecom, a mobile roaming business, before going on to build Trustev, an e-commerce fraud prevention firm, which he sold for $44 million. He then co-founded SISU Aesthetic Clinic in 2018 alongside brothers Dr James and Dr Brian Cotter, building it into a multi-million euro business with clinics across Ireland and an ambitious expansion into the US market, targeting around 200 clinics. Pat has made clear that sobriety was the foundation upon which everything else was built.
The company they founded: he is a Psychotherapist
Type of addiction: Alcohol and narcotics
Richie grew up in Dublin and showed enormous promise from an early age, going on to play for Millwall and the Republic of Ireland. Beneath the sporting success, however, he was quietly carrying wounds from his past. In his book, he mentioned this includes the experience of sexual abuse as a teenager, which he would not speak about publicly for many years. When a career-ending injury saw him retire from football at just 24, his life spiralled out of control. Without structure or a sense of purpose, he spent years running from the dark memories and feelings that had haunted him since childhood, fuelled by a deepening dependency on alcohol and recreational Narcotics. The loss of his identity as a footballer left a vacuum that drink and narcotics filled, and for a long time, he masked his pain behind a carefully maintained public persona.
Recovery came gradually, through therapy, recovery meetings, and a willingness to be honest about his struggles in a way that the culture of professional football had never encouraged.
He admits that stopping drinking made his life a lot simpler, and the experience of sitting in a therapist’s room and learning what it felt like to speak honestly proved transformative. He undertook a master’s in psychotherapy at Dublin Business School and went on to build a practice, also delivering programmes on mental health, self-development and consent to young people in schools. His memoir, Recovering, written with Dion Fanning, won the sports category at the Irish Book Awards and has been widely praised as one of the most honest accounts of addiction, trauma and rebuilding ever written by an Irish public figure.
Rory is from Belfast and the founder of ResoluteM;nds CIC, an organisation whose mission is deeply rooted in his own lived experience. From the age of 14, Rory battled substance misuse and mental health challenges, leaving school at 16 before finding stability through fitness and personal training. He was working full-time and preparing for his first bodybuilding competition when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, cancelling the show and leaving him unemployed. This also had an impact on his mental health, which led to a sharp decline, eventually leading to a cocaine addiction, involvement in criminality, and a period of incarceration just after his 21st birthday.
Following his release, Rory engaged with a restorative justice charity whose programme helped him understand the broader impact of his actions on his family and community. With the support of a mentor, he began his recovery journey. He channelled his experience into founding ResoluteM;nds CIC, an organisation dedicated to supporting individuals facing mental health challenges, addiction, and social exclusion. ResoluteMinds offers workshops, mentoring, wellbeing programmes, and community-focused initiatives, with Rory’s long-term vision to establish a Wellness Hub in Belfast that provides therapy, fitness, and practical support to help people rebuild their lives.
The company they founded: Teevan Drummany Spirit
Type of addiction: Alcohol
Gearóid grew up in Milltown, County Cavan, surrounded by the lakes and landscape of the Irish midlands, but for a significant period of his life, he had a serious alcohol addiction that left him in a very dark place. He went to rehab over a decade ago and credits his love of the land and nature with helping to keep him sober, describing how reconnecting with the earth grounded him in a way that nothing else could. Reflecting on his journey, he has observed that as human beings, people need social connection, and when that is broken, it becomes very easy to get hooked on a substance to fill the void, leading down a very destructive path. Lorraine stood alongside him throughout, and the couple’s shared commitment to healing, community and sober living became the foundation for everything they would go on to build together, even as Lorraine later faced her own profound challenge with a cancer diagnosis in 2023.
When Gearóid inherited a farm from his beloved Uncle Jim Teevan, with lakes and woods surrounding it, he set about creating the healing retreat Drummany Spirit for others looking for hope and healing. Together, Gearóid and Lorraine founded the Healing Spirit Festival through their community group Drummany Spirit in 2022, a no-alcohol, no-substance, holistic music, art and wellness festival set in the heart of Cavan’s lakeland, welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the joy of connection and celebration without drink or Narcotics . For Gearóid, now fourteen years in recovery, Healing Spirit is his way of giving thanks for his own journey and reaching out to others travelling the same tough road, with the ultimate aim of making Drummany Spirit a safe and permanent space for those in addiction and recovery, and their families.
The company they founded: The Two Norries Podcast
Type of addiction: Alcohol and Narcotics
James Leonard and Timmy Long both grew up on the northside of Cork city, in areas shaped by poverty, trauma and a wave of drug use that swept through their communities in the 1990s and 2000s. James was raised in Knocknaheeny, which he describes as probably the most deprived area in Cork, and he in part ascribes his spiral into heroin addiction to his father being in prison during his childhood. Timmy had been an alcoholic before he ever touched narcotics, drinking seven nights a week as a teenager before moving through ecstasy, tablets, drink again, and eventually heroin, which he describes as completely robbing his soul and taking over his entire life and thinking. Both men’s addictions led them through prison and institutional care, and James reached his lowest point after an overdose on a hillside in Cork, where he was found by two gardaí whose unexpected show of compassion proved the turning point that led him to seek help.
Recovery transformed both men profoundly. Timmy completed his Leaving Certificate while in prison and went on to pursue further education, whilst James earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in criminology at University College Cork and was working towards a PhD. Timmy’s moment of clarity came on St Stephen’s Day 2011, when, sitting in a cell in Cork’s Bridewell, he had what he describes as a powerful glimpse of awareness, the first in his life, that changed everything. Together they launched The Two Norries podcast in June 2020, a weekly show focused on trauma, mental health, addiction, prison systems, recovery and access to education, which grew into one of Ireland’s most celebrated and impactful podcasts, selling out live shows at the Cork Opera House and reaching audiences far beyond the northside streets where their stories began.
Jack grew up in Cobh, Cork, and began using cannabis at just 13 years old, an age at which the pull of substances quickly outpaced any sense of direction or purpose. His addiction escalated rapidly through his teens and twenties, during which time he describes himself as hell-bent on self-annihilation, spending between €50 and €100 a day to feed his habit. A move to rural Kanturk, intended by his family to help him escape his addiction, made no difference, as he had found new contacts within a week. A spell in the UK deepened his dependency further. While working in a warehouse in England, he was ordering cocaine and crack like pizza, smoking cannabis like cigarettes throughout the working day and taking cocaine and Xanax in the evenings. By the time Covid arrived, he had already long since reached rock bottom, and came to a stark realisation that he faced three choices: to die by suicide, to overdose, or to get clean.
His desire to live proved stronger than his desire to die, and that conviction became the foundation of a remarkable recovery. Channelling his passion for community and connection, Jack co-founded the Catch-Up Café in Kanturk with his mother Sonya, a buzzing community hub that he describes as a safe space for people to meet, chat and be themselves. He also launched his own brand of coffee called The Recovery Blend and speaks openly about his story, wanting the café to be a place where people are not afraid to talk about mental health and addiction. He says that if sharing his story can stop even one person from going down the same path, that makes everything worthwhile.