UNDER THE INFLUENCE

“When I first came to London I was only sixteen..."

On August 5, 1985 The Pogues released their second studio album, Rum Sodomy & the Lash. Shane MacGowan was at the height of his writing powers with songs such as ‘The Sick Bed Of Cúchulainn’, ‘Sally MacLennane’, ‘A Pair Of Brown Eyes’ and more.
When Rum Sodomy & The Lash came out I was 15 and had a record player in my bedroom in South East London. I’d turn the volume up and play the album over and over again. I was already into the Pogues; I had their first album, all the singles they’d released and every bootleg cassette tape I could get my hands on. I was fascinated by their punk ethos; and the street life narrative The Pogues sang about, but one song had me gripped...
“And I soon ended up on the old main drag...”
‘The Old Main Drag’ is the story of a 16-year old boy arriving on the streets of London and soon becoming a sex worker at Piccadilly Circus. We hear how his life deteriorates and ends prematurely. Shane MacGowan gives an accurate depiction of a life lived on the streets of London - sex work, begging, drug use, violence, chaos, disease and death. I had a morbid fascination with this lyrical insight into another world outside of my own narrow experience at home and in school.
“There was always lots of Tuinal on the old main drag...”
Tuinal was the brand name of a prescription drug made of two Barbiturates. It was a sedative medication, which if taken regularly people could become dependent upon. This was my first insight into the relationship between drugs and life on the streets. You see, back then, when you walked the streets of London you would see plenty of people sitting in the streets drinking, but drug use wasn’t obvious to the casual observer. Drinkers on the streets were your archetypal bearded men wearing two or three layers of Crombie style coats; many of whom were Irish, which was something else that resonated with me, as my parents are from Wexford.
“I've been shat on and spat on and raped and abused...”
Shane definitely doesn’t pull his punches about the harsh existence of someone living on the streets; and whilst it may have been just another great song on the album to many people, it had a profound impact on me and, upon reflection, my future career.
My love for all things Poguetry and a growing problem of street homelessness in London city centre in the late 1980’s, led me to work in homeless services and drug services. To cut a long story short... I moved to Dublin in 2000 and took up my current job with the Ana Liffey Drug Project in 2005. It was here that the do-it-yourself ethos, and desire to truly help the most vulnerable people who use drugs on our streets, could flourish with likeminded people. Between January 20, 2012 and May 6, 2017 (that’s 5 years 3 Months & 27 days) Ana Liffey successfully lobbied for the ‘Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2017’, which allows for the existence of Supervised Injecting Facilities in Ireland; and the first permissive drug legislation in the history of the State.
When the Pilot Supervised Injecting Facility opens in Dublin City Centre in 2018 it will save lives and taxpayers money.
“For some money to take me from the old main drag...”
The songs Shane MacGowan wrote in the 1980’s had a profound influence on me in my teenage years and started me on a path that would lead me to work with many people on the streets who used drugs. The early years of my career, on the streets of Soho, Brixton, Victoria and other areas of London, led me to realise the importance of the Harm Reduction approach and ultimately to lobby for Supervised Injecting Facilities in Ireland. It’s amazing what you can achieve under the influence of Shane MacGowan... given time.
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Tony Duffin is the CEO of Ana Liffey Drug Project
Established in 1982, the Ana Liffey Drug Project is a national service provider working to reduce the harm caused by drug use in Ireland. To find out more about the Ana Liffey’s services visit www.aldp.ie/services .