Tony Geoghegan, an advocate for the homeless and those suffering from drug addiction has been awarded the Irish Red Cross (IRC) Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024.
He was chosen for “his foresight in cofounding Merchants Quay Ireland in 1989 and his many subsequent years dedicated to working with the homeless and people who had serious issues with drug use”, the Irish Red Cross said in a statement.
“He has constantly highlighted the growing issues of drug use, the lack of addiction centres and treatments as well as homelessness in Ireland,” it said, noting Mr Geoghegan has worked across a range of treatment settings “from crisis intervention including needle exchange, to day counselling services and on to residential drug-free therapeutic communities and aftercare, prison counselling and resettlement programmes”.
Mr Geoghegan is an accredited addiction counsellor and clinical supervisor and is a former chairman of the Addiction Counsellors of Ireland organisation.
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He founded the Merchants Quay Project alongside Fr Sean Cassin in 1989. It later became Merchants Quay Ireland in 2001 and now employs more than 200 staff, providing services across Ireland.
On receiving the award, Mr Geoghegan said he was “very surprised and so honoured”.
“Getting an award for something you feel passionate about is a bit surreal. Not everybody gets an opportunity to work in a job that is a good fit with who they are and what they wish to contribute. So, I consider myself very fortunate to have worked in the areas of drug addiction and homelessness,” he said.
“That said, it was not without its frustrations and challenges. To be given an opportunity to influence positive policy change, and to have a platform to advocate for just and adequate services for people who are disempowered and vulnerable has also been rewarding”.
It was “beyond frustrating” to see homeless people in tents on the streets and increasing numbers of children and families in homelessness, Mr Geoghegan said. In the area of drug addiction, there was “so much more to be achieved”, he added.
“We need compassion, tolerance, passion, bold risk-taking and ambition from our policymakers, and elected representatives. There needs to be a unified and consolidated effort to redress some of the systemic failures that people in drug addiction and homelessness endure,” he said.
Mr Geoghegan’s work with some of the most vulnerable people in society was “quite inspirational and should be held as an example to everyone where we need to help anyone that finds themselves in challenging situations through no fault of their own”, secretary general of the IRC Deirdre Garvey said.
The annual IRC Humanitarian Awards will honour nominated finalists across five categories in addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Pat Carey, chairman of the IRC, said it was “important that we honour and recognise the crucial work that is being done by humanitarians and their ongoing contribution to Irish society, which serves as a powerful example to all of us.
“The Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards aim to celebrate these people and organisations and highlight the amazing work that they do.”
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