Something to show for it: Tipperary man shares his story of recovery and his plan to help others

Dylan Cleary has been to hell and back.

After being homeless for more than two years and two years in recovery from drug addiction, he now has a roof over his head and plans for the future.

Dylan wants to help others by creating a space for young people who may be struggling with addiction.

He believes his experiences of homelessness and drug addiction place him in a position to help others recover.

This week, Dylan spoke to the Tipperary Star about his life past and present, his plans for a resource centre and his new book.

HOMELESS

Dylan is originally from Nenagh but now lives in Thurles. He spent his childhood in foster and residential care, and when he turned 18 he became homeless.

“On the street, he turned to drugs.
“I was homeless from when I was 18 until now, basically. It’s been tough. I was on all the worst drugs you can think of, heroin, crack, everything, and I gave it all up two years ago,” said Dylan.

He said he didn’t know why he turned to drugs, but he needed something to cope with living on the street.

“Once you take one, you take two, and then you take all of them. A thousand are never enough, and one is too many,” said Dylan.

Dylan when he was homeless

RECOVERY

Then, two years ago, Dylan found himself in the hospital, where he stayed for three months.

“I was really sick. I had pneumonia, two blood clots and a blood infection,” he said.

Dylan knew that this was not how he wanted to live his life, and he wanted to do better for his family.

So, he decided to come off drugs “cold turkey”.

“So that was it for me. I didn’t want to do it anymore. If I did, I was going to die, and I didn’t want that. I wanted to live a life and have something to show for it,” he said.

Though Dylan is now in a good place, he said recovering is not as simple as just stopping. And the resources are not always there.

“The thing about recovery is it’s not as simple as saying you want to go to a treatment centre. You have to be down to 30 ml of methadone. Anything higher, and they won’t take you,” said Dylan.

Dylan said there is a ward in Beaumont Hospital specifically for people to reduce their methadone levels. But he said there is also a six-month waiting list to be admitted.

“And a lot of treatment centres have the issue that there is a backlog after Covid.

“So, the people who were supposed to go in when they shut down, they are trying to get through all of them,” said Dylan.

He added that he didn’t think the current system of going to one ward to reduce methadone and then vying for a place in another centre was not going to aid in his recovery.

NOTHING NEW

None of this is new. Access to addiction treatment has been difficult or even impossible for many, and although the Government increase beds, it never seems to be enough.

When the HSE’s Reducing Harm and Supporting Recovery Report 2017 to 2025 was published, there was 787 residential beds in the State.

According to a response from the HSE to a Parliamentary Question by Cork north central TD Thomas Gould in May 2022, there were 960 rehab and detox beds across 48 facilities. But treatment is only one piece of the puzzle.

Treatment centres can help give a person a start, but community support can help keep the person in recovery.

Closer to home and perhaps more pertinent to Dylan’s case is Camhra in Nenagh which closed down in January 2022.

The centre provided support for people with a dual diagnosis, including addiction. However, it also had long-standing struggles to get funding despite local TDs advocating for it in the Dáil.

Dylan said for things to improve, people’s attitudes and awareness of drug addiction need to change.

“People look at people who are on drugs or are homeless, and they just turn their eyes up to them or call them junkies.

“ Everyone is human at the end of the day, and everyone is entitled to make mistakes. A lot of drug abuse comes from homelessness, and I think if they tackle that, they can tackle both at the same time,” said Dylan.

Again, this is not new. In April, the Tipperary Star attended a talk by Fr Peter McVerry at St Mary’s Church of Ireland in Nenagh.

Fr McVerry said much the same as Dylan. He said that the people he sees had difficult starts in life, and were he in their position, he might have ended up addicted to drugs too.

Fr McVerry asked that the people gathered to hear him speak consider the person, and not the addiction or lack of a home.

Dylan said understanding addiction is not about psychology. He said you can do all the research, but in the end, it comes down to treating people as you would want to be treated.

“People who are on drugs or in addiction are human. They are still a person.

“You have had problems, I have had problems, but you don’t downgrade people. Drugs downgrade people; people shouldn’t downgrade people. The drugs do that enough to a person,” said Dylan.

Dylan spoke passionately about the need for housing.

“I think what needs to happen is the Government needs to cut the amount of money spent on roads and things that are not necessary and put it into budgeting for houses.

“And build the houses, don’t just say you are going to build the houses,” said Dylan.

SOMETHING TO SHOW FOR IT

“Now that I’ve done it, I just want to start something I know I’m going to love for the rest of my life,” said Dylan.

What Dylan wants most is to set up a resource centre.

“The qualities I have is that I know how it works. I know how the foster system works. I know how the homelessness system works.

“I know how drugs work. It’s rare people come off the streets and come up with ideas like this,” said Dylan.

The centre would start out as a group for young people and expand into adult support from there.

He said he would like to host talks on drugs and homelessness and then later host trips like camping. But this is difficult to do because he can’t access funding for the project.

However, he believes it is needed for people like him.

“I want them to know there is a safe space. Whether that’s me or whoever would do it with me.

“You know, if they are struggling at home or struggling at school or peer pressure, I want them to know there are other ways of doing it.

“You don’t have to go down the road of drugs,” said Dylan.

He also said he would like to have studied social care, but because of a criminal record as well as an incomplete academic one from his time being homeless, that may not be possible. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t serve his community.

In addition to his centre, Dylan visits nursing homes with his therapy dog, Sam. “Where the therapy dogs came out of was when I got the dog, a friend of mine thought the dog was very suited. I didn’t think I’d like it, but after going two times, I loved it.

“The reason I like it is its outreach outside of friends and family. I get to meet people I don’t know, and I get to listen to their stories, and that’s the reason why,” said Dylan.

Dylan and Sam

NEW BOOK

Dylan is also writing a book called The Man of Many Faces. He has been writing a book since he came off the streets. And although it took a backseat to some of his other plans, it is now very close to being published.

“The book is very important to me because it tells people a lot about my story,” said Dylan.

But the book is not just about Dylan. There will also be sections on treatment centres, AA meetings and the psychology of addiction.

So, it will be a resource for those who want help and those who want to understand.

BUILDING ROME

We asked Dylan if he had any advice for people struggling with addiction.

He said giving advice is hard because everyone’s circumstances are different. But he did say to reach out to the services available.

For all their faults and lack of resources, they are there to help.

“Hold on. You will get there eventually. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so you will get there eventually. Keep going, and stay strong.

“The main thing is to keep going and don’t give up,” said Dylan.