Child near misses upturned needle on beach following rejection of drug injection centre plan

Something to watch out for during sunny beach days.

While many families are flocking to Ireland's lovely beaches to make the most of the hot weather, one mother is urging beach-goers to be on guard after her young child had a near miss with an upturned needle. The family had been visiting Bray beach yesterday afternoon when her eight-year-old child just missed a needle that was upturned and sticking out among the stones. The syringe had been pulled back and contained trapped air. In a local Facebook group, the child's mother uploaded a picture of the needle and urged parents to exercise caution before sitting down at the beach. "Be careful down the beach and check before you sit down," she wrote, Dublin Live reports. "My 8-year-old just missed this." [caption id="attachment_393909" align="alignnone" width="613"] Credit: Dublin Live[/caption] Over the past two years, Dublin City Council has been contacted by members of the public over 200 times to dispose of discarded drug paraphernalia on the streets of the capital, according to drugs.ie. Last week, plans to open the country's first legal drug injection centre at Dublin City Centre's Merchant's Quay was rejected by the High Court. The planning permission, granted by An Bord Pleanála, was ruled invalid following judicial review as Mr Justice Garrett Simmons said the planning board failed to address the concerns of a primary school situated immediately beside the proposed facility. While the school welcomed the ruling, reportedly fearing the facility would create a "drugs marketplace," Merchant's Quay Ireland says it is committed the opening of a legal injection centre that would reduce drug use on the streets. "We remain committed to the opening of a Medically Supervised Injection Facility as part of a health-led approach to addiction," it told RTE News. "There is a clear need for this facility. These services save lives."