Offaly man Ian Sullivan was 18 years old when he tried cocaine for the first time.

It would end up becoming a daily ritual for him for the better part of a decade before he managed to overcome the addiction.

Mr Sullivan said cocaine is rampant in rural Ireland and can be delivered to your door within five minutes.

Casual drug taking

On The Pat Kenny Show today, he said he began with casual drug taking before things became serious.

“I’m just outside Tullamore and it started off for me as a gradual thing that eventually spiralled out of control,” said Mr Sullivan.

“At the start, it would have been socially at the weekend; I always would have worked and held down a job but gradually, over a period of time, it got worse and worse.

“But it got to the point of mayhem for five or six years.”

Ian Sullivan from Offaly has overcome an almost decade-long cocaine addiction. Image: Indiepics.

Mr Sullivan said cocaine soon became his sole focus in life.

“Work goes out the window; my mental state was not good,” he said.

“I was basically isolating on my own seven days a week of always looking for money for more drugs. Eventually, it got in on me seven days a week and it just took over."

All he could think about was drugs.

“For me, when I woke up in the morning, the first thing I would think of is where I was going to get drugs,” said Mr Sullivan.

“That would define the day for me, that was basically my routine. It got to the stage where I couldn’t keep doing it anymore, something had to give.”

“I was destroying everyone around me and I wasn’t a nice person.”

At its peak, the drug was costing him €200 a day.

Treatment

Mr Sullivan said eventually he began receiving treatment for his addiction.

“I tried several times to get treatment before I actually did it,” he said.

“I suppose looking back I wasn’t ready to go back into it, there was still more fight in my body to take drugs.

“I always wanted to stop but I just wasn’t able to stop; it’s very dangerous when it gets a hold of you.”

Mr Sullivan completed a treatment programme located in Cahir, Tipperary, two years ago.

"It was a 28-day programme so I did my 28 days but I didn’t want to leave at the end because it was coming up to Christmas which is a dangerous time,” he said.

“I did everything that was asked of me. I went to meetings every week and that sort of stuff – that’s what keeps me sober.

“I was at rock bottom when I came out, you know, I was coming back out to nothing.”

Ian Sullivan from Offaly. Credit: Indiepics

Mr Sullivan said his work was only just beginning when he left the treatment centre.

“I had a lot of amends to make with family, friends and people I had wronged,” he said.

“It was a tough process. I might not have been a great father to my kids when I was in addiction but I can mend all them things.

“Over a period of time they have all mended and life is very good to me.”

The Offaly man shared some words of advice to anyone who is now going through a similar situation.

“It took a lot for me to ask for help but there is help out there and don’t be afraid to ask, he said.

“Believe me, your life does change when you give it up.

“Life can be so good without drugs. For me, life is so much more enjoyable now.”

Mr Sullivan added that he can now afford to buy his children presents for Christmas, something he “couldn’t do” before.