Derry holds anti-drug awareness rally

“No parent should ever have to bury their child because someone chose profit over human life,” Mayor Ruairí McHugh has told an anti-drug awareness rally.  

Representing Derry City and Strabane District Council at the rally which took place in Guildhall Square on Saturday afternoon, Mayor McHugh said: “We gather as a community that refuses to look away from the devastation that illegal drugs continue to bring to our streets, our homes and our families.

“Behind every statistic is a name, a face and a life that mattered. Today we remember Jasmin [Duddy] and we remember the many others whose lives have been stolen by the ruthless trade in illegal drugs,” he added.

“For their families the loss is permanent, an empty seat at the table, a future taken far too soon. No parent should ever have to bury their child because someone chose profit over human life. 

“Illegal drugs not only destroy the person who takes them; they tear families apart; they damage communities; they create a cycle of addiction, violence and exploitation that spreads far beyond the individual user. 

“And yet too often, the consequences for those who profit from this misery simply do not reflect the harm that they cause. We must be honest about that. Those who manufacture, traffic and sell illegal drugs are not just dealing in harmless substances, they are dealing in addiction, despair and far too often, death.

“This is not about vengeance, it is about justice. It is about standing with the families, many of whom are here today. They have suffered unimaginable loss and are saying clearly, their loved ones mattered, that their lives were not disposable,” said Mayor McHugh, who added that “compassionate treatment must always be there for those who need help.”

The Sinn Fein councillor also warned that “compassion for addiction must never mean complacency towards those who exploit it”.

“Because every time drugs are sold on our streets,” he said, “another family risks receiving the phone call that changes their lives forever. Another chair left empty, another life remembered only in photographs or on Facebook.

“Today we stand together not just in grief but in determination, determination their stories will drive change and determination our laws send a clear message to those who profit from this drug misery.

“The most powerful way we can honour Jasmin and every other victim of illegal drugs is this, to ensure their deaths were not ignored, not forgotten, and never accepted as the price of doing business,” concluded Mayor McHugh.

Derry Anti-Drug Awareness Rally, Guildhall Sq (Saturday, March 7, 2026) - Derry News (@DerryNow) digital report.

Anti-drug awareness rally: From left; Ciara Ferguson MLA (Sinn Féin), Pauline Duddy (anti-drug camaigner & organiser), Mayor Ruairí McHugh, William Burns (One Pill… pic.twitter.com/sFTIODcr9k

— Catherine McGinty (@CathMcGin_Tea) March 8, 2026

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Rally organiser Pauline Duddy has been campaigning for stiffer sentences for drug dealers since the tragic death of her daughter Jasmin (21) in February 2023.

Addressing those present, she said: “We are not here in anger. We are here today in grief. 

“Many young people in Northern Ireland have lost their lives to drugs. The risk is low and the profits are high,” she added. “And this is what they are getting away with - killing our children.

“The PSNI knows exactly who is dealing in every city in the North and chooses to ignore it and the Government chooses to ignore it.

“Every death leaves the same heartache. There is no difference between a drug-related death, road traffic accidents or domestic violence, no difference, but drug-related death gets put into the corner.

“It is up to our government to add aggravating factors in to the sale and supply of illegal drugs, put a deterrent in so these drug dealers don’t reoffend again because they are getting slaps on the wrist in court and they are coming out and reoffending again,” said Ms Duddy.

“I sat through a court case and the fella who supplied the drug to my daughter got six months prison. He did three,” she added.

“I’ve got a lifetime sentence like every other mother and father that has buried a child. 

“This is insulting to families. Everybody needs to get together. We are going to keep plugging at this until we make the government do something and we are not stopping until it changes,” said Ms Duddy. 

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The rally then observed a minute’s silence in memory of everyone who has lost their lives as a result of suicide and drug addiction.

In an afternoon brimming with poignancy, the most impactful event of the rally came during the speech of William Burns, who founded the One Pill Will Kill organisation following the death of his son, Jamie Burns, in November 2026. 

Mr William Burns, founder of 'One Pill Will Kill' holds aloft his son's ashes at Derry anti-drug awareness rally.

Explaining that his son was a “normal fella, 23 years of age, loved life”, Mr Burns asked, “Do you know where he is now?”

Reaching into the inside pocket of his coat, he brought out a little white box which contained a bag containing his son’s ashes.

“There’s my son, all because of drugs. That’s it. A bag of ashes from one pill, one pill,” said Mr Burns.

“So I try to make kids aware of how easy it is [to die]. 

“A lot of kids think that they will take a drug and everything will be alright because whoever they are with, their friends, will help them but the majority of times, their so-called friends are the first ones to run and it is only by the grace of God they survive.”