Turas

21/08/2025

Our 4 week Sailing into Wellness programme has been an absolute success so far!
Thank you to Healthy Ireland and Louth County Council for their continued support in delivering life changing programmes!

21/08/2025

Final part of Ashlings story, well done Ashling!

No. 78

Part 3 of 3

"I started attending meetings with Turas, including the Monday support group and the Recovery Coffee Shop. I didn’t know what to expect at first and I can’t praise them enough…..(Ashling begins crying here) they saved me. I’ve been with them since May and I have been clean ever since. I never expected the level of support I received. I used to walk past the building, thinking it was just a recruitment office!

But if more people struggling with addiction walked through that door, they would see that help is there. After a meeting or two, you begin to change. There is no judgment, only support. I had to own who I was and cut ties with a lot of people.

I had to prove myself and earn back my children, and thankfully, I did. I’m clean now. On the 13th of June, I got my forever home on Ecco Road, a fresh start, away from the house on Castletown Road where so many dark things had happened. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for this chance. I’m free from co***ne now. I was tested recently and the results came back clean. I’m never going back to that life again.

I appreciate life so much more now, even something as simple as cooking dinner and enjoying the smells, things I’d lost when I was on drugs. I look back at the trauma I caused and for the first time, I fully own it. I no longer blame anyone else like I used to. I’m not the person I was before and it feels amazing to walk through town, clean and free. People have told me I look healthier and I can feel it too. I never want to feel that darkness again.

Being an addict is a daily battle and many people don’t understand or have the empathy for it. It doesn’t matter what your drug of choice is, when you’re an addict, there is no discrimination. We all suffer from the same disease and every single day is a fight to stay clean. Not every day is difficult, but it only takes one moment to fall and lose everything. That’s why it’s vital to connect with others like myself and engage in support groups, you simply can’t do this alone.

The freedom and life you gain through recovery are indescribable and the gratitude it brings is immense. I also want to acknowledge that without the support and guidance from my recovery coach, Michael and the team at Turas, I wouldn’t be as strong in my recovery. Genuinely, Michael’s support has been instrumental in helping me get to where I am today. I’m so grateful, my gratitude is what keeps me clean.

So many people don’t make it. My brother Mark didn’t make it.

I know how lucky I am to have this second chance."

Ashling McGowan

21/08/2025

Part 2 of Ashlings story!

No. 78

Part 2 of 3

"Life moved on and I thought I was coping okay. Then, about two years ago, on a night out, I was offered a line of co***ne and I stupidly took it. Over the years, I had been very strict about co***ne, I wouldn’t take it and I wouldn’t let anyone into my house who had it. But being an addict, it quickly got a grip on me and things spiralled fast. By the next week, I was buying it for myself. Within a couple of months I went from doing a bag a week to nine bags a week.

My head was wired with paranoia, but I convinced myself nobody noticed. I didn’t use it when I went out at night, I just used during the day. I would wake up in the morning and take a line just to function. It wasn't long before I was in a really bad place.

By Christmas, I had lost my house. The landlord evicted me and my children. I can’t blame him, the drugs and the people I was bringing into the house weren’t right. I became homeless for the next six months with my two youngest children. My oldest was in Dublin, my middle daughter had to move in with her Dad.

I was trying desperately to find a house and to keep my children in school. I stayed for a while in my ex-husband’s cousin’s house, she gave me a room. Then I stayed in my uncle’s mobile home for two weeks. Every day, I would ring the hub looking for somewhere to stay, but they were always full, there was nowhere for me to go.

I remember standing under a bridge in Carlingford one day, drenched from the rain, screaming and crying. My seven-year-old daughter was telling me it was okay and all I could think was, where are we going to stay tonight? During all of this, I turned to co***ne even more, trying to escape from the harsh reality of normal life. In my mind, I thought it was helping me cope, but in hindsight, it was the very reason I was in this mess.

Eventually, on the 17th of November 2023, I was told we got a house on the Castletown Road. I was given a chance, a chance that should have marked a turning point, a fresh start. But it didn’t. It got worse than ever.

Because of my addiction, my children went through an unimaginable amount of pain and because of my drug use they were eventually taken from me.

I was angry at everyone and spiralled completely out of control. When the authorities asked if I was taking drugs, I lied. The co***ne had me convinced I was some kind of superwoman. I thought if they tested me, nothing would show up. I even demanded a drug test to prove them wrong. When the test came back, it was devastating. The average level should have been 0.05 grams, my test was showing 16 grams. Co***ne had turned me into a monster.

When I couldn't get my children back, I hit rock bottom. I went home to an empty house, looking around at all the damage I had caused. I had lost everything and had nobody. Everyone had given up on me and rightly so.

It was then that I picked up the phone and called Turas and that was the best decision I have ever made in my life."

Ashling McGowan

15/08/2025

Powerful story from Ashling! Looking forward to seeing the next few parts from Humans of Dundalk :)

No. 78

Part 1 of 3

"My name is Ashling. I’m a recovering addict and this is my story.

I was born in Castleknock in Dublin and I moved to the Dundalk area when I was 17. It was a huge culture shock for me, I had never seen a tractor in my life before or even a cow in a field, it was very difficult and I resented being taken away from my life in Dublin and all my friends. The reason for the move was that my step father was opening a new Superquinn in Carroll Village, so we packed up and headed to the northeast to support him. I'd never been north of Dublin before, even seeing a bus with the red setter on it was new to me, I was used to seeing green double deckers. My mam bought a bed and breakfast in Carlingford and we settled out there. I wasn’t happy at all so I rebelled and went a bit wild. That’s when I first went overboard with alcohol and drugs, which led to me being sent to St. Patrick’s for three months for substance abuse.

I got a job in Superquinn and instead of coming in and out to Carlingford all the time I rented a house in Woodbury Gardens. I thought Dundalk was small compared to Dublin but I grew to enjoy it. In the evenings I would head to the Tara Bar for drinks with mates from work. I stayed working in Superquinn for two years before falling pregnant so I made the decision to leave. When my daughter was two I had enough of Dundalk and decided to move back to Dublin when I was 19. I stayed there for another five years, got married and had another child.

After experiencing life in both Carlingford and Dundalk, Dublin began to feel too big for me. I didn’t want to raise my children there, so we moved to Dromiskin, an even quieter place in the countryside. By then, I had grown up a bit and learned to appreciate the charm of a small village, people saying hello as you passed, knowing your name and the warmth of community spirit. But while I was there, tragedy struck. I lost my older brother, Mark, to su***de after a long battle with addiction. He was missing in Carlingford Lough for 16 days before his body was found. That loss changed everything for me. I moved back to Carlingford to be beside my Mam and I knew then, I could never go back to Dublin.

I went on to have two more children before I left my husband, eight years ago. I was around 37 at the time. After that, I felt a great sense of freedom, but it wasn’t long before I started dabbling in drugs again. I became addicted to a variety of prescription tablets, though nobody knew and I thought I was hiding it well. They became a crutch, I couldn’t function without them. I would take six just to get out of bed in the morning. If I was driving and stuck in traffic, I’d take one. At night, I needed one to sleep.

I knew I needed to get off them, so when the children were away for a week, I decided that was it and I went cold turkey. It was one of the worst weeks of my life. It was like a scene from Trainspotting: I stayed in the house, unable to move, barely able to think. A friend would occasionally check on me, but mostly I was alone. I had never felt pain like that before; my body was so used to the drugs. The sweats, the racing mind, I just wanted to sink into a dark hole and stay there. I thought I was managing, but it wasn’t until I went off them that I realised how absent I had been from my children’s lives. Every day had been about surviving and just getting through. The tablets had taken over my life but now, thankfully, I was off them and could start to function again."

Ashling McGowan

27/07/2025

We are so thrilled to have been picked by Greenore Golf Club Captain Stephanie for choosing Turas as her chosen charity at her Lady Captain say in Greenore this week. 🙏

22/07/2025

Ahoy, Mateys!

Our annual ‘Sailing into Wellness’ is back again this year!

The 4 Week Sailing Course will begin on Thursday 7th August in the beautiful Carlingford Lough. Participants will learn the skill of sailing keelboats, with hands on learning and a platform for personal, social and educational development.

Dates:

· 7th August

· 14th August

· 21st August

· 28th August

Transport is provided, with a mini bus leaving Turas at 9:30am on each day.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please call into the Turas office or call on 042-9338221 to put your name down. Spaces are limited!

18/07/2025

The Irish Homeless Street League continues every Tuesday in Quay Celtic Dundalk from 11am -12pm. If you are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless or have just moved on from homelessness this league is for you. It's a great way to get some fresh air, exercise and engage in some socialising. Louth County Council

18/07/2025

Join us on Wednesday evenings for our Recovery Cafe in our new Venue, Costa Coffee in The Marches Shopping Centre.
See you all there!

09/07/2025

𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐫.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤.
𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤.

𝐖𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.
𝐍𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭.

Gamblingcare.ie

🧡 Local, free, and woman-centered help is available. Call Turas
📞 042 9338221 | turascounselling.ie

08/07/2025

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝟐.𝟗% 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?

For many women, gambling begins as a way to escape life’s challenges—but often leads to even more.

Unlike men, women are more likely to turn to solitary forms of gambling, like slot machines, which can feel isolating and disconnecting.

We’re launching a new campaign—thanks to funding from Gamblingcare.ie—to let women know you’re not alone, and support is here.

If gambling is affecting your life, or the life of someone you love, contact Turas. Change is possible!

04/07/2025

Sober Socialising in the Blue Anchor in Bellurgan last night, What a night! Good food and good friends! - Thanks to everybody for coming along :)