Caution issued over lethal ecstasy substance

The HSE is urging caution to drug users after the deaths of Michael Coleman and Liam Coffey from suspected overdoses on Sunday morning in Kinsale.

The drug they are focusing on is a brown powder substance in the Cork area known to contain Methylamphetamine (MDMA Ecstasy) and Paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA).

The HSE are saying that misuse of drugs carries serious health risks particularly when other drugs including alcohol are taken in combination. Gardaí have confirmed that this brown powder substance may have been a factor in the two young men's deaths in Kinsale. The HSE South are now alerting medical professionals in the region along with community and voluntary groups working with drug users on this issue. 

Meanwhile Gardaí have released a man without charge this morning after he was questioned overnight over the the deaths of the two young men. Three others, two men and a woman, were also questioned and released on Monday. Gardaí are preparing files for the DPP in relation to these cases.

Michael Coleman and Liam Coffey, two friends who were both from Waterford and aged 22, were found dead at a cottage Mr Coleman had been renting with his girlfriend, Ciara Drummey. She had been asleep upstairs and discovered the bodies at around 6am on Sunday morning. Mr Coleman's funeral will take place today at 11am at St Augustine's Church in Abbeyside, Co. Waterford.