The Union were speaking ahead of a 'Take Back The Spike' demonstration at the amphitheatre in UCC tomorrow evening to urge businesses in the city to do all they can to prevent incidents of needle spiking.
In an open letter to pub and nightclub owners and managers, the Union are encouraging venues to increase their security and thoroughly search people before letting them in.
Gardaí in Limerick are currently investigating after a UCC student said she had been spiked with a syringe at the weekend.
Speaking to RedFM News, Welfare Officer at UCC Students' Union Caoimhe Walsh says the reports have been very unnerving for students:
"I've been talking to a load students in the last few days and they've been really, really worried. There's a lot of students who just won't go out now because they're scared that something is going to happen to them. I mean, you know, there's all the things in place; there's covers for your drink and everyone is like "oh if you're leaving a drink at a table put a beer mat over it." There's a bit of ease there. But I mean, with this injection, you can't protect yourself from an injection. How do you protect yourself from someone just coming up and injecting you? So it's really scary. There's a lot of people who just don't want to go out and I think there was a lot of anxiety around going out anyway, after everything reopening because everything had been closed for so long, and this just makes it worse."
