The former 2FM presenter had an alcohol addiction and was living on the streets of Dublin two years ago
Hayes (44), whose real name is Eimear Black O’Keeffe previously pleaded guilty to possessing €10,000 as the proceeds of crime in a Permanent TSB bank account within the State on November 5, 2020(Image: Photo Collins Courts)
Radio presenter Nikki Hayes’ eyes became open to the “thousands” of women across the country that are grappling with addiction but have little support, TDs and senators heard today.
The former 2FM presenter, who now works for East Coast FM, had an alcohol addiction and was living on the streets of Dublin two years ago. She appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drug Use today to tell members about her lived experience of addiction and recovery.
Members heard from charities such as Merchants Quay, who said more dedicated services just for women are needed, as many fear sharing accommodation with men. Ms Hayes echoed this, saying being on the streets as a woman can be scary.
She said: “When you’re a woman on the streets of Dublin, it’s not a nice place to be. Especially when you’ve got no contact with anybody, and nobody really even knows that you’re there, it’s a very scary place.
“Thanks to some services that were there, outreach teams, I did have some support, but it was quite limited.” The 46-year-old said she believes that if she received support for her mental health issues from a young age, her life could have been very different.
She said: “I suffered from anxiety and depression, numerous self-harm issues, and attempts to take my own life. It took until I was 34 to actually get diagnosed with a personality disorder.
“So this was all going on alongside what was an addiction building in the background as well.” The radio presenter said she had her first drink at just 11 years old, and everything spiralled from there.
Nikki Hayes, whose real name is Eimear Black O’Keeffe, pictured outside court on Wednesday. (Image: Collins Photo Agency)
She continued: “The reason that I had the drink was that I wanted to fit in, so that people might like me a bit more. And it became like a coping mechanism, I knew that if I had a drink people would think she’s more fun and they wanted me around them.”
Nikki said it was obvious she had a “growing addiction” from a young age. She would disappear for days at a time, leaving her family in the dark about her whereabouts.
After giving birth to her daughter at the age of 34, the media personality had postnatal depression and was then diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. But her doctor could see that more was going on, and suggested she attend a rehabilitation facility.
Nikki booked herself into a day programme so she wouldn’t be away from her newborn, but her addiction continued and her young daughter was taken away from her. The mother continued: “She had to go and live with her dad. I was on my own, and then Covid hit.
“And because of Covid, I didn’t have to be accountable. I didn’t have to go to work. I sat at home and I drank and I drank and I drank. I lost my home, I lost my job, my family hadn’t talked to me in years, so I had nobody around me.
“I had no friends, I had nothing. And then my landlady sold my house, and I ended up on the streets of Dublin, and I lived there for three and a half months.”
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After deciding to go to rehab in November 2023, Nikki said she finally got her life back. However, she is calling for more support for mothers who get back on their feet after addiction, as she still doesn’t have full custody of her daughter.
She said: “I am two years and three months sober, and I still don’t have my child full-time, so there’s an awful lot of gaps in the system. Had I been diagnosed a lot sooner, maybe I wouldn’t have gone through what I went through.
“But it happened and there are thousands and thousands of women out there that need support, and we just don’t give it to them. And I was one of them, and I have support now, but it took a long time to come around.”
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