More support needed
A local politician has called for organisations that work to prevent suicides to be given much more support from the government in an effort to stem the rising number of young people who are taking their lives. John Gilroy, our Glanmire Labour senator, warned that while the government was focusing all its attention on the economic crisis and the complications caused by the Enigin scam, mental health charities were losing a lot of their financial and logistical support. There are over 300 suicide prevention groups in Ireland, and yet the number of suicides and attempted suicides looks set to rise again when 2011’s figures are released later this year. 2010 had seen a fall, but since then many suicide organisations have had their funding cut as politicians felt that the hard work had been done. This would seem to be far from the truth, with Gilroy anticipating that 2011 could even surpass the previous high of 527 suicides in a year during 2009.
