Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Previous editions
Monday, November 30, 2009
LIVES lost through suicide were remembered by around 1,500 people who attended a special candlelit service in Maynooth, Co Kildare, yesterday.
The Christmas Celebration of Light was organised by Console, a national charity that provides professional counselling and support to those bereaved by suicide as well as those at risk of suicide.
Console founder Paul Kelly said the annual event was organised to highlight the fact that more than 500 people die through suicide every year in Ireland.
He also pointed out that the number of people attending the event had grown substantially over the years.
The evening of music, poetry and reflection in St Patrick’s College included the lighting of candles and a minute’s silence to remember victims and families affected by suicide.
Similar services were held in Limerick and Galway.
RTÉ broadcaster and author Christy Kenneally, who hosted the event in Maynooth, said it was an opportunity for people to make a public statement just by joining in the celebration.
"To me the statement is very simple. It is that we have moved away from suicide as a shameful, sinful death, leading to a silent and secret grieving by the relatives," he said.
In a sense, he said, it was a protest against all the secrecy, all the shame, all the sinfulness that was associated with suicide and the excommunication of families from their communities.
"So it’s a public statement. It is that we stand for those who have died and we stand for the reality of our grieving," he said.
The service in the college chapel featured Frances Black, Acabala, The Vard Sisters, Deirdre Ní Chinnéide, Charlie McGettigan, Roisín O’Reilly, Eleanor Shanley and Paul Hennessy.
Mr Kelly said Console had its funding from the Health Service Executive cut by 12.5% this year and expects a further cut next year, which he fears will impact on the services it provides.
Meanwhile, gardaí confirmed yesterday that they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 13-year-old boy who appeared to have used a legally held shotgun to take his own life.
It is understood that the boy was upset and embarrassed after being disciplined for having a mobile phone in class. The gun used by the teenager was registered to his father.
Gardaí said they were treating the incident as a "desperate tragedy" and that an inquest would take place in due course.
Mr Kelly sympathised with the family of the boy who was found dead on November 17. "They must be so distressed. Your heart really breaks for a family in that situation," he said.
* Console helpline: 1800 201 890.
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