Suicide support group going national

A SMALL support group set up less then three years ago in North Tipperary to help people bereaved by suicide, is growing into a nationwide movement.

Living Links, which was formed in Cloughjordan in 2003, has affiliated branches in 11 counties and cities. The founders of the organisation said its growth reflects a suicide epidemic which claims more than 500 lives a year nationwide.

Living Links evolved out of the Mid-West Regional Suicide Bereavement Committee which was established in 2000 to address the needs of the bereaved.