Community struggles to come to terms with river tragedies

LOCAL and national helplines and counselling numbers were busy yesterday after a spate of tragic deaths across Co Wexford in the past week.

The South Eastern Health Board launched a local freephone helpline yesterday amid growing concern over a sharp rise in the number of suicides in the county.

Five men have jumped to their death into the River Slaney in separate incidents since Monday of last week. Two bodies have been recovered and just one person has survived. It is now feared that another man, a 23-year-old, may also have drowned.