Public call for €10m spend on suicide prevention
The Action on Suicide Alliance has collected more than 1,000 signatures from individuals and organisations in its petition over the past 10 weeks. It calls for a €50m allocation for the next five years for measures to reduce suicide, and action on a number of reports tackling the issue of mental health in recent years.
The recently formed watchdog body is an umbrella group of 11 organisations working with young people and involved in specific areas of mental health.
John Saunders, named yesterday as chairman of the alliance, said he will spearhead its campaign to put pressure on the Government to implement its own recommendations on suicide prevention. Around 500 people take their own lives every year, he said, half of them being men aged under 25, making suicide the number one killer of young Irish men.
“Our purpose is to bring about a reduction of suicide rates in Ireland. A real challenge confronts us, but it is one that must be undertaken, if we are to stop the thousands of people being affected by suicide and self harm each year,” he said.
Mr Saunders said the alliance awaits the formation of a new government after this month’s election and will be striving to ensure suicide prevention is clearly specified in the new Programme for Government.
“Suicide devastates lives, destroys families and affects communities across the country. We would like to call on all political parties and independents running for election to make a public commitment to implementing the existing suicide prevention strategy if they are elected,” he said.
In a statement on mental health yesterday, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said his party would, if elected, double the The Action On Suicide Alliance petition is run on its website — www.actiononsuicide.ie.
