Vigils mark Suicide Prevention Day

A SERIES of candelit vigils took place last night around the country to mark World Suicide Prevention Day.

The events were organised by Turning The Tide on Suicide (3Ts) and another will be held in Wexford tomorrow.

“The vigils are aimed at everybody who has lost family members, friends or work colleagues through suicide,” said a spokesperson for the 3Ts. “We ask people to gather, light a candle and say a prayer.”

Following last night’s vigils in Dublin, Galway and Letterkenny, tomorrow’s vigil in the Wexford Bullring will run from 8pm to 9pm. About 600 people die by suicide in Ireland each year and it has become the number one killer of young men in the country.

Chief executive of youth website spunout.ie, Ruairi McKiernan, said yesterday that the best way to tackle the issue of suicide prevention was to do so in unison.

“It has to be a collective effort,” he said. “The best sustainable effort is, if everybody joins forces to address the problem and we particularly need to press the government into action.”

Meanwhile, to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day, the HSE yesterday launched a series of information leaflets on self-harm. Initially developed for the southern region, the resources will be developed nationwide next year if evaluation proves to be positive.

The leaflets, which are targeted at young people, their parents, guardians and others who may come into contact with people who inflict self-harm, outline what deliberate self-harm is, why young people harm themselves, who is at risk and where help can be sourced.

In addition, an awareness training programme, Understanding Self-Harm, has been developed by the HSE South in consultation with British mental health charity Mind. The training pack is aimed at hospital staff, primary health care workers, community groups, youth workers, carers and people who come into contact with those who self-harm.

According to the HSE, self-harm is common in Ireland with more than 11,000 presentations to hospital emergency departments annually. However, studies indicate that the prevalence of self-harming is far greater than this. In Ireland, The Young People’s Mental Health Report 2004 indicated that as many as 1 in 10 young people will self-harm at some point in their life.

The HSE South’s mental health resource officer Brenda Crowley said that raising awareness of the issue of self-harm is crucial.