Mental health system too drug-related, says Irons as he launches farm project

Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons has said that helping people who experience mental health problems to live in a community is more “humane” than putting them in “homes” where they become reliant on medication.

Irons, who lives at Kilcoe near Ballydehob in West Cork, travelled to north Co Cork yesterday with his wife Sinéad Cusack to open a community farm, which provides a supportive living environment for those with mental health difficulties.

The Slí Eile Farm at Burton Park, outside the village of Churchtown, is home to five tenants, as well as to a variety of animals, including two Aberdeen Angus cows, 12 hens, two ducks, and two pigs.