Munster and Connacht rugby stars being trained to spot the signs of suicide

Some of the country’s top rugby stars are being trained in how to prevent suicide and raise awareness of mental health issues through a joint initiative between the rugby players association and the charity Console.

First-team players at Munster and Connacht have already undertaken specialised QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training at their provincial bases as part of the collaboration between Console and the Irish Rugby Union Players Association.

Former Munster star Marcus Horan said he hoped word of the course would spread through the game in this country at a time of growing worry over mental health issues and suicide.

Now an IRUPA player development manager, Horan said: “Console’s QPR training highlights three simple steps that anyone can quickly learn to help save a life from suicide.

“A lot of the guys would now be confident in the fact that they may be able to spot the signs of someone in potential crisis.

“The thing about professional sport is that, no matter what’s going on at home or in your own life, the minute you walk through the doors you have to switch on a persona. It shouldn’t be the case but, in reality, it is.

“Anyone who has done the course will be going away with a bit more empathy for those around us, and a realisation that maybe there are things going on in a person’s life that mean a quiet chat may be the best thing.

“And that quiet chat may be the most important thing that you can have with a person.”

Console founder and chief executive Paul Kelly said the training being undertaken by top rugby professionals could prove vital in any group activity or profession.

“Just as people trained in CPR help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognise the warning signs of a suicide crisis, know how to offer hope and then how to offer help and save a life,” he said.

IRUPA chief executive Omar Hassanien said the feedback so far from those who had undergone the course was positive, while Horan said: “Rugby is very much group-led, and word of this course, and the help available from Console, will spread throughout the game.

“My own home village of Clonlara in Co Clare has lost a fair few people to suicide over the past 10 years, and I know that people need to talk when they are touched by this.”

Console has full-time counselling centres in Limerick Cork, Dublin, Wexford, Galway, Kerry and Mayo and can be reached on free phone [phone]. See www.console.ie.