Young FG members in suicide awareness march

A dozen members from young Fine Gael made the long walk from Galway to Ennis today to raise funds for suicide awareness.

The walkers, aged 17 to 29, rattled collection buckets and distributed leaflets in towns like Oranmore, Clarinbridge and Crusheen with two safety cars travelling alongside them.

The march is part of a Young Fine Gael (YFG) campaign to raise funds for the charity Aware.

“It’s to raise awareness around the whole issue of suicide and maybe we can play a small part in removing the taboo around the whole area and hopefully put pressure on the Government with our seven point plan,” said national secretary Conor Cresham.

YFG wants a national helpline set up, a media campaign to raise awareness and the implementation of the recommendations of the 1998 National Task Force on Suicide.

“We also want to see the mental health budget restored to what it was in 1997, when it was 11% of the overall health budget. Today it’s at 6.9%,” said Mr Cresham.

The walkers are being accommodated in the West County Hotel in Ennis tonight and will finish their march by walking to Limerick tomorrow.