Samaritans have listened to almost 73,000 hours of calls since pandemic hit

Aileen Spitere, Cork Samaritans: "Since Christmas however, there is a weariness among people and the loneliness felt by many is crippling."

Samaritans volunteers have already listened to callers for almost 73,000 hours during the Covid-19 pandemic, with loneliness and isolation among the main reasons people sought support.

Samaritans’ volunteers supported callers for 72,827 hours by phone and email between March 13 last year and the beginning of this month.