Mental health campaign - Child rights are central

WITH hundreds of people suffering from mental health difficulties languishing in institutions that are not fit for purpose, today’s campaign by Amnesty International Ireland to put such issues centre stage deserves society’s wholehearted support.

In the wake of appalling revelations of institutional abuse in the Ryan report, it is frightening that troubled children continue to be sent to adult psychiatric units without proper care. There is no denying mental health is the Cinderella of the system, neglected and under- funded by successive governments. Amnesty is right to demand that the person be put squarely at the heart of the system. Otherwise, discrimination against people with mental health difficulties will never end.

The inherent strength of the campaign is that it involves ‘experts by experience’ – people who have been through the system. As a first step, the Government should put the long-promised children’s referendum to the people. It is a cop-out for politicians to deny children their rights because of haggling over the wording of the referendum proposition. It’s high time the political parties got their act together.