Suicide support - GPs must lower fees

IN the darkness that accompanies suicide, it is entirely appropriate that an annual commemoration for bereaved families is called a Celebration of Light.

Organised by Console, a charity that supports and helps bereaved people, yesterday’s event at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, was a bright beacon at the heart of a social crisis that is getting worse.

Financial troubles pose immense pressures on individuals and families struggling to survive in these difficult times. Indeed, it is so stressful on families that Samaritans Ireland recently issued a warning that some people with suicidal tendencies are not attending their doctors because of the high cost of GP visits. That is an intolerable situation the medical profession could and should remedy by lowering their fees in such difficult times.