Urban and rural must unite to combat social issues like suicide

As a city-dweller, I think it’s long past time we ended the urban/rural divide on suicide and other major social issues.

We need to approach social issues as one society and one community. John Comer, president of the ICMSA, is wrong to say that “non-farming or non-rural readers will struggle to comprehend the statistic that half of farmers have been impacted by suicide”. In fact, there is probably nobody in Ireland who will be surprised by these figures, because suicide has directly and indirectly affected so many of us.

There are many causes of suicide and many are common to rural and urban areas. Loneliness, isolation and the lack of real human contact are now major problems for city-dwellers, farmers and other people who live in rural areas. Feelings of “terror” and “sadness”, the “sudden rush of despair”, etc, can affect anybody.

Some of the issues which contribute to suicide and suicidal feelings are societal issues, like unemployment, cutbacks in services, etc. However, there are other issues which are not discussed – loneliness, family and marriage issues, or issues in people’s past such as adoption, physical and sexual abuse.

What’s common to all of these issues is the urgent need for all of us to begin discussing them, to end the stigma and taboos which surround them. We need to do it as one society and one community. As a city-dweller, I am appealing to our farming leaders and other community leaders to encourage everybody to do this.

Tim Buckley

36 Bowling Green

White Street

Cork