Correct decision - Console closes down

IN the circumstances, and without prejudging any subsequent events, the decision to close the suicide prevention charity Console seems to be the right one. 

The scandal-hit organisation has already brought the charity model into question and the sector could not easily withstand another credibility-sapping fiasco.

The decision highlights what seems at best incongruous and at worst an evasion of responsibility. Shortly after the announcement that Console would be wound up, the HSE said it would support services that up to now had been provided by the charity. On the face of it that’s entirely decent and commendable but it begs the question — why are those touched by suicide and so many other of life’s difficulties reliant on support from charities? Surely the State should have an active, central, regulatory role in the provision of these services? Could it be that the State is reluctant to employ the people needed to run these services because once-employed public servants expect a job for life? We do indeed pay a high price for not reforming how this society functions.