Irish Examiner view: Aftermath a lifelong process

Suicide rates

Aidan Burke wrote a song as a tribute to his friend Rían de Brún who died by suicide in 2022.

Research conducted by Unicef has shown that Ireland has the fourth highest teen suicide rate in the EU/OECD region.
According to that research, the suicide rate in Ireland for those aged 15-19 was 10.3 per 100,000 population, compared to the national country average of 6.1 per 100,000.

Behind all those facts and figures are families and friends left bereft by loss, such as the de Brún family in Ballineen, West Cork. Rían de Brún took his own life in February 2022, aged just 15, and his mother Saoirse is urging people to listen to a musical tribute paid to Rían by his friend Aidan Burke.

Aidan’s emotional hip-hop song, ‘We Ain’t Mad At Ya’, has gained traction with a Canadian suicide support group which plans to use it as a theme song in some of its programmes in Canada, Australia, and the US. The song features a vocal hook by Nicole Desmond, aka N’D, and can be heard on Spotify.

It is a tribute to Aidan, who performs as Burkie, that he has created such an articulate appeal to those experiencing mental health problems — and a tribute to the de Brún family that they are seeking to help others despite their grief.

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“For the people left behind by suicide, it’s a lifelong process to deal with the aftermath,” Saoirse de Brún told the Irish Examiner. 

“The song is about how people can support themselves and others.”