This article is from page 33 of the 2013-12-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
SUICIDE continued to take a large number of lives in the county in 2013, with a number of local organisations being formed to deal with the issue.
In February it was reported that a person living in Clare is 10 times more likely to die by suicide than on our county roads, yet preventing death by suicide seemed to be way down the Government’s list of priorities when it came to funding.
There was just one resource officer for suicide prevention in the mid-west region – looking after three counties including Clare.
This professional with a vast wealth of experience was described by HSE area manager Bernard Gloster as “one of the HSE’s most valuable resources”.
However those dealing with people at risk of suicide on a daily basis said more resources are needed.
Concerns had already been raised that the psychiatric nurse specialising in assessing patients out of hours is often redeployed due to staffing issues in other areas of the mid-west region’s hospitals.
Pieta House said that not only should that specialist nurse not be redeployed, but more were needed.
As the recession ate more into public funding, figures suggest that there were also more people at risk of suicide, as life got significantly more difficult.
The Samaritans in Clare received more than 40 calls in confidence every day from people in crisis.
The organisation, which received no Government funding and is manned by up to 100 volunteers in Clare, also met in confidence with 295 people face to face last year.
The newly-appointed director of the local branch said that the numbers of calls have increased significantly since the recession.
“Everyone is different. Some people are very anxious, distressed, lonely, in financial difficulties or have relationship problems,” she said.
Pieta House – the suicide and selfharm crisis centre – received just 15 per cent funding from the Government.
Tom McEvoy, Funding and Advocacy Department, for the organisation in the mid-west said that the charity is being strongly supported by the community, an indication of how much the service is needed.
Pieta House opened four more houses in the coming year, bringing the number of houses to nine. However more needed to be done at national level to tackle the issue, according to former psychiatric nurse and member of the HSE West Health Forum Cllr Tom McNamara.
“We are going to have to take it on the same way as we tackled the road deaths.
“There are more people losing their lives through suicide than ever died through the road deaths,” he said. The councillor said that an organisation similar to the Road Safety Authority needs to me employed to deal with the issue,” he said.