MORE THAN 100 members of suicide prevention and bereavement support group Console took part in its annual 5km run at Dublin’s Phoenix Park yesterday.
The group was set up in 2002 to support people affected by suicide. Yesterday’s event drew attention to World Suicide Prevention Day, planned for next Friday.
Console will hold its annual conference at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin the same day, with the theme Suicide in a Changing Ireland – Let’s Talk About It. Speakers will include Minister for Health Mary Harney, Fergus Finlay of Bernardos, and experts on suicide prevention and bereavement by suicide.
Last year in Ireland, 527 people died by suicide with a total of 12,000 self-harming incidents recorded. Suicide is the greatest killer of young men in Ireland between 16 and 24 and last year accounted for more than twice the number killed on our roads (239).
Yesterday, Paul Kelly of Console said bereavement through suicide was “not like a normal grief”. The impact was “devastating”. It was the loss of his 21-year-old sister Sharon to suicide in 2001 that prompted Mr Kelly to do something about suicide prevention and supporting the bereaved.
It was also his own way of dealing with his loss. The youngest in a family of seven, Sharon was “deeply loved”. The family “didn’t see it coming”. There was no warning, no indication that anything was wrong, he said.
Mr Kelly would “always remember the screams of my mother when I told her her baby was dead”. He set up a helpline for those in situations like himself and those who felt suicidal. Console has offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Wexford and Kildare. It also has a 24/7 helpline called “1Life” for those feeling suicidal. Staffed by professionals, it is available at 1800 247 100.
Ciaran Austin is manager of the 1Life service. In 2006, his 22-year-old brother Fionnbharr took his own life. He was then a third-year computer science student in Belfast. Again there was no warning, no advance indication anything was wrong.
Mr Austin said “every suicide impacts gravely on 10-12 people and affects up to 40-50 more. If the grief is not managed correctly, others can be put at risk.”
For details of Friday’s Console conference. visit www.console.ie or call 01 610 2638. For details of the suicide prevention helpline, visit www.1life.ie or freephone 1800 247 100.