A Cork suicide awareness group has been forced to withdraw a vital free counselling service for people bereaved by suicide due to a lack of financial support from the State.
Pat Buckley, who set up the Let's Get Together Foundation in Midleton following a spate of deaths by suicides in the east Cork area, including his own two brothers, said it was simply impossible to keep the service running any longer without funding.
"There were 34 suicides in Midleton between 2002 and 200. At one point we were attending a funeral every two and a half weeks. Since we set up the foundation and started providing free counselling for people, there have only been three suicides in east Cork. That's still three too many, but it's better than 34," he said.
It was when he lost his two brothers, aged 22 and 30, to suicide in 2003 and 2004 that Mr Buckley realised there was no support or counselling available for those bereaved by suicide. He set up Let's Get Together to fill this gap and has operated the service with a group of volunteers from an office in his own home.
"We operate from five mobile phones, 24/seven, and three landlines and we have no paid staff. Any money we fundraise goes straight into paying for counselling for the large numbers of people who contact us looking for help. We have 15 counsellors on our books and they are all booked out," he said.
However, despite promises of funding from a number of politicians, including the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, Mr Buckley has been unsuccessful in attracting any funding for his group and has now been left with no choice but to stop providing the free counselling.
"We will still be available on the phone any time of the day or night and we will refer people on to our counsellors but, unfortunately, they will have to pay for the counselling themselves from now on.
"It's such a shame because we don't want to give it up, but we just can't keep going working full-time and fundraising every free hour we get."
Mr Buckley said there were families bereaved by suicide badly in need of counselling all over the State. He said it was a disgrace that an organisation that had helped to reduce the rate of suicide in an area had received such a negative response from the HSE.
