Council call for resources for suicide prevention

Described as “an epidemic” of suicides at meeting.

Providing resources for sports and community groups was the recommendation made by members of Cavan County Council to deal with what was described as “an epidemic” of suicides in the county.

“This day three weeks ago, a dark cloud fell on our community. The community was the resource that got us out of that, now we ask the government to resource our community so we do not have to go there again,” Cllr Aiden Fitzpatrick told members in a moving presentation to the local authority.

The February meeting of the council was truncated to allow members review the Draft Cavan County Development Plan incorporating a Local Area Plan for Cavan Town. To facilitate this, the members only addressed one topic on the agenda.

Councillors Philip Brady and Fitzpatrick combined two motions jointly tabled relating to the impact of suicides on communities. Those motions were a response to a number of recent local tragedies.

The first urged the HSE to review supports for schools in times of tragic circumstances or a death of someone within the school.

The second called on the local authority to liaise with Cavan County Board to bring a key speaker or group in Mental Health and Suicide Prevention to every GAA club in Cavan.

Cllr Fitzpatrick was the first to address the chamber on the issue. The Cootehill representative criticised the support structures in place throughout the education system: “Our local school has three quarters of a guidance teacher for 600 students.

“It's not physically possible for this guidance teacher to provide the necessary social guidance and educational guidance to these students. I am asking Minister Foley to examine the ratio of guidance teachers to pupils to ensure schools are staffed properly,” he said.

Cllr Fitzpatrick asked the Health and Education Ministers to come up with a “critical incident plan” to deal with the problem: “This could be brought to bear when a critical incident happens in our community, especially our schools.”

The creation of “social outlets” and “opportunities for young people to meet and talk” were identified as vital components in addressing the problem: “In our local school of 600 students, there are no social areas to sit and chat while having their lunch,” Cllr Fitzpatrick told members, “instead they have to stand up or sit on the floor.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor stressed the importance of communities as a key component in addressing the problem, but emphasised the need for proper State support: “Cavan is the worst county in Ireland for not coping with life. That should be a shock, it's time for change. Most people can't cope late at night or at the weekend when there are no services available apart from A&E. If you have alcohol taken, then you won't be seen.

“There is only one SCAN (Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse) available, they work from nine to five. Is that enough? I don't think so. I'm asking Minister Donnelly to resource our community and provide some meaningful help and appoint at least one more SCAN nurse,” he demanded.

In his address to the chamber Cllr Brady spoke of the tragedies that instigated the joint motion to the local authority. He said the GAA was a great resource to get the message out to young people, but there needs to be more avenues of communication.

Cllr Brady spoke of the cross community impact of suicide saying: “It affects everyone. It's never too far from your door.”

After the motion was discussed by the chamber, Cllr Fitzpatrick thanked members for their support. He proposed a focus group to “find a solution to the epidemic”. Cllr Brady said it would be important to take on board the suggestion that a Teenspace education campaign on the impact of suicide, similar to the RSA's road safety campaign, be rolled out to schools, sports clubs and Foróige.