ElectricAid - Focus on Suicide Prevention

In the first of a regular series on the work of ESB ElectricAID Ireland, James Foley outlines some of the help that has been given to voluntary bodies and communities to fight back against suicide.

More people kill themselves in Ireland than die in road accidents. As a community we still get far more animated about road deaths than about suicide. We are rightly concerned about water safety - but for every accidental drowning in Ireland, there are two suicides by water.

However, these attitudes are changing. All over Ireland, communities are fighting back against this silent scourge. ElectricAID Ireland has been proud to be part of this fight back. There are many ideas, steps and initiatives in the 86 suicide projects we have funded with €0.9 million since July 2005.

These have ranged from counselling and crisis interventions to new contact technology, and from applied research to physical rescue. In this article, I deal with some of the ways we have helped groups and communities take their first steps in education and awareness, and in generating community action against suicide.

We have funded Aware for their "Beat the Blues" programme, and also funded their sister organisation in Northern Ireland, Aware Defeat Depression, for their "Mood Matters" programme. Both of these are specifically aimed at young people's awareness of depression, mental health, selfhelp, and available services. In another initiative aimed at this highest-risk group, we supported the Smashing Times Theatre Group in their innovative dramatic presentations.

Among many links with the Samaritans, we have supported the Waterford branch's campaign for greater community awareness - as a first step to prevention. Still in the South- East, we funded the Waterford Suicide Prevention Task Group in formulating and delivering a community-wide response to suicide. Fr. Tony Byrne's Awareness Education Office in Dublin has been helped with preparation and national delivery of specific youth suicide prevention courses and materials. A more off-beat venture has been the co-funding of "The Quiet Exit," a documentary about the underreported phenomenon of suicide of elderly people.

Communities are fighting back. We supported Clondalkin's "Community Action on Suicide", a week-long programme aimed at galvanising that community. One of our fundings with Console was for the professional training of 50 community outreach volunteers in Clondalkin and Finglas. Smaller communities are also active. "Iorras le Chéile," in Erris, Co. Mayo, was funded for their educational event "Understanding Depression in our Community". Newbury House in Cork city was helped facilitate a parents and survivors group, and the Finn Valley Alliance for Positive Mental Health was funded for training in suicide prevention interventions.

The Limerick Mental Health Association received funding for their Mental Health Awareness Week. We have recently funded three separate Co. Wexford voluntary groups, who made a joint application under the auspices of the HSE's local suicide prevention officer. In Northern Ireland, we have funded the Shankill Stress & Trauma Centre's innovative cross-community outreach counselling and therapy services, while in Armagh we worked with the Samaritans on publicity and awareness.

These are first steps - helping communities get on their feet and fight back. Beyond these first steps, we have funded 25 separate suicide-prevention counselling interventions all over Ireland, from Wicklow to Westport, and from Belfast to Mullingar. We are helping many, many at-risk people access professional help. Now for the good news. The recorded suicide rate dropped slightly from 2004 to 2005. We don't claim credit for this, but we can all be proud of what is being done. It was your votes which put suicide at the top of our agenda. See our Suicide Prevention feature