Public Meeting To Address Suicide Issue in North Tipperary
A public meeting will take place on Monday, 24th October at 7pm in the Damer Court Hotel, Castle Street, Roscrea to discuss the issue of suicide in Roscrea. This meeting will look at the feasibility of setting up a suicide intervention and crisis centre in Roscrea.
The suicide rate in North Tipperary averages the third highest in the country over a six year period. To combat this problem, a group of people in Roscrea and the surrounding area have recently come together to look at ways to tackle this problem. This committee comprises of members of the North Tipperary Leader Partnership, the HSE Primary Care Team and concerned members of the public.
The Roscrea committee have had a meeting with Joan Freeman, founder and CEO of Pieta House. Pieta House is a suicide and self harm crisis centre. They discussed the possibility of an emergency response service in Roscrea based on Pieta House’s clinical mode. Pieta House provides a service free of charge to people who are suicidal or self harming.
“Mental health services in Roscrea have been desecrated,” said Paul McNamara, spokesperson of the Pieta House Roscrea Project. “Currently we have no mental health services in Roscrea even though North Tipperary has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country. There is an urgent need for action to get a crisis intervention centre set up and we hope to get community support and a commitment for funding on Monday evening,” he said.
The proposal being put forward is that Pieta House will provide two therapists for a temporary emergency response service for suicide in Roscrea that will initially run two days per week. Pieta House will also train four to six local people as therapists in their Limerick centre. The hope is that Pieta House trained therapists will take over suicide and self-harm intervention in the area.
“We support the people of Roscrea in their attempt to combat the problem of the high rate of suicide,” said Joan Freeman, founder and CEO of Pieta House. “We have a proven model of care for suicide intervention and our specially trained therapists are equipped to deal with people in crisis. The meeting on Monday 24th is a response to concerned citizens of Roscrea about the level of suicide in North Tipperary. 9 out of 10 people that take their own life are responding to a life crisis. Pieta House’s unique clinically based model aims to reduce suicide by helping patients get through that critical phase when suicide becomes a plan rather than just an idea,” she said.
Since Pieta House opened their doors in 2006 they have saved 4,000 people and have 5 centres between Dublin and Limerick. The demand for the services of Pieta House continues to grow. So far this year Pieta House have seen a 33% increase in people accessing their services for help.
For more information on Pieta House visit www.pieta.ie.
