O Neill calls for support for mental health services
Sinn Féin Councillor and candidate for Mid Ulster Michelle O'Neill speaking during the health session said:
Across this island thousands of people suffer from poor mental health;
thousands of people are left without the support and services they need and
hundreds of people die as a result of suicide.
Ireland has the
second highest rate of suicide in Europe. The suicide rate on the island has
increased by more than 25% over the last decade. The death toll by suicide
is now greater than the number of people killed in traffic accidents. Across
this island 645 people died as a result of suicide in 2004/2005. That
equates to 2 People per day.
Whether in North West Kerry, West
Belfast or Mid Ulster families are devastated by the pain of loved ones
taking their own lives. This problem
transcends gender, age, class,
ethnicity and religion. It affects rural and urban communities alike.
Yet
governments in Dublin and Belfast are failing to give this issue the
attention it demands. It is a national disgrace. Suicide is the biggest
killer of our young people.
We also have people in our prisons
with mental health problems - people dying in our prisons who should never
ever have been in prison in the first place.
The tragic death of
Roseanne Irvine in Maghaberry Prison highlighted the issue. Even now, almost
three years later, there are individuals with mental health needs being
dealt with by the criminal justice system. Dumping people with mental health
needs in prison is unacceptable.
We have people locked away in
institutions like Muckamore Abbey in the north - who are trapped because of
the failure of the state to provide the care and community settings that are
required - children are locked up for years and years after the completion
of their treatment.
On both sides of the border our mental health
services are under funded and under developed. It is time for both
governments to grasp the bull by the horns.
The call for an
all-Ireland centre of Excellence to deal with mental illness - similar to
the Middletown Centre for Autism developed by Martin is an excellent
suggestion and I urge delegates here to recognise that mental illness is an
issue for us all - it affects so many people.
We must work to
ensure not only better services but also to challenge the stigma attached to
mental illness.