Limerick city has sixth highest suicide rate in Ireland
A NEW counselling service for people who are at risk of suicide or self-harm has seen more clients in Limerick in the first year of operation than its sister facility has seen in two years in Dublin.
And the numbers of people bereaved by suicide and seeking the help of another Limerick organisation have doubled in the last six months.
But both Pieta and Console, the support organisations involved, view the increase as good rather than bad news.
Joan Freeman, founder and CEO of Pieta House told the Limerick Post that the Mid West facility “is going exceptionally well”, having opened its door last February at Ardaulin in Raheen.
Limerick city has the sixth highest suicide rate of any city in Ireland and the highest rate of deliberate self-harm in Ireland, according to official figures for the years 2004 – 2010.
“We have seen more people in Pieta Mid West in this first year of operation than we did in the first two years in Dublin,” said Joan.
“But we see that as good news. It means that people who are in need of the service are accessing it and talking about the issues. Things were very different six years ago. People weren’t talking about suicide and they certainly weren’t talking about self-harm. At least now, they have somewhere to go,” she said.
Console, the organisation which counsels family members, friends and members of the community who are coping with loss and bereavement due to suicide in Limerick have seen a sharp increase in the numbers using their services and have had to set up a panel of counsellors to meet the demand.
“The numbers using our services have doubled in the last six months,” Pauline Londra, acting manager of the Limerick Console centre said.
Pauline puts this down to a combination of factors, one of which is that people are becoming more aware of the services on offer.
This was demonstrated by the fact that the organisation had a full house in St Augustine’s Church last week for its annual Christmas Celebration of Light.
“We would very much like to thank all the artists who performed and gave up their time. It was a very beautiful service,” said Pauline. Console can be contacted on their helpline at 1800 201 890.
Pieta Mid West can be contacted on 061 – 484444 or 484646
