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You are > Home > Kerry disabilities group worried over suicide rate
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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Kerry disabilities group worried over suicide rate
BY IAN HOWARD
A KERRY campaigner for people with disabilities has accused the government of being totally oblivious to the shocking number of suicides that are occurring and he has urged those in power to get proactive before the problem reaches epidemic proportions.
Noel O’Neill, chairman of the Kerry branch of the Network of People with Disabilities Ireland, lashed out at the government’s stance and he said an immediate solution must be found.
"Acting the ostrich on the problem is not going to make it go away overnight. Unemployment is the main cause we are told by those in the know. Well if that is the main cause, why are those in power not doing anything about it?" Mr O’Neill asked.
He criticised bodies such as county development boards and county enterprise boards and he accused them of contributing little to help solve the problems being encountered Mr O’Neill said action must be taken to bring down suicide rates and he has put forward his own solution to the problem.
"We all know that there are people out there with good ideas on job creation. A lot of these people are indeed very wealthy but won’t take the risk of investing their money in case they lose the lot and wind up broke. Indeed these people could easily find themselves as another suicide statistic," he said.
"So why don’t the county development boards and the county enterprise boards get all these people together in one room and ask them to come up with ideas for starting small or medium size businesses?" Mr O’Neill queried in an article he penned for his organisation’s newsletter.
"Instead of one man or woman investing €4 million, why don’t maybe maybe four people invest €1 million and, of course, get the government to match this investment euro for euro."
Mr O’Neill added that something not only has to be done but has to be seen to be done to put a stop to the misery that is driving people to suicide.
Meanwhile, in the same publication, Kerry Network for People with Disabilities treasurer, Charlie Smith, called for certain practices in Kerry General Hospital to be reviewed as they are making life awkward for both patients and staff.
Commenting on the problems that have been encountered he wrote: "I have been using the hospital myself as an out-patient and for visiting people who are inpatients. I get annoyed though as you have to be fit to go to the hospital as an out-patient in the first place.
"The medical treatment you get there is excellent – it is just the administration there that needs looking at," he said.
Mr Smith said some people are physically struggling as they queue for reception before being directed to another queue and he said a system in which out-patients collect their tickets and are allowed to sit down until their number is called would be far more satisfactory for all concerned.
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