Remarks by President McAleese at a National Forum on Suicide Prevention Burlington Hotel, Dublin 4
Remarks by President McAleese at a National Forum on Suicide Prevention Burlington Hotel, Dublin 4 Tuesday 14th March 2006
Bhí lúcháir orm an cuireadh seo a fháil agus ghlac mé go fonnmhar leis mar go dtuigim an tábhacht a bhaineann leis an obair atá ar siúl agaibh. Tá ard-mheas agam ar aon obair a chabhróidh cosc a chuir le féin mharú.
Thank you all for your very warm welcome. As Patron of the Irish Association of Suicidology I was very pleased to receive and accept the invitation from Geoff Day, Head of the National Office for Suicide Prevention, to be with you this morning. I am very grateful for this opportunity to honour the vital work that you and the many, many other individuals and groups in our society do in the cause of suicide prevention.
We rightly value the principle that matters involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to a person's dignity and autonomy, are central to our liberties. The people who concern us here, however, the vast majority of those unfortunate people who commit suicide, are those who make such momentous decisions impulsively or out of extreme emotional distress, when their act does not reflect their enduring convictions. Our goal is to protect citizens from irrevocable acts of self-destruction, people who – it is plausible to think – would later be grateful that their lives continued.
Protecting a disappointed adolescent from himself or herself, protecting troubled individuals from decisions and actions which hasten their own death is a difficult but vital challenge for us to meet. It is a huge moral and social responsibility, for all of the bad decisions we are capable of making and all the devastating outcomes our bad decisions can have for ourselves and for those around us, suicide closes off all paths to hope, to healing, to transcendence, to tomorrow’s fresh possibilities. The overwhelming finality leaves a legacy of profound misery and grief which many who experience it are now turning into a harnessed energy directed at finding effective strategies for prevention.
This forum is part of that ongoing search and it involves a very stringent look at ourselves as a society with deeply embedded attitudes and practices which do not conduce to good mental health. The role played by alcohol is an obvious starting point for it plays a not inconsiderable role in certain types of suicide. Loneliness, social isolation, bullying, illness, grief, loss, fear – these all have the capacity to close down hope in the human person but we as individuals, as family and as community have an even greater capacity as well as an obligation to be bringers of care, support and comfort to one another. There are so many things we can be getting on with doing which we know will bring the rising statistics down. Harnessing sensitivity to one another, educating us early to be responsible for the mental health of ourselves and of others, encouraging engaged and active lives, promoting sensible behaviour around mind altering drugs including alcohol, encouraging recognition of problems early and prompting people to access help from the now many and improving services available, developing a culture of openness where concerns are easily articulated and not dangerously suppressed – these and many more things are the pathway to a future in which this scourge is emphatically tackled.
I was greatly encouraged by the discussions at the forum hosted at Áras an Uachtaráin last March when a huge range of groups and individuals working in the field of suicide prevention, or suicide bereavement, came together and pooled their experiences and ideas. I have been even more encouraged by the practical progress which has been made since then, for this is an issue which is manifestly on the national agenda with the new National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention, “Reach Out”, and the creation of the National Office for Suicide Prevention all of which will play a vital part in developing and progressing suicide prevention policies. The sustained and tactically focussed dissemination of research and best practice throughout Ireland can only have a beneficial effect. Each of you can take credit for getting us thus far and indeed this opportunity to exchange views, to consolidate and validate the work that is going on and planned, keeps the focus fresh and the determination sharp.
The great American poet, Sylvia Plath, who herself fell victim to depression and suicide, in her poem ‘Lady Lazarus’ fluently expressed the depth of the pain it causes :
Dying
Is an art, like everything else,
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.
That is the pain that we are called to alleviate, the hell that life seems to have become which makes the hell of death attractive for that fatal moment, that fatal time. Death by suicide unsettles us in a profound way, as it should. Left to fester in silence, that deep unease does nothing to deal with the problem but, constructed into a major debate and a drive for change, we can begin to look forward with genuine hope and trust.
International evidence shows that reducing the suicide rate requires a collective, concerted effort from all groups in society – health, social services and other professionals, communities, voluntary and statutory agencies and organisations, parents, friends, neighbours and individuals. I look forward to seeing the growth of a culture and environment where people in psychological distress don’t hesitate to seek help from family, friends and health professionals, a culture where we recognise the signs and signals of that distress and help guide ourselves, or others, to good help, a culture where we focus early in life on developing good coping skills and avoiding harmful practices.
The German writer Goethe said ‘suicide is an incident in human life which, however much disputed and discussed, demands the sympathy of every man, and in every age must be dealt with anew’. In our age we too face it anew but removed from the old criminal laws which made discussion and disclosure difficult, with considerably better resources at our disposal, with strategic partnerships in place and with an action plan which will in the years to come be judged on the extent to which it has reduced the premature loss of life through suicide in this country. Many of you will be right in the forefront of that action plan and I wish you every success, as I do, in particular to Geoff Day, and all those associated with the National Office for Suicide Prevention.
Thanks to those who organised this forum and every encouragement as you plan to make it a regular event. Let us hope that year on year the story will bring encouraging news to all of us.
Go n-éirí libh agus go raibh míle, míle maith agaibh.