THE SUICIDE prevention charity set up by solicitor and property developer Noel Smyth is planning to use next year's local elections to put pressure on the Government to act on the issue.
Mr Smyth and Prof Kevin Malone, head of the department of psychiatry and mental health research at St Vincent's Hospital, wrote to the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, John Maloney, in June, suggesting that they could meet him to discuss their ideas for Government policy in the area.
However, the meeting has not as yet taken place and Mr Smyth, in an interview with The Irish Times, said the organisation was now going to try to put political pressure on the Government.
"I'm impassioned about this. I can't just stand around and do nothing," he said.
Mr Smyth and Prof Malone set up the 3Ts, or Turn the Tide of Suicide, organisation a few years ago to raise awareness of the problem of suicide in Ireland. It also aims to raise funds to help lower suicide rates through dedicated research, educational support and intervention.
The organisation is planning to take out newspaper advertisements in which they will urge voters to support only the candidates who give a commitment to back the introduction of new structures to combat the problem of suicide.
Mr Smyth believes an authority equivalent to the Road Safety Authority should be established that would have responsibility for issues to do with suicide, from research to prevention to training.
"We have a Road Safety Authority yet 60 per cent more people die from suicide than die on the roads."
Mr Smyth said his organisation envisaged a pyramid-type structure, with a new authority on the top that would work with the professional and State bodies that work with suicide-related areas, and the more than 500 voluntary groups on the island of Ireland who are involved in working on the suicide issue.
Prof Malone and the 3Ts organisation are currently conducting research into suicide in Ireland, and families and loved ones of people who have died through suicide are being interviewed.
Among the findings to date are that in 85 per cent of cases, the person who died had told someone in the weeks beforehand that they intended taking their own lives, while seeking a commitment from that person that they would not tell anyone else of the disclosure.
This is World Suicide Prevention Week, something that has been marked with a candlelit vigil by the 3Ts organisation for the past four years.
On Wednesday, vigils will be held at 8pm-9pm at the forecourt of the Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin and at the Bull Ring, Wexford.
On Thursday a vigil will be held at the St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, Market Street, Galway, 8pm-9pm.
