Friday's News Ireland Blog by Donie

€35m is set aside by Government for 200 schools to replace prefabs with classrooms

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The Government is to spend €35 million this year replacing prefabs with permanent classrooms in almost 200 schools.

The Department of Education and Skills says the investment, part of the programme for government, will see 6,000 pupils move from prefabs into permanent accommodation.

Some 715 new rental contracts for prefabs for primary schools had been agreed in 2007 alone and the Government was determined to tackle the issue,

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said. Almost 200 schools, over a third of all those using prefabs, will be offered grants to build permanent accommodation by the end of this year. The department estimates the scheme will bring €5 million in savings on prefab rentals and will create 700 direct jobs.

Che Guevara, father of revolution and the proud son of . . . Galway?

       

Che Guevara a descendent of the Blakes and Lynches of Galway

 CHE GUEVARA, “father of revolution, son of Galway” as one website puts it, might be 45 years dead, but he can still cause a strong reaction. There’s something about the bearded revolutionary that creates an enduring interest in his legacy here in Ireland and the erection of a statue in his memory.

While his image has adorned flags and posters in bedsits and student apartments from Belfield to Bishopstown, plans by Galway city Labour Party Councillor Billy Cameron to erect a statue to Guevara look set to test the limits of public sympathy for the Marxist fighter.

Libertas founder Declan Ganley says the statue would bring shame on the people of Galway, and he compares Guevara to Pol Pot, Stalin and Idi Amin.

While acknowledging that he receives “five or six” emails a day asking that plans to erect the statue be abolished, Cllr Billy Cameron says the plan will proceed, with public and embassy support. “Guevara is descended from two families who are tribes of Galway – the Blakes and Lynches. We’re honouring one of our own from a distance,” he says.

With regards to opposition to the statue, Cameron says: “Will we now go down to Clonakilty and request the people there take down the statue of Michael Collins? Will opponents to this ask the people of Ennis to take down the statue of Éamon de Valera?”

The organisers of the second annual Che Do Bheatha festival, due to be held in the seaside town of Kilkee this September, are adamant the dispute in Galway will not affect their event. Guevara is reputed to have visited the area more than 50 years ago. Organiser Tom Byrne emphasises that the festival, which involves talks, exhibitions and music, is not a celebration of Guevara himself, but rather his image. It was made popular by artist Jim Fitzpatrick, who worked in Kilkee at the time of the visit. “It is not a political thing here and is a fun celebration,” Byrne says.

Of the enduring ability of Guevara’s image, Byrne observes that it probably has as much to do with his youthful good looks, as it does his political beliefs. “I myself was a student in the 1970s. I wore the Guevara T-shirt and had the poster. It was a radical thing to do. He was a good-looking guy and the poster immortalised him. I don’t think any other image would have done the same for his legacy and that’s what we mark.”

New suicide prevention head to be appointed “shortly”

    

Dan Neville TD above left who raised the issue in the Dáil this evening and right picture the great Gary Speed who took his life.

A NEW DIRECTOR to the National Suicide Prevention Office is to be appointed “shortly,” more than five months after the retirement of the last director.

The previous director retired last October and a replacement has not yet been appointed. An acting director has taken over in a caretaker role.

Applications for the job closed on 3 February, Minister for State at the Department of Health Roisin Shortall told the Dáil this evening. Interviews are due to take place later this month and the appointment to the position should take place “shortly” after that.

Shortall described suicide prevention work as “one of the most urgent challenges currently facing society”.

486 people died by suicide in Ireland in 2010. Fine Gael TD Dan Neville told the Dáil that there were additionally 127 deaths categorised as “non-determined” which would be counted as suicide in other countries.

Neville stressed the urgency in appointing a new permanent director.

Related article: 

More than 12,500 people a year on average in Ireland treated in hospital after deliberate self-harm

          

DELIBERATE self harm is the single most important risk factor for suicide across the world but few countries other than Ireland have reliable data on it.

A new paper which looked at figures collected by the Irish National Registry of Deliberate Self Harm found there were 75,119 presentations of deliberate self harm (DSH) at Ireland’s 40 emergency departments (EDs) between the years of 2003 and 2009.

Although some people attended hospital more than once, there were still more than 48,000 individuals presenting with DSH in the seven year period. More than 10,000 of those visited EDs at least twice.

About 453 people presented at least ten times, accounting for more than 8,000 incidences of self harm.

Despite the high figures, it is believed that only a minority of adolescents and adults who self harm actually present to hospital.

Suicide up to 50 times more likely

The report’s authors concluded that it is important to note the links between self harming and suicide. Research has shown that if a person presents to hospital after an act of DSH, they are 30 to 50 times more likely than other members of the general population to risk suicide in the year after.

The research, which was funded by the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention, found that there was an increased rate of DSH in Irish men in 2008 and 2009. The study noted that the 10 per cent jump coincided with the advent of the economic recession and an increased incidence of suicide amongst men.

Although the number of men presenting has risen significantly, more women still present to hospital per 100,000 population. There was a “clear peak” in 15 to 19-year-old women, while the highest rate in men was observed in the 20-24 year-old age group.

Overall, the highest DSH rates were observed in 17-year-old girls.

Used in 68 per cent of cases, drug overdose is by far the most common method of self harm. Minor tranquillisers, medication containing paracetamol and anti-depressants or mood stabilisers were the usual drugs used.

Self-cutting is also a common method of DSH. Most of the cuts recorded by the database were minor and did not need sutres. However, 6 per cent of cases were referred to plastic surgeons.

Alcohol was involved in more than 40 per cent of DSH incidences.

There were a small number of cases of more lethal methods, including attempted hanging and drowning. Those surviving such acts have shown their risk of fatal repeat acts to be relatively high.

Effective treatment is available

Although reliable information is scarce, the higher rate in women, the peak in early adult life and the predominance of drug overdose as a method of self harm seems to be consistent across difference cultures. However, rates of self-cutting particularly in men are higher in Ireland than in most other regions in Europe. Irish men also inflict more severe damage when self-cutting.

Self-inflicted injuries are the sixth leading cause of ill-health worldwide and about one million people die by suicide every year across the globe. The findings from the Irish National Registry of Deliberate Self Harm in relation to repetition underline the importance of linking deliberate self harm with suicide mortality data.

The authors also found that population-based data on hospital-treated DSH represents an important index of the burden of mental illness and suicide risk in the community.

They called for suitably-trained health professionals to assess both the risk of repeated suicidal behaviour and broader psychosocial needs of patients so appropriate referral and follow-ups can be carried out.

Effective treatment to reduce the risk of repeated self harm is available and there is growing evidence to support the efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy, problem-solving terapy and interpersonal psychotherapy.

You can contact Samaritans on 1850 60 9090, or contact them via email atjo@samaritans.org.

You can contact Pieta House on 01 601 000 or email mary@pieta.ie