THERE were tears in Cork County Hall yesterday as councillors called for the new Minister for Health to reverse the €12 million cut to mental health services.
Councillors shared stories of people they had lost to suicide, and how mental health issues had affected people in their lives.
Cllr Danielle Twomey, Sinn Féin, described the cuts as “devastating” and said that Ireland needs “mental health reform, not regression” and urged the council to write to Minister Simon Harris.
“Your mental health is just as important as your physical health, and it has never been more prescient than now. Everybody is affected by a mental health issue at some point in their lives, be it personally, or a friend or family member,” she said. “More investment is needed to recruit the desperately needed staff. Cutting funding is not the answer, it will make the already growing crisis worse.”
Her motion was carried unanimously.
Paul Hayes spoke about the people he met during the Darkness Into Light walk, which took place early on Saturday morning.
“I was one of the estimated 120,000 participants who took part in this weekend’s Darkness Into Light walks. Almost 3,000 people in Clonakilty turned up at 4.15am. Many of the faces I recognised in the crowd had their own tragedies. I met the mother of one of my lifelong friends, Garrett, who we lost to suicide 10 years ago. He was a Liverpool fan. As we carried his coffin out of Clonakilty church, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was sung. It was one of the saddest days of my life.
“Sadly, many people still feel like they are walking alone. Mental health has been the poor relation in the health service over the years. This raiding of €12 million is no surprise, but nonetheless very disappointing.”
Rachel McCarthy spoke about a death in her own family. “Ten years ago my uncle took his life. Unfortunately, his wife and children have had a very lonely road since. I think any of us that have been directly affected, we know how important those services are, and more importantly, the preventative services. You have counselling services for people, but those are too late for families who are left grieving.”
Kay Dawson, Fine Gael, spoke about her own experience working in the services.
“I worked in the mental health system myself for a number of years. We delivered a service that was draconian and now we are taking money out of it. We need money. We need a willingness to change it,” she said.
Ger Keohane and Joe Harris, both Independent councillors, spoke from their own experience. “For somebody that suffers with mental health and depression, I consider myself one of the lucky ones who is still here today. It is a disgrace that money is being taken from this,” said Mr Keohane.
“As someone myself who has gone through the mental health services, I can tell you that the aftercare services wouldn’t be very conducive to you recovering,” said Mr Harris.
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