Mid Ulster Council gives unanimous support for suicide prevention strategy

The motion was brought to the council by Sinn Féin’s Group Leader Ronan McGinley.

After the meeting, Cllr McGinley commented: “This strategy will hopefully help focus collaborative working and maximise interventions to help reduce the growing rates of suicide across our society.

"It aims to reduce the rates of suicide by 10% over the next ten years and sets out to proactively target areas of deprivation.

"The conversation in the chamber was very useful. We discussed the hope that sometime in the future we will see a zero-suicide society - a society with hope, access to support services, and a ‘Protect Life’ ethos.

"We commended all the community and voluntary groups, the practitioners and Health Care professionals, and all those who work tirelessly to protect and save lives in our local communities.

"In a unanimous voice, the Mid Ulster Council expressed support for anyone feeling down and encouraged those who need to speak to someone to please reach out.

"The focus of all stakeholders should be on the full implementation of the strategy and the delivery of services in partnership with communities and support organisations. So as a result of this motion Mid Ulster Council will set up a meeting with the Department of Health and our partners in the community and voluntary sector to explore how we can work together to protect life in our communities”.