DAIL BRANDED ‘TEMPLE OF SUICIDE’ ON MENTAL HEALTH DISCUSSIONS
The Dail has been branded a ‘temple of silence’ on mental health and emotional well being.
It comes ahead of a press conference today at which groups representing more than 1,500 charities will outline the impact of funding cuts.
The event will hear a call for a new national strategy to restore and grow funding.
Conor Cusack is a Mental Health advocate for the Gaelic Players Association and the GAA. He is accusing politicians of not paying enough attention to mental health concerns.
He has revealed Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail invited him to address their Ard Fheis events last year – but he turned them down.
“But I refused because they wanted to talk about mental health on a Friday evening and my point to them was that this issue was too serious and too important, (and) I felt it needed to be discussed on the Saturday on the main podium” he said.
“Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Fein, the Independents have all been complicit in ensuring Dail Éireann is a temple of silence when it comes to discussing the mental health and emotional well-being challenges of our people” he added.
