Motion: Suicide Strategy

“That this Council notes that Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rate in the UK and that over the years 2007-2016 there have tragically been 179 lives lost and families devastated in the Fermanagh and Omagh Council area as a result of it; reminds anyone who may be in distress or despair that support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week; urges anyone who may be experiencing suicidal ideations to immediately contact their GP or any one of our brilliant mental health charities; notes that funding on mental health services across Northern Ireland remains wholly inadequate and expresses outrage that the ongoing political impasse at Stormont has meant that Protect Life 2 – the new strategy and action plan to reduce our suicide rate – has still not been published due to the absence of a local Minister; agrees to write to the Secretary of State to emphasize to her that the current situation is unacceptable and to urge her to intervene to secure the immediate publication of the strategy”.