Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection
Social, Personal and Health Education Curriculum: Discussion with Comhairle na nÓg
2:40 pm
Ms Niamh Donnelly:
I thank everyone for the lovely comments they made. With regard to suicide among young people, I am from County Mayo which has a high rate of suicide among young people. There is an aspect of glamorising suicide, but this has more to do with the media and not among young people themselves. A few weeks ago I read many newspaper articles about a particular suicide, but not one of those articles included helpline details for any young person reading them. There was nothing positive in them. Where a young person has been victimised he or she is seen as almost a celebrity instead of considering the tragedy.