Time to talk openly about mental health

The issue of suicide in Ireland has in recent years been receiving greater media attention. It's clear that death by suicide is a real and pressing social issue in our country. There is not a village or town in Ireland which has not seen the devastation and bewilderment left behind after a tragic death of this nature. Thankfully, organisations such as the Samaritans, Pieta House, Console and many, many others are providing valuable services. News that the Pieta House West project, earmarked for Tuam, and which envisages a follow-on centre in Athlone, has received planning permission is significant. Pieta House provides a professional, face-to-face, free therapeutic services for people in the acute stages of distress. In 2011 Pieta House saw a 50% increase in the number of people contacting them for help compared to the previous five years combined. There are many contributory factors to the rise in deaths by suicide. Our national obsession with alcohol, rising drug abuse, financial stresses and strains all contribute. But what is also key is our own inability as a nation to talk openly and frankly about mental health. As a country, we have many things on our plate for 2013, but let us all commit to looking for help when we need it, to discussing our problems with friends, family or with outside agencies, and to refusing to allow suicide be an option that is ever considered. Seanad abolition is a side show The recent confirmation by Taoiseach Enda Kenny that he will move to hold a referendum during 2013 to abolish the Seanad is a major development. Although the abolition of the Seanad was a central plank of Fine Gael's election programme, there were many who felt Fine Gael would quietly shelve the plan during its time in Government. Along with a major restructuring of the local government system, comprising the culling of town councils including Athlone, this Government is embarking on a root and branch reform of the political structures in this country. And whilst the rights and wrongs, merits and demerits, of both proposals will no doubt be analysed and discussed during the year, the question of whether the changes amount to anything more than a cosmetic exercise is the real issue. The reality is that, even with these proposals, we continue to operate a system of government where our legislators, our TDs, are sometimes more county councillors than national parliamentarians. Anyone who examines the various debates in the Oireachtas will see a plethora of questions relating to whether individual constituents will receive particular social welfare entitlements. We continue to operate a system, based on the old imperial model, which ensures most real power lies with top civil servants. And although local government has been given the a new revenue source in the controversial property tax, local authorities continue to wield very little power with many of their functions centralised to national government in recent years. As well as all of this our democracy rests almost exclusively on an opportunity once every four or five years to cast a ballot in a national or local election. These are the real issues to be tackled if political reform is to mean anything.