THE issue of suicide among the farming community needs to be addressed just as importantly as physical farm safety, according to Midlands-North-West MEP, Maria Walsh.

Last month the Shrule member of the European Parliament hosted a special event in Brussel which addressed the issue of suicidal ideation (forming the idea) among farmers and their families.

Maria Walsh said that she was now trying to introduce a mental health strategy for the farming community across Ireland and Europe to address what she described as the silent pandemic of suicide.

According to the MEP, almost a quarter of Irish farmers are at risk of suicide – a statistic that was casting a shadow across the farming community across rural Ireland.

“While farm safety is a major issue in Ireland – and rightly so – mental heath challenges and suicidal ideations have sadly become the norm.

“It is quite shocking to think that almost 25% of Irish farmers are at risk of suicide. Addressing this issue among the farming community is just as important as tackling the safety risks associated with life on the farm,” she said.

Maria Walsh hosted the suicide ideation among the farming community awareness event along with her Belgian European People’s Party colleague, MEP Tom Vandenkendelaere.

Representatives from UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science and from the School of Psychology, also attended the Brussels event last month.

Dr. Tomas Russell [Offaly] from UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science, and Mayo’s Professor Louise McHugh from the School of Psychology, presented the findings of a UCD survey on farmers’ mental health.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.