Sir, - The attention that the issue of suicide is receiving in your paper since the recent controversial public comments of the former Minister for Sport and Tourism, Jim McDaid, is certainly very welcome.
For too long the taboo surrounding this problem has meant that families who have been bereaved through suicide have had to deal with their own grief and pain without any significant support from the State.
In particular, the way in which the coroner's service operates in this country at present only serves to compound the trauma experienced by the families and friends of those who have ended their lives.
Bereaved people often have to wait up to 12 months for an inquest to be held. Furthermore, the manner in which the inquests are held is quasi-judicial and little account is given to the distress of those attending. Very often between five and 10 cases may be grouped together for the purpose of inquest, and families bereaved by suicide must listen to the tragic details of other cases before their own is heard. In general no facilities are offered to families to allow them to have a cup of coffee or to "take time out" from the proceedings of the inquest.
Fortunately, a new Coroner's Act is being prepared at present and it is my hope, and the hope of the Bray Suicide Support Group with which I am involved, that the provisions of this new Act will ensure the sensitive , humane and appropriate treatment of those who are bereaved through suicide. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr DEIRDRE de BURCA,
Oaklands,
Greystones,
Co. Wicklow.