Press Release
‘Latest self-harm figures reveal the real human trauma behind homelessness’, says Merchants Quay Ireland
Merchants Quay Ireland, the national homeless and drugs charity, has today said the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Self Harm Registry Ireland figures reveal the real human trauma being experienced by so many people trapped in homelessness.
The new figures, released through the National Office for Suicide Prevention and National Self-Harm Registry, showed that men accounted for nearly 80% of suicides last year and that the incidence of self-harm amongst homeless people was 30 times more than the general population. There were 591 presentations made by people who are homeless in 2017, an increase of 13% on last year.
Commenting on the figures, co-founder of Merchants Quay Ireland Tony Geoghegan said:
“The self-harm figures released today reveal the real human trauma being experienced by people who are caught in homelessness. People who are homeless or in addiction are more likely to attempt suicide and have more mental health problems.
“When the most vulnerable in society are stigmatised and find that they can’t get access to services they desperately need, then we as a nation have failed.
“In Merchants Quay Ireland’s own services, we saw a 33% increase last year in people accessing our mental health services and a 55% increase in people accessing the GP service.
“There needs to be significant investment in our mental health and primary care services in Ireland, particularly aimed at people who are long-term homeless. These services need to take into consideration the often-chaotic nature associated with chronic homelessness.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview with our spokesperson, Tony Geoghegan, please contact:
Andrew Rooney
Communications Officer
Merchants Quay Ireland
T: 01 531 2958
M: 086 7793 208
Email: andrew.rooney@mqi.ie
Website: www.mqi.ie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MerchantsQuayIR
Twitter: @MerchantsQuayIR
