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DONAL WALSH’S PARENTS, Elma and Finbarr have donated funds to Ireland’s first suicide resource centre so they can refurbish two rooms.
The Console Centre in Tralee, which recently opened at Balloonagh, said the rooms will be in memory of Donal and will be “dedicated to furthering Donal’s message to young people not to take their own lives”.
Teenager Donal Walsh who died from terminal cancer in May of this year inspired many when he wrote an article on the issue of teen suicide. He went on RTE’s The Saturday Night Show and called on teens not to take their own lives.
“His work will continue in this wonderful collaboration between Console and his parents,” said Paul Kelly, CEO of the national suicide prevention and bereavement charity Console.
He added:
We are creating Donal’s Rooms where young people in difficulty can get immediate professional help, counselling and support. Donal’s message that life is worth living really had an impact because he spoke from the heart.
The Walsh family recently set up the Donal Walsh #Livelife Foundation and Donal’s mother, Elma, thanked the community for their contributions to the fund.
“We are delighted that Donal’s two main messages, the need for suicide prevention and teen care facilities, are now coming together under one roof at Console’s Tralee centre,” said Elma Walsh.
She said it is important to create a comfortable space where young people feel safe and “amongst their own”.
Earlier this month, the Kerry coroner Terence Casey said that Donal speaking out in the way he did had a huge impact. Speaking to TheJournal.ie he said:
Donal speaking out in the way he did has made a huge difference. I usually deal with 18 suicides a year, about 1 and a half a month on average. But since Donal spoke out against suicide, I have had no suicides from March to August.
The Donal’s Room’s refurbishment presentation to Console will take place at The Donal Walsh LiveLife Gala Ball in the INEC Killarney on Friday 27 September.
Console’s Tralee Centre provides a broad range of community-based supports, services and resources for those affected by, or at risk of suicide. Console can be reached at any time on freephone 1800 201 890 and many resources and useful information can be found at www.console.ie
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A bit of competition is good once it’s honest and there’s no jolleys, stroking, brown envelopes or trips to the red light district
Don’t care who builds it, once the ultimate cost is what was agreed at the start and it represents best value for money and can actually do everything that we need in an MRV.
@Peter: absolutely correct. The bigger ptoblen is managing to crew these ships given the pathetic funding of the navy and the army
. dont care who builds it but no the UK, when your out, your out.
@Spud Geshletter: let’s hope they don’t have the same stupid attitude as you, we will be broke overnight.
@Tipper Irie: How do you like a freezing cold and dark winter? 75% of our gas comes from Scotland!
@Tipper Irie: please explain??
This is gona be an interesting one. The Brits will probably bend over backwards for these kind of contracts now to prove Brexit works. Might mean a better price, but there will be a lot of pressure on the government from EU partners to not go with the Brits for this. Especially a defence contract. I’m sure there are plenty of other shipyards around Europe that could also build the ship. I wonder will the EU intervene to make sure that EU defense spending stays as much as possible within the EU. Which will be tough seen as the Brits have such a massive arms industry.
@bazhealy: We should source the ships with the EU Single Market and as Northern Ireland is still in the EU Single Market we should source the ships in Harland and Wolf in Belfast.
@Roger Bond: You’d be lucky to get a barge out of H&W.
@Roger Bond: hm no…
@Billybutcher: hm maybe, although it has been used recently mainly for service I read on 25/11 that H&W has been appointed as the prefered bidder to deliver three crucial support ships to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Who will staff it?? The Naval service is on it’s knees.
@Richard Griffin: We can recruit naval personnel from other countries like the Philippines or China.
And its also past time Ireland grew up and provided its own proper air defences and stop running to the RAF everytime an incident accurs because we dont have the capability,without a comprehensive radar tracking system anyone can invade our airspace at will and we have to depend on the Brits for information whats happening in our own country,the excuse usually given is because we are neutral sounds demeaning and ridiculous because we can even defend our own neutrality.
Didn’t know the UK had any shipyards left.
@Ken Miles: they,’ve got s few ,who do you think built the new aircraft carriers?
@Ken Miles: You obvously are misinformed who do you think built the latest Ships for the Irish navy,yep the Brits did only problem now we can’t get the personel to crew them.
@Ken Miles: there is a famous ship yard only up the road in Belfast
@Kevin Carroll: Excellent point. At least we would keep the money on the island.
@Kevin Carroll: Yes there is. Tyneside shipyards closed to keep Belfast in work.
@Ken Miles: There is one just up the road in Belfast and it would be a kind gesture to get the ships built there like before.
As a member of the EU all contracts should be given to eu countries not a country outside eu
They’ve probably wat he’d the childrens hospital and locked their lips at the clown show.
Candy off a baby..
That’s easy then, Trieste in Italy it is, the only EU one of the top 10 largest shipbuilding companies, coming in @ #9.
We should be looking further afield for contracts like this..The best value for money can be found in China or South Korea..
have your say