On July 23rd My brother and I had a meeting with the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald in the Dáil. I am most Thankful to Áine Collins TD and to Dan Neville TD who arranged for me to meet with Minister Fitzgerald.
I was happy with the meeting and most grateful that the Minister took the time to meet with me to discuss my campaign. During our meeting I outlined the suicide awareness/prevention training that I would like to see introduced in the Garda Training College and that it would be included in the Primary Inservice Program, that way it would show a commitment by an Garda Siochana to it.
I expressed my thinking to the Minister, that regretfully suicide is extremely prevalent in Ireland today and that obviously many members of An Garda Siochana have to deal with suicidal people as part of their post. Obviously this is extremely difficult for each member who has to encounter this. Therefore in my opinion there is a huge need for all members of An Garda Siochana to be trained to receive specific training in suicide awareness and how to apprehend suicidal drivers or the one who is known or suspected to be suicidal. I explained to her that I really believe, that this training would be extremely helpful for the Garda on a professional and indeed a personal level.
I was delighted to hear the Minister’s words “I am supporting your visit to Templemore as the Minister for Justice and I am supporting your call for training in Mental Health issues. I will be in touch with the Gardaí about it”.
Victim of suicidal driver urges Min Fitzgerald to ensure Garda training on suicide – Neville http://www.finegael.ie/latest-news/2014/victim-of-suicidal-driver/
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/heroic-irish-women-make-a-stand-for-those-they-lost-276796.html
Where There Is Life There Is Hope 