Pieta House up and running
A large gathering of people including gardai, teachers, priests and health professionals arrived in Francis Street, Wexford for the launch of Pieta House which is providing suicide bereavement support and suicide and self-harm prevention services to people of all ages in the south-east.
Pieta House took over the premises last year shortly after the collapse of the Console charity in a national financial scandal involving the founders and has been providing a service in Wexford since then, welcoming new members of staff and expanding the work to include suicide intervention and a suicide bereavement liaison officer.
‘We’re launching a service that has never stopped,’ declared Pieta House CEO Brian J. Higgins who said the organisation is very proud to have this service in Wexford.
He paid tribute to Pieta House manager Sally Griffiths; therapist Catherine Power; the former manager of Console, Denis O’Connor and former employees Joan Etchingham and Sr. Mary Dwyer who started the ‘phenomenal work’ of the centre and who along with the clients had persevered through ‘a very difficult period and a great deal of uncertainty’ during the summer of 2016. ‘It is a testament to the people you are that you kept the service going’, he said.
The CEO said that in addition to the suicide bereavement counselling service previously offered by Console, Pieta House is now providing intervention services for anyone who is suicidal or experiencing self-harm and a suicide liaison officer who can be with families in the traumatic aftermath of a suicide.
‘The real challenge we have is responding to changing needs but we are good at adapting,’ he said, adding that the launch was ‘a celebration of the past’ and also a ‘celebration of the future’.
‘There are many people in this room who supported Console in the past and we hope you will continue to support us in the future’, he said. ‘This is your house. This is your service. The people we care for are your families and friends’.
Orla Roche Peare who was instrumental in the establishment of Console Wexford in 2010 following the tragic death by suicide of her brother, spoke on behalf of her family. She said the centre emerged from a grassroots campaign that was assisted by many people who fundraised, painted walls and sourced furniture to ensure that it opened.
‘I’m delighted that Pieta House has come to take it over . Otherwise, all that work and effort would have been lost’, said Orla.
Lighting a candle, she said: ‘May the door be always open to everyone who needs it’.
Fr. Aodhan Marken and Reverend Arthur Minion performed an ecumenical blessing of the building and prayed that ‘it may be a place to offer hope to the despairing and a light in the darkness’.
‘We pray for all those who find life difficult and struggle to see the light and all who help them’, said the clerics.
‘Thank you for your consideration in asking both of us here to perform this blessing,’ Reverend Minion told the centre manager Sally Griffiths.
Mayor of Wexford, Cllr. Jim Moore said the quality of resilience which Pieta House promoted, was evident in how the staff members themselves had continued to operate the service at a difficult time and he thanked them for their efforts.
‘As Mayor of Wexford I’m particularly delighted to welcome the services provided here,’ he said, adding that he lives in the coastal community of Kilmore Quay where life-saving services are part of everyday life.
He said one of the statements associated with the RNLI lifeboat service -’ Everyday some people find themselves in difficulty’ - can easily be applied to so many people, in so many walks of life, no matter what age you are.
Cllr. Moore was formerly involved in the national Parents Council movement and he said suicide and self-harm are issues that have not been addressed in education in the way that they should be.
‘The well of support for the services here will never run dry’, he promised Pieta House.
During the official launch reflections and wishes were read out by staff members including the therapists who provide counselling.