The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Retiring coroner says Donal Walsh has saved many young lives
RETIRING SOUTH KERRY CORONER TERENCE CASEY DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE THE JOB AND SAYS THAT DONAL WALSH’S MESSAGE HAD HUGELY POSITIVE EFFECT ON YOUTH
A RETIRING coroner has criticised State policy that forces public servants to retire when they reach a certain age.
Terence Casey says he would gladly have stayed on as South Kerry coroner but his application to do so was denied by the Minister for Justice.
Mr Casey, who turned 70 on Sunday, has been coroner since 2002 and was deputy coroner for the previous eight years.
“I would have stayed on for another couple of years. I applied for an extension and they refused it,” he said.
He said the most difficult part of the job, which never got easier, was dealing with suicide, especially in young people.
At Mr Casey’s final coroner’s court in Killarney on Friday, he dealt with four inquests, three of which involved suicides.
However, he attributed a recent fall in the number of suicides among young people in Kerry to Blennerville teenager, Donal Walsh’s powerful life-affirming message, which he says is still having an impact four years after his death from cancer. Mr Casey added that suicide remains a very serious problem with older people, particularly men, who are isolated socially and will not seek help.
“Donal’s memory is still there but the big difference here is that his message is alive amongst young people The statistics for young people have improved dramatically and have stayed that way,” he says.
“The problem is with the older generation who do not seek help and it is a big problem.
“It’s a matter now of trying to educate the older generation to go and look for help.
“I’ve had nobody under 21 years of age take their own life since 2013. That is a massive achievement and Donal Walsh’s message has an awful lot to do with that, I believe,” he said. “But you take last year and I had two people over the age of 60 and the youngest was between the ages of 22 and 30, and there were five over 30.
“It’s the older generation we now have to educate to go and seek help the way younger people have done.”
He feels it will be a challenge to convince someone “set in their minds” to seek help and talk to someone.
“Up to now, if they were living in isolation, they used to go to the creamery and meet their neighbours, they’d meet the postman or they’d go and have a pint and chat to other customers in a bar,” he said. “But they don’t even go out now. So what do they do only sit at home and wallow, and small problems become big problems and they’re inclined to go ahead and take their own lives.”
He believes the only way to combat suicide is to try to provide some social function whereby these people will meet others and talk.
“You will never convince them to go to the likes of Pieta House or anywhere like that or the Samaritans, whereas if they only spoke to their neighbours, their problems may be made very small,” he added.
Mr Casey still believes suicide rates in Kerry are too high. There have been four already in 2017.
He’s philosophical about his coroner’s role and likes to think he was helping the families of those left behind after a tragic death to deal with the trauma of the inquest.
“Somebody has to do the job and it’s not an easy job to do at all, especially when you see people mangled in cars or suicides.
“It’s a challenge and I would have enjoyed it for another few years but couldn’t do so.
“It gets easier in facing the problem and you get immune to seeing dead bodies more than anything else, but when you see mangled bodies from car accidents, it’s not easy and doesn’t really get any easier.
“It also doesn’t get any easier to face families who have lost someone to suicide,” he said.
Following the inquests, Supt Flor Murphy paid tribute to the coroner for his professionalism, helpfulness and compassion.
“These rooms can be very upsetting places for people and you deal with them in a very sensitive and compassionate way.
“You have served your role with great distinction and utter integrity,” he said.
Tributes were also paid by Nóirín O’Connor, executive solicitor with Kerry County Council and by journalist, Anne Lucey on behalf of the NUJ and the media.
Mr Casey will be succeeded by the current deputy coroner, Aisling O’Sullivan Quilter, to whom he offered this advice.
“Try to learn more about it by attending the scenes and trying to find out exactly what happened.
“Try and be able to talk to the families and engage with the survivors to explain to them why inquests and post mortems have to take place.
“This takes away a lot of the worry. Most people do not know what they are facing at an inquest and are terrified.
“They think it’s an inquisitorial court and are terrified about going. If you talk to them you put their mind at ease and that’s very important in my mind,” he said.
THESE ROOMS CAN BE VERY UPSETTING FOR PEOPLE AND YOU DEALWITH THEM IN A VERY SENSITIVE AND COMPASSIONATE WAY- SUPT FLOR MURPHY