SUICIDE kits are readily available on the Internet and there is growing public alarm that these websites have not been closed down and made illegal.
SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie has voiced her support for constituent Patti Boyle’s campaign to outlaw websites offering advice on how to commit suicide and selling suicide packs.
Mrs Boyle’s 26 year old son, Kevin, committed suicide last autumn using a so called suicide kit that he purchased on the internet. Kevin paid £45 for the kit from a website selling death as “Deliverance.”
Now Mrs Boyle is planning to walk from Burren to Westminster to raise awareness about this issue and she will petition Members of Parliament to support her campaign called Families Acting Against Suicide Today (FAST).
Margaret Ritchie MP, who signed the petition, said: “This is a very brave and admirable initiative by Patti who has suffered such a deep personal loss with the death of her son Kevin.
“The sale of these suicide kits online is a very worrying development and legislation must be introduced at Westminster to ban it.
“The high incidence of suicide in South Down in recent years – in particular among our young people – is devastating the families and friends of victims and affecting the whole community.
“I would like to pay tribute to the FAST group and urge people to offer their support to this very worthy campaign.”
In the past year alone, almost 200 deaths have occurred across Ireland due to suicide and public concerns about suicide have never been higher. Killough mother Josephine McAteer lost her son several years ago to suicide and became involved in supporting PIPS in the Downpatrick area to try and help other families and people who may be affected by issues around suicide.
“You can only try your best in often difficult circumstances. Very often people in distress just need someone to listen to their plight. They just need comforted and encouraged to keep going. Depression is not the end of the world. People just have to recognise it and try and work with it over time.
“I’m appalled at the thought of these suicide kits being available, and every parent needs to be alert to the signs of stress in their children and look for the early signs that they may be potentially vulnerable to these sort of options.”
