by Eamonn Mac Dermott, Inishowen Independent
COMMUNITY groups in Co Kerry have been in contact
with their counterparts in Inishowen to develop a
strategy to deal with the aftermath of the recent
horrific crash that killed four young people.
Breda Friel of the Buncrana Community Combating
Suicide (BCCS) confirmed that contact was made
between a co-ordinator of one of the advice groups
in Kerry and her organization. The Kerry group
sought to learn lessons from how Inishowen dealt
with the aftermath of the Glasmullan, Drumfries
crash in July that claimed the lives of eight men.
She said: “We have had a brief contact with one of
the groups in Kerry following that terrible crash
last week. We have been giving them an idea of how
we dealt with the similar situation here.
“Although I expect fuller contact later when things
settle down a bit there as they are still at the
early stages.
“We will of course offer them whatever help and
support we can and let them know what we have
learned from our own experiences here.”
She continued: “At the minute they are just
organizing their drop in facilities for young people
and trying to assess the needs of the community.”
The crash last Wednesday morning on the Killarney to
Mallow road claimed the lives of two brothers David,
17, and Kevin Breen, 15; Brian Coffey, 19; and Áine
Riordan, 16.
Meanwhile, Breda Friel said that following the
tragic crash in July in Inishowen they had had
hundreds of hits on the Facebook sites set up to
offer advice to young people.
She said: “We did set up drop in centres for young
people and some did use these but we have had
hundreds logging on to the Facebook sites Talk
Buncrana and Unwind your mind.”
Breda Friel added that they were still working on
short, medium and long-term strategies to help the
whole community in the Inishowen area.
She said: “There have been meetings with the VEC,
HSE, the Mayor and ourselves and others in the
voluntary sector and that work is still ongoing.
“We would be hopeful that funding bodies would fund
us to enable the work to go forward so that we can
offer counselling and advice on mental health and
suicide issues.” |
