Suicides in belfast

antrim | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis

Monday May 23, 2005 21:49

by clodagh

There were at least 15 suicides in West belfast and 13 suicides in North belfast, from 2004.

It is no surprise that these are the areas most effected by poverty, desolation, homelessness, unemployment and sectarian violence.

Sprawling estates in west belfast are served by only 2 leisure centres and there are No leisure centres situated in the catholic communities in north belfast.

At a time when doctors are being adviced by the GMC to recommend exercise instead of prescribing anti-depressants.

The facts of our capitalist economy are that there are not enough well paid permanent jobs for everyone, especially with multinational coroporations relocating to exploit cheap labour in the third world.

So if you are condemned, through no fault of your own to a life of unemployment and tedious boredom, there is no escape/relief available to you through sport, martial arts etc.

You can go on mickey mouse training schemes, and endure the punishment and degradation of the New deal but at the end of the day, if you are homeless, working class and poor, you have no chance of securing a job interview.

As a result a certain section of our young people, mainly those in working class catholic communities in west and north belfast, will never be able to attain the materialistic ideals promoted by our increasingly competitive dog eat dog consumer society and will also be denied the opportunity to escape and relieve the monotany and boredom of everyday unemployment, through sport/martial arts.

Prison inmates have access to exercise facilities, yet our young people who've commited no crime and are having to serve life sentences in poverty on the outside are denied access to leisure facilities to relieve stress and depression of their imprisonment in poverty.

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Comments (2 of 2)

points

by Seán

Tue May 24, 2005 16:43

Of the 659 westminster constituencies, West Belfast has the fourth worst unemployment figueres,10.7% and the worst in the north. Its of course no suprise then that sucide rates are so high.In relation to these figures it will probably come as no surprise to you that WBelfast also has the highest church attendence(75%). Real solutions are needed now. The only thing thats seems to ever have been done is the Fn "prayer service for sucide victims".

What

by Nadia

Wed May 25, 2005 16:04

Of allegations that many of the sucides are of youths shot by IRA/INLA punishment squads suffering from PTS.

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Suicides in belfast

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