Young Fine Gael prioritises mental health – Doyle

In welcoming the launch this week by Young Fine Gael (YFG) of two policy documents on mental health, Fine Gael TD for Wicklow/ East Carlow, Andrew Doyle, has commended the organisation for bringing this issue to the fore.

“Young Fine Gael’s new policies on mental health are relevant to everyone and will hopefully bring more awareness to the promotion of positive mental health.

“YFG’s new policies on mental health comprise a document for Government with 12 key recommendations on how we can improve mental health in Ireland, and an internal document containing a number of commitments to make the YFG organisation more mental health friendly.

“The statistics on suicide and self-harm sadly speak for themselves and the issue of positive mental health, while always relevant, is more important than ever. We must try and highlight this at every opportunity.

“YFG’s 12 key recommendations on mental health are being presented to Government to try to initiate legislative improvements in the area. They include; calling on the Press Council to develop guidelines for the media on the reporting of mental health and suicide, a counselling service available free of charge to students in schools, a specific compulsory curriculum on mental health to form part of the S.P.H.E. course at junior and senior levels, and dedicated curriculums on the issue of cyberbullying.

“In producing these policies, the members of YFG have shown a level of maturity and commitment to these very real issues. We need to highlight the importance of positive mental health to all age-groups, but YFG members can particularly empathise with young people and students. Appropriate education at a young age can help everyone who may struggle with their mental health in their school and later years.

“If put into practise, YFG’s recommendations would go a long way towards normalising the conversation around mental health in Ireland.”