Console gets award in London for work with ‘forgotten Irish’

Irish suicide prevention charity Console has received an award in the House of Commons in London for its work with the so-called “forgotten Irish” in the UK.

The charity's founder and chief executive Paul Kelly was presented with the Labour Party Irish Society community award at a ceremony attended by MPs and members of the House of Lords.

Console opened its first office in central London in November 2012, providing free counselling for people at risk of suicide, and support for the bereaved.

Mr Kelly said the charity receives a lot of referrals from people in Ireland who are concerned about family members living in the UK.

“They are seeking counselling and support for relatives and friends who may have left Ireland years ago and are now feeling lost, lonely, alone and disconnected,” he said.

“Some of these people are what is known as the forgotten Irish and many of them are living in poor circumstances and fearful for the future.”

Console is involved in a suicide prevention steering group in the House of Commons, which is in the process of compiling a nationwide suicide prevention policy.

Mr Kelly said 6,000 people die by suicide in the UK each year, and middle-aged men are at highest risk.

Recently arrived migrants from Ireland are also affected by depression and suicidal thoughts, however. Of the 2,200 calls received by Console’s UK helpline in December, the majority were from young men aged 15 to 24. About 600 were at “immediate risk” of taking their own lives, the charity said.

Loneliness was the most common reason reported by helpline callers contemplating suicide.

More than 407,000 Irish-born people were living in Britain at the time of the 2011 census. Their median age is 61.7 years, the oldest of any ethnic group in Britain.

A report on the needs of the Irish diaspora by the Clinton Institute in University College Dublin last year found social isolation among older Irish people was a primary concern, with increasing numbers of pensioners living alone, and high levels of depression, alcoholism and other social problems.