Downturn 'leads to surge in bullying'

THE ECONOMIC downturn has led to a surge in bullying in the home that affects at least one in six households, according to a mental health expert.

Shortage of money and fear of unemployment is causing  tension in many families, leading to increased levels of bullying,  Dr Tony Byrne, a Holy Ghost father and co-founder of the Awareness Education Office, said yesterday.

“Unfortunately there is a culture of silence  around bullying in the home, a secrecy and the reality  is that once the front door is closed, no one knows what goes on behind it,” said Dr Byrne. He  was addressing a seminar on bullying hosted by Mental Health Ireland in Roscommon last night.

Sr Kathleen Maguire  told the gathering that while the home should be a sacred place where people felt safe, too often it was “a battlefield of human destruction where people’s lives are torn apart”. She said the saddest victims were young children, or dependent elderly parents or relatives who feel helpless when brutalised by bullies, because in most cases they have no choice as to where to live.

Governor of Mountjoy Prison John Lonergan said one of the biggest impediments to countering workplace bullying was the attitude so prevalent in Irish culture that it was best to “stay out of it”.