One of the country's best-known GAA players, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, yesterday spoke of his personal experience of suicide at the launch of a new campaign aimed at encouraging students at University College Dublin to seek help when they need it.
Addressing students at the launch of "Please Talk", the Cork hurler recalled being told the news of the death by suicide of a former teammate. He said the biggest regret he had was not asking him how he was feeling during training.
"That is probably one of the biggest regrets I ever had, if that teammate had said something, something could have been done about it," he said.
He said he followed a simple philosophy in life - to realise the achievement of making it out of his front door every morning - and added that seeking help was a sign of strength rather than weakness.
"There are things you can't change in life but what you can change, and I think this is important, is your attitude to life," Ó hAilpín said. "People think that because I seem to be doing good things that everything is all hunky-dory. It is not, I have my own ups and downs."
The student-backed €25,000 "Please talk" initiative features a new website, pleasetalk.ie and a poster campaign. It follows the death by suicide of several UCD students in recent months.
Dr Martin Butler, vice-president for students at UCD, told The Irish Times that suicide was "one of those horrendous silent killers".
He said that UCD was preparing a new strategic document on mental health policy at the college.
"We have in college state-of-the-art counselling services," he said. "I think students know they're there, but it's about encouraging them to talk to one another as well."