O'Brien's bridge body

puddles59

Did anyone see the body being taken out of the water last night ? Do they not even mention these tragedies any more on the local news.?

snubbleste

It's not news anymore.

Doom

No one needs these tragedies on the front page, poor families etc.

puddles59

yes indeed thats so true may god help that poor family today.

empacher

What time was this at? Such a tragedy that has effected everyone at some stage. The number rises yet nothing's done about it

renegademaster

shhhhhh, everything is supposed to be fine and things are on the up, didn't you get the memo? Galway's a tourist town so needs to keep these type of headlines to a minimum

Mrs OBumble

Headlines about it are not a good idea - they simply put the idea in other people's minds. Some interesting reading here: http://www.samaritans.org/your-community/samaritans-work-ireland/media-guidelines-ireland

OP, if you were affected by what you saw yesterday and want to talk about it, give the Samaritans a call - details here: http://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/contact-us/calling-samaritans-roi Calls are free.

empacher wrote: »

The number rises yet nothing's done about it

Not true. Console continues to provide services. Pieta House has opened a service in Co Galway. Calls to the Samaritans are now free. Increasing numbers of GP practices have access to dedicated mental health screening services.


Personally, I'm still in favour of clear barriers on the river crossings and busiest edges - like they have in Waterford. But we've had that argument many times, and will never agree.

ErnieBert

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Personally, I'm still in favour of clear barriers on the river crossings and busiest edges - like they have in Waterford. But we've had that argument many times, and will never agree.

Not trying to disagree with you Mrs OB but I understood that those reinforced glass barriers in Waterford are to control flood waters.

snubbleste

All emergency services were at QB last night at approx 2115.
Someone was taken away on a stretcher.

ratracer

puddles59 wrote: »

Did anyone see the body being taken out of the water last night ? Do they not even mention these tragedies any more on the local news.?

It wasn't a body, it was a casualty. There is a big difference.

snubbleste

ratracer wrote: »

It wasn't a body, it was a casualty. There is a big difference.

Did I state otherwise?

Gremlinertia

snubbleste wrote: »

Did I state otherwise?

Ratracer quoted Puddles there though..

Whatever the story, it's sad is all i'll add.

ratracer

snubbleste wrote: »

Did I state otherwise?

Read first, reply after....

Zzippy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Personally, I'm still in favour of clear barriers on the river crossings and busiest edges - like they have in Waterford. But we've had that argument many times, and will never agree.

Should we have barriers along every river and sea cliff in the country? Do you think people only jump in off bridges or where there are lots of people? What next, cutting down every tree in the country so you can't throw a rope over a branch? No amount of physical infrastructure will stop someone if they want to end it, a glass barrier will only serve to make some people feel good that something is being done, while they go on ignoring the friend/colleague/relative that's feeling down and needs support...

Mrs OBumble

Zzippy wrote: »

Should we have barriers along every river and sea cliff in the country? ...

By the same logic, we should not bother putting median barriers on any roads - not even the high risk ones where lots of people have crossed to the wrong side at high speeds previously.

Physical infrastructure won't stop the truly determined. But having it at known high-risk sites it does provide a deterrent to the ones wavering on the edge, the spontaneous, eg the taxi-driver a while ago, for which the coroner's report was delivered this week - and those who simply go off Spanish Arch because they've been on a bender and fall (yes, I can name one of those, too - not going in a public forum).

ChunkyLover54

renegademaster wrote: »

shhhhhh, everything is supposed to be fine and things are on the up, didn't you get the memo? Galway's a tourist town so needs to keep these type of headlines to a minimum

There's an argument that suggests that it is better if suicides are not reported in the press so as not to encourage copycat suicides.

For example I know that in several European cities the press doesn't report on the number of people who kill themselves by standing in front of commuter trains or subway trains (this is a regular occurrance in larger cities apparently).

p.s. I must emphasise that I don't know if the case in question was a suicide, I'm just making a point.

Zzippy

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

By the same logic, we should not bother putting median barriers on any roads - not even the high risk ones where lots of people have crossed to the wrong side at high speeds previously.

Physical infrastructure won't stop the truly determined. But having it at known high-risk sites it does provide a deterrent to the ones wavering on the edge, the spontaneous, eg the taxi-driver a while ago, for which the coroner's report was delivered this week - and those who simply go off Spanish Arch because they've been on a bender and fall (yes, I can name one of those, too - not going in a public forum).

You're comparing infrastructure to prevent accidents on roads to infrastructure to prevent suicides. That's not logic. They are clearly different situations, people don't generally intend to have accidents, they do intend to commit suicide.

antoobrien

Zzippy wrote: »

You're comparing infrastructure to prevent accidents on roads to infrastructure to prevent suicides. That's not logic. They are clearly different situations, people don't generally intend to have accidents, they do intend to commit suicide.

Suicide isn't the only reason for people entering the river, there have been several cases of people being drugged (e.g. drinks spiked) and being out of their minds when entering the water.

Zzippy wrote: »

No amount of physical infrastructure will stop someone if they want to end it

The board that controls the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco have authorised the installation of a net to cut the number of suicides after a study found that only 6% of people who were prevented from attempting suicide on the bridge subsequently died by suicide.

MadYaker

I wouldn't like to see barriers put up,the river has recreational uses as well. Kayakers from NUIG use it a lot and barriers would make access more difficult for them.

Zzippy

antoobrien wrote: »

Suicide isn't the only reason for people entering the river, there have been several cases of people being drugged (e.g. drinks spiked) and being out of their minds when entering the water.

Having searched for hours in panic for a very drunk friend who went missing one night a few years ago I get this, a stone wall along the Spanish Arch would certainly help this, but barriers on every bridge are unnecessary.

antoobrien wrote: »

The board that controls the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco have authorised the installation of a net to cut the number of suicides after a study found that only 6% of people who were prevented from attempting suicide on the bridge subsequently died by suicide.

From that link:

Further support for this concept came from a study of 515 individuals who were stopped from jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge by police or passers by. In a long term follow-up study, only 6% of these individuals were found to have died by suicide.

These people were stopped from jumping by other people - human intervention, which is a lot different from a bit of Plexiglas in your way. Is a glass barrier going to put an arm around you, talk to you, get a passerby to call for help while they keep talking to you?

There will never be a solution to suicides, but there is far more benefit to be had from educating people to look out for the signs, and from getting people to talk openly about it, end the taboo and look after our friends and neighbours, than from putting up a few barriers in a perceived hotspot and having people think that'll do the trick.


By the way, the very next paragraphs in your link were: (my emphasis)

As this lesson was implemented at a range of suicide hotspots around the world, it also became clear that some suicidal people have strong preferences about a particular place that they wish to end their lives. The installation of a suicide prevention fence at the Duke Ellington Bridge in D.C. for example, did not result in thwarted jumpers moving to the adjacent Taft Bridge to take their lives.

However, after research studies linked the installation of barriers to reductions in suicides at hotspots such as the Muenster Terrace in Berne, Switzerland and the Memorial Bridge in Augusta, Maine, a major study in Toronto raised doubt about their value. The study was conducted at the Bloor Street Viaduct, the second most lethal suicide hotspot in North America. After the installation of a barrier, suicides at the Viaduct dropped from about 9 per year to none, but jumping suicides at other bridges and buildings in Toronto went up by a comparable amount.

empacher

There's a plane hoovering around the May. Hope it's not another person I hate living down the docks. Hearing the extended whomp whomp of a helicopter generally means someone's gone in.

antoobrien

Zzippy wrote: »

By the way, the very next paragraphs in your link were: (my emphasis)

All that shows is that barriers on their own are not enough and that the difference with San Francisco's experience may well be the human element. Barriers, such as the ones on the Duke Ellington bridge, merely stop people from using a specific spot. Nets on the other hand will require human intervention, allowing the person to access help that would not happen in an unobstructed environment. It can't be coincidence that when people were "talked down" off the Golden Gate bridge that the end result was drastically different to the areas you pointed out that appear to have simple entry barriers.

Mrs OBumble

Zzippy wrote: »

There will never be a solution to suicides, but there is far more benefit to be had from educating people to look out for the signs, and from getting people to talk openly about it, end the taboo and look after our friends and neighbours, than from putting up a few barriers in a perceived hotspot and having people think that'll do the trick.

Oh, I'm not saying to not do any of those things (except one - see below).

But infrastructural things help too - and I gave a couple of very specific statements about that above: the taxi-driver running from the guards would almost certainly have been stopped by barriers.


> getting people to talk openly about it ...

I disagree strongly with this.

For people who don't have self-harm tendancies, talking about the ultimate self-harm action just makes it seem more normal.

And for people who do, it's just victim-blaming.. What we need to do is get people to talk about their own problems - and get other people to listen.

There's a tip that gets passed around immigrants, which I think is very relevant here: when you're asking advice from Irish people, don't say "I have a problem with ... " because they usually try to immediately fix the problem for you (which is generally what you don't want). Instead, try "what would you do if you had ..." - that's more likely to get them to give you advice which you can use to fix your own problems.