Foyle MLA demands action on suicide prevention and mental health funding

SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan has said the Executive is failing people on suicide prevention and addressing the mental health crisis.

Speaking this week to mark World Suicide Prevention Day on Wednesday, September 10 2025, the MLA for Foyle commented: “In 2023, 221 people died by suicide, that’s an 8% increase on the previous year. And yet, this devastating loss has not sparked action from the Executive.

“Suicide prevention is notably absent from the Programme for Government. Strategies like Protect Life 2 and the Mental Health Strategy were launched with great promise, yet remain chronically underfunded and under-scrutinised. Even commitments as basic as funding safety improvements on the Foyle Bridge parapet has gone undelivered.

“Suicide rates are three times higher in our most deprived communities. In places like Derry and Strabane, where poverty, housing collapse and lack of opportunity weigh heavily, mental health services are either buckling or disappearing altogether.

“Over the summer months we’ve seen hatred and division bleeding through our society and into the next generation. It’s disheartening to see the same old wounds reopened, the same rhetoric driving people further apart. And while communities cry out for leadership, this Executive offers little more than paralysis.

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"These are entirely preventable deaths but tackling them requires urgency. The Executive must look beyond sticking plasters and commit to funding the Mental Health Strategy and the lifelines which are the organisations within our communities."