Research findings into Foyle Bridge tragedies will not be made public

The findings of a study into why the Foyle Bridge in Derry has become a focus for suicide attempts will not be made public.

A significant number of people have taken their own lives from the bridge in recent years.

In a bid to look at the tragic situation, the Public Health Agency provided funding of £5,000 to the University of Ulster to carry out research into the problem.

A spokesperson for the university said the research project has now been completed.

However, the spokesperson added that the findings of the research would not be made public because of the sensitivities around the subject.

Details of the project emerged after a local MLA asked the Minister for Health what was being done to address the problem of suicide in Derry.

SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey asked the Minister to outline all spend by his department on anti-suicide measures specific to the River Foyle in the last five years.

At the time of Mr Ramsey’s original question, the Health Minister was Jim Wells.

However, following a reshuffle at Stormont earlier this week, the man now in charge of the health department is the DUP’s Simon Hamilton.

In response to Mr Ramsey’s question, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said the Public Health Agency managed the department’s allocation of funding for suicide prevention services across Northern Ireland.

“In the last five years (2010-2015) the Agency has allocated £205,000 on direct initiatives to address the problem of suicide on the River Foyle.

“In addition a further £28,000 has been invested in an investigation into technical options to improve safety on the Foyle Bridge.”

The largest chunk of the funding was given to Foyle, Search & Rescue to help meet the charity’s core costs.

Foyle Search & Rescue was also allocated £9,820 to install a new radio system to help co-ordinate responses to suicidal individuals and/or intoxicated persons near the river or the bridge.

The charity was also given money to purchase of two jet skis to improve response times and access shallow waters for recovery and rescue.