Helpline number signage along Navan riverbanks

The phone numbers of the Samaritans and Pieta House will be erected on signs in Navan this week, as part of a suicide prevention initiative.

The initiative, which was first mooted at the height of the Covid pandemic, will see the erection of the signs at the Ramparts, at the riverbank on the Dublin Road and at the Meeting of the Waters in the centre of town. The signs have been produced by Navan Community Mental Health Forum, which was formed in a bid to prevent suicides in the Navan area.

The idea was the brainchild of Ciara McIntyre O’Shaughnessy and it came to her at the height of the pandemic when we could not travel further than 5km from our homes.

"I was walking along the Boyne and realised how isolated it was. We have all heard of tragic incidents in those areas over the years and it occurred to me that if there were signs with phone numbers people could contact, it might just stop someone , it might save some lives.

"I mentioned the idea to Ross Kelly and we set up the Navan Community Health Forum to try to achieve it."

With the help of a Meath Co Council grant three signs are now ready to be erected this week.

The signs have been approved by the Council and an engineer from the Council will be placing the signs in the chosen locations this week.

Ross Kelly, a Fine Gael candidate in the local elections later this year, explained that they missed the deadline for grant funding the first year, but have now been successful in getting a grant and have designed the signs, which read "life's worth talking about" and gives the numbers of the Samaritans and Pieta House.

They received a grant of €300 and donated the balance of €50 themselves.

"The signs will be welded into the ground. They are going in locations where people have lost their lives along the river Boyne. The council are erecting them for us and we hope that they will be in place by the end of this week."

Ross explains that it is a pilot scheme and they hope in the future to put up similar signs all along the Boyne and throughout the county.

"We feel that these signs might just make people think and call for help. We are hoping they will have an impact," he said.

Ross said the signs are just of the initiatives to be undertaken by the forum. "The aim is to promote mental health generally and we hope to hold a number of talks in the coming months promoting positive mental health," he said.

Ciara explained that they chose Pieta House and the Samaritans because of their helpline numbers. We hope that people will be prompted to ring them when they see the signs," she said.

"We are hoping to erect more of these signs and that maybe local businesses would make donations, so we can provide more.

"We will also be contacting GAA and other sports clubs and community centres with a view to holding positive mental health events, talking about work life balance and the importance of physical well being on mental health," she said.