Carol Nolan urges greater focus on men's mental health
Carol Nolan spoke in the house about men's health, arguing it receives too little attention and urging more debate on mental health and suicide prevention. She cited CSO 2021 data showing crude suicide rates for 50-54 year olds were 29.5 per 100,000 for men and 9.2 for females and said this justifies bringing the issue to the chamber more often.
She said it is noticeable how little men's health is discussed in the house and described that omission as a form of gender imbalance. Nolan called for colleagues to work on bringing the issue to the fore more often in debate.
Nolan quoted Central Statistics Office figures for 2021, noting that both males and females aged 50 to 54 had the highest crude suicide rate per 100,000 but that the rate was 29.5 for men and 9.2 for females. She said those numbers are very concerning and underline the need to address mental health among men.
Speaking from recent constituency experience, Nolan referenced the Tullamore show where she met the ICSA and praised their work. She said the organisation's stand included a section on men's health and promoted the need for more supports for men in the farming community.
Nolan framed the remarks as a call to discuss ideas and solutions for men's mental health more frequently in the chamber. She emphasised the disproportionate suicide risk for men and the importance of targeted supports, particularly for farmers and other at-risk groups.
Discussion of men's health in the chamber
She said it is noticeable how little men's health is discussed in the house and described that omission as a form of gender imbalance. Nolan called for colleagues to work on bringing the issue to the fore more often in debate.
Suicide statistics cited
Nolan quoted Central Statistics Office figures for 2021, noting that both males and females aged 50 to 54 had the highest crude suicide rate per 100,000 but that the rate was 29.5 for men and 9.2 for females. She said those numbers are very concerning and underline the need to address mental health among men.
Farmers' mental health and ICSA
Speaking from recent constituency experience, Nolan referenced the Tullamore show where she met the ICSA and praised their work. She said the organisation's stand included a section on men's health and promoted the need for more supports for men in the farming community.
Call for solutions and more debate
Nolan framed the remarks as a call to discuss ideas and solutions for men's mental health more frequently in the chamber. She emphasised the disproportionate suicide risk for men and the importance of targeted supports, particularly for farmers and other at-risk groups.
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Transcript
I'm delighted to have this opportunity to speak on such an important issue here today. It's certainly welcome that we're discussing the issue and I do find it quite odd and it is noticeable that how little we discuss men's health in this house and maybe that's something that we all need to work on and make sure that we do bring the issue to the fore more so in this chamber. This is, as I say, it's an issue that needs attention and it's certainly one form I feel of gender imbalance that we need to address the fact that it's discussed so little in this house as I previously said. Indeed there does seem to be a preference unfortunately to demonise men and boys in our society and we know that men are vastly and disproportionately more likely to commit suicide. Indeed the CSO has pointed out that in the most recent available data on this that in 2021 both males and females aged 50 to 54 years had the highest crude suicide rate per 100,000 yet this rate was 29.5 for men and 9.2 for females so that's very very concerning and I think that that justifies the need to bring issues such as mental health and particularly the impact that mental health can have in regard to men to this chamber more often and discuss ideas and solutions. I also want to talk about farmers mental health and the reason I bring this up is that at the Tullamore show recently I spoke with the ICSA they're a fantastic farming organisation and I want to commend them for their work because anytime I visit their stand they have a section on men's health and mental health in particular and they're constantly promoting the need for more supports particularly for for men engaged in the farming community that need supports. Is my time up last concert? Okay