Ahern under fire over 'appalling' remark on suicide
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, is coming under fire today for a remark about suicide that he made in a speech to the ICTU conference in Co Donegal.
Mr Ahern told delegates that he could not understand why people making gloomy predictions about the economy didn't commit suicide.
He later apologised when confronted by the media, but the comment has been slammed by opposition parties and support groups working in the area of suicide.
A Labour Party spokesperson said the Taoiseach's words were insensitive and inappropriate.
Fine Gael TD Dan Neville, a leading suicide campaigner, said Mr Ahern had shown a lack of understanding of the issue of suicide by using it to make a political point in such a careless fashion.
The chairman of the suicide bereavement group Console, meanwhile, said Mr Ahern's remarks were "appalling by any standards".
"I can't understand why he should draw an analogy between what he's talking about and suicide," Andrew Garvey said.
"They just don't fit together. It shows a complete lack of understanding of why people die from suicide and why people consider deliberate self-harm."
