Alliance Councillor Sorcha Eastwood brought a motion to the last meeting of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, (28 January), on providing suicide awareness training for Council staff.

Councillor Eastwood said: “We are all too aware of the need to improve our mental health and wellbeing. Too often, people are reluctant to talk about their mental health and that can lead to tragedy.

“My motion was to provide suicide awareness training to Lisburn and Castlereagh Council employees, so they could recognise if a colleague, friend, family member of visitor to a Council facility was showing signs of having mental health issues. This would have provided an opportunity for engagement with that person to check if they wanted to talk. An early conversation with someone in distress can save a life.

“This motion was not agreed, but deferred for discussion at committee and the council have agreed to come back with a list of what they are doing at the minute in terms of offering training on mental health and indeed other ways that the council and the community can work together on this.

“I look forward to working with the council and stakeholders right across our community on this incredibly important issue. It’s vital that elected representatives show leadership on this issue and that’s what my motion has done, this conversation will undoubtedly save lives”