Young Unionist Chairman questions sincerity of Sinn Féin Youth Suicide Prevention Campaign
Young Unionist Chairman, Cllr. Mark Dunn, has queried the sincerity of Sinn Fein Youth’s current campaign for a suicide prevention strategy while concurrently glorifying the acts of the 1981 hunger strikers.
In a statement Cllr. Dunn said:
‘In February Sinn Fein Youth launched a campaign for the Government to effectively tackle the tragedies that are the current rates of suicide among young people in Northern Ireland. Given the worrying trends in recent years of suicides among young people, which involve a plethora of issues including poverty, alienation, bullying, paramilitarism and mental health, any campaign to address this situation would be broadly welcomed.’
But there appears to be an amount of confusion over Sinn Fein’s commitment and sincerity to the suicide prevention campaign. At the launch of the campaign, which was attended by Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein members sat at a table draped with a banner calling for a suicide prevention strategy. Although behind the young Sinn Fein members were pictures of what appears to be dead hunger strikers, who committed suicide twenty five years ago this year.
There seems to be a bit of Orwellian ‘double think’ behind the rationale of Sinn Fein Youth’s twin campaigns. On the one hand Sinn Fein have lent their voice to a campaign with broadly commendable objectives. On the other hand, Sinn Fein are glorifying men, who regardless of anyone’s political or historical view of the hunger strikes, committed suicide. Sinn Fein members have talked about young republicans being ‘constantly inspired by the sacrifice of these ten brave men’ and how it is an ‘encouraging sign to see them (young people) being so fascinated by the sacrifice of Bobby Sands and the hunger strikers’.
For Sinn Fein as a political party and its youth movement, to seek to influence young people in this way is quite disturbing. This commemoration looks back to the past and seems to elevate the hunger strikers to role models of sorts. It is rather erroneous for Sinn Fein Youth to pursue a campaign against suicide among young people while deifying suicide victims.”