AN ORGANISATION viewed with deep suspicion by the Catholic Church before it was established here 40 years ago was last night praised by Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin.Dr Martin said the Samaritans, and its volunteers, were carrying out “tremendous” work across Ireland in helping people to deal with suicide and suicidal thoughts.
“It’s an organisation that by its very nature can’t talk about its work but it has made a major contribution to the way Irish society looks on suicide through its quiet way of addressing the problem.”
Speaking to The Irish Times at a function to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Dublin Samaritans, Dr Martin said there was a serious problem of youth suicide here, which needed to be addressed.
Some 40 years earlier, Dr Martin’s predecessor, John Charles McQuaid, returned an invitation to attend a meeting called to set up a Samaritans branch in Ireland, and prevented a Dublin priest from attending.
Hundreds of Samaritans volunteers and supporters attended the event in Dublin City Hall last night, during which the organisation was praised for its selfless work.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Emer Costello said Samaritans played an “incredibly important” role in helping generations of Dubliners.
The chair of the Dublin Samaritans branch Bernie Bissett said the organisation had grown from a small room on Kildare Street into an organisation with a nationwide network of 2,100 volunteers.
Fintan O’Toole, guest speaker at the event, praised Samaritans volunteers for carrying out work which carried no direct reward.
“It is one of the purest forms of human altruism,” he said.
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