There is widespread delight this morning as the Pieta House Northwest Centre officially opens in Letterkenny.

The new Pieta House Northwest will be ready to help anyone from today onwards with a free and professional service provided to save lives. 

The centre provides services for people in suicidal distress or engaging in self-harm. It also provides support to families and those who have been bereaved by suicide.

Pieta House NW has opened a year ahead of schedule to an unprecedented amount of fundraising and support by the local community, led by the Action for Hope Committee.

The services will be provided from the base at Grand Central Building, Canal Road, Letterkenny, near the new Dunnes Stores. All services are provided free of charge by fully qualified staff on a professional and confidential one-to-one basis.

The new Letterkenny centre will include new manager Dominic Gallagher, three clinical support staff, a team of therapists and a suicide bereavement liaison officer, Marian McNulty.

Action for Hope have expressed their delight with the opening of the Northwest’s first centre.

Coordinator Danny Devlin said: “With this new service brings a renewed hope and a new avenue to help those of us that may find ourselves in a difficult situation.”

“With the opening of the service in Letterkenny, we encourage people who are experiencing suicidal ideation, people who have attempted suicide and people who are engaging in self-harm to use the service. This free service has been introduced with a view to reducing the unacceptable levels of suicide in the Northwest and with your support we believe this can be achieved.”

The fundraising facilitation group paid tribute to the kind-hearted community who held over 150 events to raise the money to ensure the centre would come to Donegal. The Darkness into Light movement in eight venues across Donegal was one such fundraiser which saw a record-breaking number of people walking 5K in aid of Pieta House and to raise awareness of suicide.

Darkness into Light, Letterkenny 2017

“Due to the overall support we received, we were also in a position to accelerate the opening of the service, bringing it forward by 12 months,” Danny said.

“The importance of all of the events was not just financial, but the opening the conversation on suicide and mental health issues, the community getting together, communicating and supporting each other, with a view to assisting those who find themselves in difficult situations through no fault of their own.”

Danny said that the new focus of the committee is to ensure the doors remain open so that the counselling and therapy services can be given to anyone who needs it in the years to come. Money raised through fundraising in the northwest will be directly lodged to support the northwest centre, he said. Those who wish to donate can find details on the Action for Hope Facebook page.

To contact Pieta House NW. Visit: Pieta House Northwest, 3rd Floor, Grand Central Building, Canal Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal P92EK7Y

Tel-074 91 26594

Pieta House National 24hr suicide helpline 1800 247247