We tend to stick to our own little world here on this site, far from the serious and important issues of the world around us. We just do what we do. A form of escapism for ourselves and our readers, and we don’t pretend to be anything more than tongue in cheek light entertainment.
Also, most of the important and serious issues of the world usually require the skills, experience and compassion that we wouldn’t be known for. Not that we go out of our way to make light of any such situations, but our readers don’t come to us for current affairs. Instead you all go to the places where you would expect to be given the full truth, the whole story and correct information without bias or prejudice.
In the last day or so it has come to light that one somewhat respected publication, The Irish Times, has done the opposite and behaved in a manner that might be argued is better fitted to a bunch of “our sort” and not a serious, experienced and supposedly ethical (let’s not forget professional) publication.
I am of course talking about Kate Fitzgerald and how what has turned out to be her final article was edited, cheapened in attempts to sweep certain points under the carpet.
Her passing is tragic and her treatment at the hands of involved parties is inexcusable, but it may have served to bring some well deserved attention to the disease that is depression and the devastating effects it can have on the sufferer and those close to them. It should also bring attention to the fact that the editors of The Irish Times are not to be trusted whatsoever, but time will tell just what happens from the fallout of all of this.
Suicide is the only way out for so many people suffering with long term depression and a lot of the time the victims are just piled into a filing cabinet of statistics. Rarely is a moment spared for the people left behind, unless you’re a person left behind.
So today we’d like to put our usual schtick on hold for while and I’ll hand you over to Paddy who had the pleasure of meeting Kate a few times and has also been one of the people “left behind” by a suicide victim.
Your thoughts and comments are always welcome at the end.
Thanks – Maxi
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I’ve not published a serious article here at Boob.ie until now, but in the light of the recent tragic suicide of professional footballer Gary Speed, coupled with the appalling treatment of what sadly became Kate Fitzgerald’s last article, I feel that it is only right that I talk openly and honestly about my experiences with suicide.
I had met Kate Fitzgerald on a couple of occasions but I did in no way know her.
For those of you who don’t know about Kate Fitzgerald, she was a pretty 25 year old writer and PR consultant who took her own life back in August.
Kate had suffered with depression for a long time and had previously attempted to take her own life. She wrote a beautifully worded and poignant letter to the Irish Times under a pseudonym to detail the everyday struggle she had with her illness and to ask for people to better understand the scourge of the illness. It also outlined the fact after being hospitalised after a failed suicide attempt, she returned to work and was met with hostility and a complete lack of understanding of her situation. She committed suicide before it was published.
This brave letter was featured in an article in the Irish Times which was headlined “She radiated talent, energy, beauty. She took her own life at the age of 25” and revealed that Kate was the anonymous author that posted the letter. This article was subsequently edited (without any explanation or notice) to remove the paragraphs in which her treatment at the hands of her employer was mentioned. Essentially, they had amended the context and meaning of Kate’s final message without mentioning that changes had been made.
She had placed an enormous amount of trust in The Irish Times by sending that letter and by altering her words, they let her down in the most vulgar way possible.
Broadsheet.ie had published the article in full and had also included a piece which spoke about a previous Employee Appeals tribunal hearing against her company, The Communications Clinic, in which allegations of bullying and intimidation were made. Broadsheet.ie took down these articles after getting a warning from a journalist that “a libel landmine was going to blow up in their faces”. It has seemingly transpired that this warning was issued by the journalist after receiving instruction from The Communications Clinic.
In a rare show of integrity in the Irish media, Broadsheet.ie have reinstated these articles in full and must be applauded for doing so. It is a sad intictment on the media that they allow a Public Relations company to alter what is essentially the last words of a talented and intelligent woman just to suit their own agenda.
Fuck you Irish Times, you are a disgrace! But more importantly, well done Broadsheet.ie!
Depression and suicide are hugely taboo subjects. Everyone has their own opinion and are entitled to agree or disagree. I must admit that I used to be under the impression that suicide was a selfish and disgusting act and could not be excused in any way. That all changed last New Year’s Eve.
A couple of days previously I had been in my local pub having a few pints and having a laugh with my friends. As usual, one of my friends was there and was the main instigator in all of the slagging, the banter and the laughs. If there was a human embodiment of the “life and soul of the party”, it was Andy Morgan.
Andy had a great job, a great family who he adored, and a great positivity about him. On the outside at least.
I remember it as if it was yesterday when I got the phone call telling me that he was found hanged on New Years Eve. Feelings of anger, hurt and confusion raced around my brain all at the same time, frantically trying to make sense of the news of his suicide. How the fuck could he be so selfish? How could he do that to his family? How could he do this to ME?
I don’t know what made Andy take his own life and I never will. But as time passed I began to understand that the only thing that I did know was that whatever was going on in his head, it must have been torture for him. Every day he must have been fighting his demons and all the while he never stopped bringing laughter and happiness to everyone around him.
We have all suffered depression in some form. The feeling that there is no way out, the feeling of isolation and the feeling that things won’t get better. Thankfully for most of us, this feeling is normally short-lived and fades as quick as it comes. For some however, this feeling is there from the moment they wake up to the moment they try to sleep.
It is my firm belief that depression is like a cancer. It grows inside you and eventually consumes everything about you. In much the same way that some people lose their fight to cancer, Andy lost his fight against depression. It was not selfish decision but an inevitable one. The fight can’t go on forever.
The people that are left behind are the ones that are suffering now. His girlfriend is without the love of her life, his kids are without their father and his friends are without, well, him. I have only been back to my local a few times since his passing. It will never be the same. No matter how full the pub is, in my heart there always is, and always will be, one bar stool that remains empty. But I take some comfort in the fact that Andy’s suffering is behind him. Whatever struggles he has are finally gone and he can now rest easy.
Andy’s partner Joanne was on the radio this week talking about her loss and about a football tournament that has been organised to remember Andy and to raise money for suicide prevention . Her words are so much more powerful than mine. Please give it a listen HERE You can find all the details about the tournament HERE.
If you can, please support this charity and if you can, try to understand this affliction.
It may seem alien to most people that someone could reach a point in their life where they want to end it all. But the feeling of helplessness is very real in the mind of the victim. As in Andy’s case, nobody would have ever suspected there was any inner turmoil because Andy never told us. We need to let people know that help is there for them if they need it. Suicide CAN be prevented. We just need to be more aware of the dangers of depression and ensure that we are always understanding to those close to us.
Help is there for people and suicide CAN be prevented. We just need to be more aware of the dangers of depression and ensure that we are always understanding to those close to us.
If only one person reads this and seeks help for their illness, then the deaths of Andy and Kate will not be for nothing.
Andy and Kate are gone, but will never be forgotten.
