Quotes of the Week

"I was shocked and annoyed when I heard about this," Cllr Keena said on Monday. "Stepping Out has been providing an excellent service, and the service users really benefit from being part of it."

Cllr Frankie Keena speaking about the closure of The Stepping Out programme in Athlone, from Adrian Cusack’s article on the closure.

“We’re taking it to a national level, because we’ve calculated there are 50,000 people buried at 18 institutions across the county,”

Quotes from Julia Clarke, speaking on a campaign to record the names of people who are buried on the grounds of St Loman’s Hospital in Mullingar.

“This is the result of years of government failure to properly fund and deliver mental health services in the community and in acute settings,”

Sinn Féin TD for Longford-Westmeath, Sorca Clarke calling on the government to reform emergency mental health services.