Childline: 300 children threatened suicide on helpline in 2014

Up to 300 Irish children called Childline threatening suicide last year, according to the ISPCC which runs the service.

Childline: 300 children threatened suicide on helpline in 2014

Up to 300 Irish children called Childline threatening suicide last year, according to the ISPCC which runs the service.

More than a thousand children contacted Childline in relation to suicide issues in 2014.

Almost a third of them had already acted on, or made plans to take their own lives, in advance of making the call.

The ISPCC says it is extremely concerned about the level of risk that some children are under when they call the service.

Last year, the ISPCC feared it might have to cut Childline’s overnight service, due to a lack of funding, but managed to raise funds through an emergency campaign.

The ISPCC is putting plans in place to further fund Childline into the future.

"They maybe are thinking very strongly about suicide and they have maybe the tools to do that and they're talking about that, and they are very high risk," said Margie Roe, national Childline manager.

"And at times we've had young people that have made attempts to end their lives...in that case they're very scared and they want help.

"So we contact the emergency services and make sure that help gets to them.

"And we've had cases where children were brought into A&E and thankfully were OK."

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