Court hears that 10-year-old boy is having 'suicidal thoughts'

In the court, solicitor for the boy’s father said there is concern that the child was having suicidal thoughts.

The solicitor made his comment during an application on behalf of the boy’s father to vary access.

In response, Judge Patrick Durcan said what the solicitor had said was very serious and adjourned the case to January 4th to allow him make his application to vary access in writing to the boy’s mother as she had no advance notice of the application.

The boy’s parents are estranged and Judge Durcan said that no one is prejudiced by the adjournment in the case as the psychologist working with the boy would not be able to do any work between now and then due to the Christmas holidays.

The admission concerning the boy having suicidal thoughts comes against the background of growing calls for health services here to have in place improved mental health services for children at risk.

On Thursday, the parents of 11-year-old girl Milly Tuomey, who took her own life, presented a petition to the Department of Health calling for the creation of an independent suicide authority.

Milly Tuomey died on January 4th, 2016, weeks after posting a message on Instagram saying she was unhappy with her appearance and wanted to die.

Parents, Fiona and Tim Tuomey, delivered the petition, which contains more than 30,000 signatories, alongside Noel Smyth, chairman of 3ts, a charity working to prevent deaths by suicide.

Mr Smyth said they would like to see an independent authority, similar to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

In an open letter to the Minister for Health Simon Harris, Mr Smyth said the inner workings of the HSE and various health committees “remain a mystery with little accountability offered and even less progress made to address the quagmire of inadequate suicide prevention services”.