Una NicEoin, the Executive Producer of Prime Cut Productions, writes for Culture about a timely double bill of works the company are touring nationwide this February.
Prime Cut Productions are delighted to present Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful by John Patrick Higgins and East Belfast Boy by Fintan Brady in an island of Ireland tour. First produced as part of Edgefest at the MAC in early 2018 in collaboration with Tinderbox and the MAC, these plays were, we felt, both timely and necessary.
The double bill was developed in the context of the reality of living in contemporary Belfast. Although not a specifically Belfast issue, male mental health is increasingly a cause for concern here, with suicide rates on the rise and a similar story can be told across the island of Ireland. There is no doubt that in the case of Belfast the reality of living in a post conflict landscape has impacted this in a very real way, but just as much economic deprivation, lack of access to education, increasing levels of poverty and a sharp decline in employment opportunities all have their part to play. This is mirrored by the experience of men in Dublin, Cork, Limerick – and if you add isolation to the mix it becomes a rural issue too. Therefore although these are stories that are made in Belfast, they are stories that will resonate across the island of Ireland and we feel, should be as widely heard as possible.
Our aim is to address this issue in a public platform, drawing attention to the personal stories of those who have been impacted by mental health issues and depression. Our characters Malachy and Davy are sympathetic, likeable, relatable. In short, they are very normal protagonists with whom many will identify. The all too human face of what can far too quickly just read as statistics.
And there are statistics:
St Patrick’s Mental Health Website states ‘ Suicide is the leading cause of death in men aged 15-34 years in Ireland, surpassing the number of deaths from road traffic accidents. Rates of youth suicides in Ireland are now the 4th highest in Europe’.
Our aim is to address this issue in a public platform, drawing attention to the personal stories of those who have been impacted by mental health issues and depression.
In December 2017 the Belfast Telegraph reported that:
'Last year 297 people here took their own lives, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics. The 5,965 suicides registered in 2016 in the UK comprised 4,508 men and 1,457 women. In Northern Ireland a total of 221 men and 76 women committed suicide in 2016 - the youngest was a male aged under 15. Proportionately, our total was the highest in the UK. Men in North Belfast, aged between 30 to 34, are most at risk with the area the worst affected since 2013, separate figures show.'
In October 2016, the Journal.ie reported that:
'Figures released by a suicide prevention organisation have shown that men are almost five times more likely to die by suicide in Ireland compared to women. The National Suicide Research Foundation’s Annual Report shows that overall, 375 males and 76 females had died by suicide in 2015. Rates of male suicide stayed much higher than female rates across all age brackets – the group with the highest rate of suicide were males aged 25-34 and 45-54.'
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. It is not a new phenomenon, it has been happening, quietly, tragically and terrifyingly for years. It is an island wide issue and it has a variety of reasons. It happens in the cities and in the countryside. It happens to older men and younger men. It happens to fathers and brothers and sons and husbands. And we don't talk about it. They don’t talk about it. Nobody does.
It’s time to start talking.
Prime Cut's double bill of East Belfast Boy and Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful tours venues nationwide this February - find out more here.
