Darkness into Light walk cancelled in Waterford City

Darkness into Light has been cancelled in Waterford City. The decision was made unanimously by the organising committee and comes in the wake of Pieta closing down their Waterford branch. 

The suicide-prevention charity stated that their services would be moving to 'co-location' as part of cost-cutting measures. 

While they have confirmed that their counsellors will be moving to the new location, the front-of-house and administrative staff will lose their jobs. 

Committee member and local councillor Jim Griffin spoke to the Waterford News & Star about the reasoning for the cancellation, and stressed how the committee and Pieta are two different entities. 

"We're acutely aware of the issues, there's an amount of people that contact other committee members because they associate us with Pieta."

The loss of public-facing staffers is of great concern to the committee. 

"Suicide is still a bad word in Ireland," said Cllr Griffin. "We don't talk about mental health in this country." 

The committee organised the walks on the proviso that they were raising funds for the South-East base in Waterford. Cllr Griffin said: "We would have understood that funding was solely to provide for a house in Waterford."

At its height, up to 76,000 people attended the Waterford City Darkness into Light walk. Over the last few years the numbers have dropped to around 30,000 attendees, with similar walks taking place in Dungarvan and the Anne Valley at Dunhill. 

Organising the event was a huge undertaking, with wide-scale cooperation with local authorities and Gardaí.

However, with the recent closure of the Waterford premises and the loss of administration jobs, the committee have decided against organising the event. 

Cllr Griffin said: "We never thought they would take it away." 

The CEO of Pieta is expected to meet with the committee later this week.

Chairperson of the committee Des Purcell said in a recent interview with WLR: "They can't justify taking money from the people of Waterford when the house is closing, that's the bottom line."

Pieta were reached for comment and sent the following statement: "We want to be clear that Pieta is continuing to support people in Waterford. Over the coming months, our intention is to move to a co-located services model locally. People in Waterford will continue to be able to access our suicide and self-harm prevention and bereavement services in person, as well as by phone and video. People will continue to be seen in person in a private, appropriate setting.

"We are very grateful for the support shown by the Waterford community over many years, particularly through Darkness Into Light. While the organised walk may not take place locally this year, people can still take part by joining another walk nearby or marking the sunrise in their own way."