By Molly O’Reilly  

November is Men’s Health month which focuses on mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.  

The purpose of this is to try and get men talking about their health. One of the initiatives for men’s mental health in November that has become a household name is “Movember”. This involves men growing moustaches to raise money for suicide prevention. 

Despite the multiple efforts made to combat suicide it is unfortunately not uncommon in Ireland in men especially in the farming community. 

In September 2023 the HSE released a report called “Dying to Farm: Developing a Suicide Prevention Intervention for Farmers in Ireland” 

According to the report, over 20% of the farmers that were surveyed were considered at risk of suicide. 

The report also said 55.5% of farmers reported experiencing moderate to extremely severe depression, 44.1% of farmers reported experiencing moderate to extremely severe anxiety, and 37.9% of farmers reported experiencing moderate to extremely severe stress. 

In addition to this there was multiple recommendations in the report to help combat mental health issues within the farming community in Ireland. 

However, a year on, and the issue of mental health and suicide is still increasingly prominent in the Irish farming world.  

However, Alice Doyle the now deputy president of the IFA and former Director of Mental Health Association, said information in these reports about mental health with farmers can often be inaccurate. 

“You must be careful with the information provided. t’s an indicator (the statistics) but we should only see it as an indicator not as a definitive piece of information,” said Doyle. 

Luke O’Reilly, a 61-year-old farmer from County Cavan who has lost extended family members to suicide, spoke about the importance of better mental health infrastructure for farmers. 

“It can be very lonely in dark cold evenings in the winter, a lot of the time you are on your own with just your thoughts, which can be difficult for some. It’s important to speak up and get help,” he said. 

O’Reilly recalled the era before the online streaming of marts, when you could go to the mart and get someone to check your blood pressure.  

“It was great for socialising and for checking on older farmers that lived on their own and wouldn’t go to get checked,” said O’Reilly 

The stigma surrounding mental health in Ireland can hinder people from asking for help. This can be seen in the agriculture industry as there tends to be a stereotype of farmers to fall into – to be strong, quiet and to simply get on with things.  

The fact that the issues in work within agriculture are harder to walk away from as it becomes a lifestyle as well as a job makes it easier for people in agriculture to unfortunately experience mental health issues. 

For instance, their hours are not structured and a problem arising can alter their career and income significantly.  

The agricultural voluntary youth group Macra na Feirme also sent an email to its members for the month of November with the title “Rural Youth- Mind Our Men”  

The purpose of the email is to reflect the importance of praising the work the men do within these communities and in the Macra group itself.  

There was also a suggestion to organise events such as speakers to further reflect the importance of opening such conversations for men’s mental health and physical health. 

“We encourage clubs and counties to consider the great role of many of the men in our organisation and we encourage you to celebrate their contributions during the month.” 

IFA Deputy President Alice Doyle is originally from Carlow and now works with her husband on their farm in Wexford. She spoke about how important it is to have these conversations; 

“They’re part of society (farmers) and they suffer from the same pressures that come from society as do and as anybody else. And then they have their own added pressures as well because of the sector that they belong to,” said Doyle. 

Doyle explained how the services are there, but it is a matter of applying the services to those who need them. 

“I had a girl who rang me to ask where she could find someone to speak to her dad, he is 70 years old and told her he felt a bit low,” she said. 

An unfortunate reality of farm life is accidental deaths which can lead to mental health problems for surviving members of the family. Organisations such as “Embrace Farm” offer support for families grieving from accidental deaths. 

“We think of the guy that’s driving the tractor but not necessarily the person who has been left behind,” said Doyle.  

An initiative that has taken place to check the mental and physical health of farmers was a survey that was issued across 20 marts over Ireland. 

Throughout the survey the farmers were asked questions about their well-being and then were followed up with support.  

Doyle explained that there are services and infrastructure for farmers in Ireland, but the issue now is to make them accessible and enticing for farmers. 

“Farmers like to talk to someone who understands their way of life is different to a nine to five job- they like to be able to talk to someone who understands farming.”