LIMERICK people are penning suicidal letters at a rate of three a week after being driven to despair by debt, it has been revealed. And a Limerick advocate who provides free advice for people with financial problems is pleading with people to seek advice rather than take drastic action. One lone parent who wrote to the Life After Debt organisation, said she has already tried to commit suicide because she has no way of paying her mortgage, making ends meet and sometimes cannot even put food on the table for herself and her child.
“We have no heat in the house, no food in the fridge and I cannot buy new shoes for my little girl. My electricity is about to be cut off again. “The money I get as a lone parent only lasts a couple of days as I’m always trying to pay bills that are in arrears and I never make any headway. I can’t cope anymore,” one Limerick city woman wrote in a letter to Seamus Sherlock, founder of the Life after Debt organisation in the city.
Mr Sherlock did not reveal the identity of the writer or share the entirety of the letter with the Limerick Post, but said he wants to highlight the extent of the problem and encourage people to get help with sorting out their finances.
“I get at least three letter like that every week and then there are the calls that come in at 3am from people who just can’t take any more”.
Mr Sherlock said that when he contacted the woman, he was able to talk her though her options and help her.
“Misinformation was a big problem for her, She thought the bank could just put her out on the street without any court process and a lot of people think that. Sometimes the problems are not nearly as big as individuals might think, but debt and demands are pushing people over the brink”.
Mr Sherlock said that he wants people to know “They may not have the correct information and they can negotiate with the lenders and the people they owe money to. I do that for people or they can go to the
Money and Budgeting Advice Service (MABS). It’s terrible to think that people may do something so final when it’s about money and it can be sorted often with a better outcome than they think”.
