NYT: 'I Wanted to Die:' Northern Ireland Confronts a Suicide Crisis

[Mike 03]

1. A little more

The Libyan dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi supplied Semtex to the Irish Republican Army paramilitary group during the conflict, and victims of the bombings have long campaigned for the British government to release more than $12 billion in frozen Libyan assets — currently being held in Britain — to compensate the victims.

Mr. Holbeach says that beyond obtaining justice, he could use the money for private medical care after he was left injured by the bomb. About 5 percent of Northern Ireland’s health budget is spent on mental health, half of the 13 percent allocated in England.

Last month, Northern Ireland’s Department of Health published a suicide prevention plan that aims to reduce the number of suicides 10 percent over the next five years, but experts worry that there is not enough funding to fully implement the strategy.

If the British government would only release that $12 billion, or even a part of it, seems it would help enormously. What is holding this up??