Seeing lots of "proud to be Irish" tweets after last nights #LateLate. Proud? Of the state relying on ppl to dip into their pockets to donate nearly €2m to fund essential health services our taxes should be paying for? And we think that's fine? I'm not proud, I'm embarrassed.

That's not taking away from the kindness or generosity of people - that is indeed something to be proud of and should be cherished. But we really need to start setting our sights a bit higher than this.

I have donated to Pieta in the past; I will do so in future because people I love have used their services. I could have done with a service like theirs years ago. But this acceptance of ours on the reliance on fundraising for badly needed services like this has to stop.

The govt has, I believe, tried to look after people during Covid; but kites are flying about austerity and we all know who suffered most under austerity last time, and who prospered as a result. If you genuinely care about mental health, demand better from your representatives.

I didn't expect this reaction... Thanks for replies & engagement. Need to park it now for a wee while. Maybe we can speak to our politicians about this, because we can do better. Difficult days lie ahead; people will need support. That should be a right, not reliant on charity

One last thing: I do sit on the board of a small charity that relies on fundraising (and is struggling to be heard rn). I'm still allowed to think we can & should do better at a national policy level than band-aiding essential services rather than insisting the state steps up