Men Connect Expansion Brings Free Counselling to Thousands More Irish Men at Risk
The Men Connect project, Ireland's dedicated free counselling initiative for men, has been expanded to reach thousands more people across the country, with new pilot programmes launching in Waterford, Sligo, and Monaghan as part of a sustained effort to address the mental health crisis among Irish men aged 30 to 50 — the group most at risk of death by suicide.
Background
The Men Connect project was established in September 2025 following a €2 million funding package announced by the Department of Health, designed to deliver more than 15,000 free counselling sessions annually to men who might otherwise not seek help. The initiative was born out of a recognition that traditional mental health services, while valuable, were not reaching a significant cohort of Irish men who faced barriers — cultural, practical, and financial — to accessing support.
The statistics that underpinned the programme's creation were stark. Approximately 80% of deaths by suicide in Ireland are among men, a figure that has remained stubbornly consistent despite decades of public awareness campaigns. Research consistently shows that men are less likely than women to seek professional help for mental health difficulties, and that when they do seek help, they often do so at a point of acute crisis rather than at an earlier, more manageable stage.
The Men Connect model was designed to address this by meeting men where they are — in community settings, through GP referrals, and via a free telephone service — rather than requiring them to navigate the formal mental health system. The approach drew on international evidence about what works in engaging men with mental health support, and was developed in consultation with community organisations that had direct experience of working with the target demographic.
Key Developments
Minister of State for Mental Health Mary Butler announced the expansion of the programme, confirming that new pilot sites in Waterford, Sligo, and Monaghan would each receive €40,000 for the remainder of 2026 and €80,000 in a full year. The pilots will be delivered in partnership with local family resource centres, which were chosen for their established community presence and their ability to provide accessible, non-stigmatising environments for men to seek support.
By August 2026, more than 5,200 men had accessed the Men Connect service since its launch, with over 13,000 sessions delivered through the HSE's Counselling in Primary Care service and the mental health organisation MyMind. The Connect Counselling telephone service, which operates on a free, confidential, and anonymous basis at 1800 577 577, has been extended to a seven-day-a-week operation to meet demand.
The expansion also includes a new partnership with Community Therapy Ireland to deliver an additional 9,000 free counselling sessions, targeting young people and other groups alongside the core Men Connect demographic.
Why It Matters
The Men Connect expansion represents a meaningful shift in how the Irish state approaches men's mental health — moving from awareness campaigns towards direct service provision. The distinction matters enormously. Awareness campaigns can change attitudes over time, but they do not put a counsellor in front of a man who is struggling on a Tuesday afternoon in Sligo. The Men Connect model does.
The choice of Waterford, Sligo, and Monaghan as pilot locations is also significant. These are not the major urban centres where mental health services tend to be most concentrated, but communities where the gap between need and provision has historically been widest. Rural and small-town Ireland has been disproportionately affected by male suicide, and the decision to prioritise these areas reflects a genuine understanding of where the intervention is most needed.
Unlike some mental health initiatives that have struggled to reach the men most at risk, Men Connect has demonstrated measurable uptake in its first year. The figure of 5,200 men accessing the service is not a projection or a target — it is a count of real people who sought and received help. That is the most compelling argument for the programme's expansion.
Local Impact
In Waterford, the new Men Connect pilot will be delivered through St Brigid's Family and Community Centre, which has an established track record of community engagement in the city. The centre serves a broad catchment area that includes some of Waterford's most economically disadvantaged communities, where the barriers to accessing mental health support are often greatest. In Sligo and Monaghan, similar community-based organisations will provide the infrastructure for the pilot, with local GPs playing a key role in identifying and referring men who might benefit from the service.
For the families of men who have struggled with mental health difficulties, the expansion of Men Connect represents something more than a policy announcement. It represents the possibility that a father, a brother, or a son might find it slightly easier to ask for help — and that when they do, there will be someone there to answer.
What's Next
The three new pilot sites will be evaluated over the course of 2026 and into 2027, with the findings expected to inform a decision on whether to extend the Men Connect model to additional locations across the country. Minister Butler has indicated that the government's ambition is to make free counselling for men available in every county, though the timeline for achieving that goal will depend on the outcome of the pilots and the availability of funding in future budgets. A full review of the programme is scheduled for early 2027.
