Editorial Commentary

The following is information I received from a colleague Mr. Patrick McGreevy of Northern Ireland, who might be considered a modern-day ‘Marco Polo’. He journeys to faraway places and imports practice modalities to create suicide safer communities in his part of the United Kingdom. A trained clinical nurse and two-time recipient of the Florence Nightingale Foundation travel scholarship, Pat has traveled the globe to secure the most relevant models of suicide prevention, intervention and postvention for his country. Following such a voyage he then applies what he learned, using models with cultural sensitivity to the communities with which he works. Being a suicide prevention expert requires that he venture outward securing models and ideas to facilitate downward trends in suicide for his country. His ability to take theoretical and applied research and convert it into a model that is culturally sensitive and relevant in his own sphere of influence is invaluable. The following summary of his trip focuses so clearly what T. S. Eliot meant by “know the place for the first time” and simultaneously captures the key message I wish to convey in this commentary.