Death Cafe in Derry bar this Friday

The event will be held in The Cellar Bar in Shipquay Street and Aine hopes that it will take the fear away from death and dying.

Aine said, “Myself and my co-host Bob have been hosting these Death Cafes online since August last year. People’s interest in death has been really rising over the past while with people talking about it more and more. So we wanted to blow open the conversation about death in a safe space but we also want it to be fun.

“We host it on a Friday night and you’ll get a free glass of prosecco as you come in. So you can have a drink or a tea and there’s a lot of laughter. What we’ve found, is there’s times where there’s real poignant moments and the next minute everyone’s laughing so hard. It’s a roller coaster of emotions! We’re trying to take the fear out of talking about death. This Friday night, we have lots of interactive things planned like displays and games. We have a death ‘Would You Rather?’ and famous last words; I didn’t know that Oscar Wilde’s last words were ‘either the wallpaper goes or I do.’

“The two words that we keep coming back to are ‘educate’ and ‘entertain.’ We want to make it very clear that this is not a bereavement counselling service. Bereavement sessions is a whole different thing. Myself and Bob aren’t counsellors, that’s not where we’re at so, if you’ve lost anyone in the past year or two and you’re feeling vulnerable or fragile, maybe this isn’t the space for you this time. I would encourage those people to come to the Zoom session and they can turn the camera off and get a feel for it in a safer space.

“Myself and Bob meet before the session and discuss how we’ll handle certain situations. There’s no agenda, but it’s not about people who want to talk about morbid death things or people hogging the conversation, everyone who wants to speak will get equal time to do that and it will be very lighthearted. That’s why we’re holding it in a bar, Even as I’m talking about the event with people, they think it’s not for them at first and then a few minutes into the conversation they’re asking to come along!

“It’s free of charge so people can go on the website or contact me on my Instagram @aine_mcdaid if they want to talk to me about it or enquire about booking a place.

“I’m really excited to open up the conversation and for people to know that they’re not the only ones afraid. You know with children, they think there’s monsters under the bed and when you show them that there isn’t, all the fear is gone? That’s what I want to do around death. When we talk about things, it takes the fear out of it. That’s what I’m hoping though this; we’re all going to die so let’s talk about it and support each other through it.”

The Death Cafe will be taking place this Friday, March 18 in the Cellar Bar on Shipquay Street from 7pm - 9pm. To book a place, visit www.deathcafe.ie/about