Ground-breaking research by the Cork-based National Suicide Research Foundation into deaths during the recession has found that the “extreme measures” by the Government during the recession contributed to the rise in suicides among vulnerable people.

Irish research influenced key recommendations in the World Health Organisation’s first global report calling for more suicide prevention strategies.

It is a harsh reality that over time, once the names of tragic twins Thomas and Paddy O’Driscoll disappear from the headlines, they will forever remain in statistics as some of the country’s youngest victims of murder-suicide.

Many lives will be lost unnecessarily to suicide and many others will self-harm due to the Government’s slow reaction to addressing the problem of alcohol abuse in Ireland, a leading suicide expert has warned.

More than half of the Irish population drinks in a high-risk manner, according to Alcohol Action Ireland.

A minister has backed a potential in-depth study into suicide among clerical sex abuse survivors — and the likely impact on future generations.

In a ground-breaking bid to establish a definite link between suicide rates and the recession, Cork-based researchers are to interview survivors of a potentially lethal act of self-harm.

The country’s foremost expert on suicide has warned that the family, friends, schoolmates, and wider Donegal community will be seriously impacted upon by the death of Erin Gallagher’s sister by suicide.

A senior Fine Gael TD has urged politicians to be careful about how they debate issues relating to the budget in order to avoid raising fears unnecessarily.

Over two thirds of people who took their own lives in the past three years knew a family member or friend who had taken their own life or tried to.

Access to certain locations where suicides have taken place may be limited under proposals being formulated by the National Suicide Research Foundation and other interested groups.

Two studies into suicide and self-harm have raised issues about the enforcement of laws on the sale of paracetamol and of patients “escaping” between ambulances and emergency departments.

Suicide levels among young people in contact with the State’s child protection services are almost 10 times the rate of those who are not.

A staggering rise in the number of Irish men taking their own lives is clearly linked to the recession, according to a leading expert on mental health.

More than 80% of people who died by suicide had been in contact with a GP or mental health service in the year prior to their death, a study has found.

TWO-thirds of people who died by suicide in Cork City and county over a 30-month period had shown signs of problem drinking, a study has shown.

ONE in six boys aged 10 to 14 had been drinking alcohol when they self-harmed, figures reveal.

ALMOST 7,000 “hugely traumatised” adults and 581 children who have been bereaved by one or more suicides attended specialist counselling services in the first six months of this year.

AN organisation working to prevent suicide and self harm is concerned at the increasing number of children who see suicide as a viable option during the economic downturn.

IN the first health initiative of its kind in this country, Limerick taxi drivers are to get expert advice on how to deal with people seeking to be ferried to known suicide black spots.

THE alarming rise in suicide, particularly among young men who have lost their jobs, warrants an emergency government response, a conference on suicide prevention was told yesterday.

ALMOST 650 healthcare professionals and community workers have taken part in educational programmes organised by the National Suicide Research Foundation since 2005.

THE economic downturn has been blamed for the 11% increase in the number of men engaging in deliberate self harm last year.

A LEADING suicide research group is investigating the possibility that national suicide rates could be far higher than officially recorded as some Coroners’ Court judgments deliberately re-classify the tragedies.

THE author of the first Irish study into the long-term effects of institutional child abuse on survivors has warned that the repercussions of the scandal could be felt for several generations to come.

ONE in every 165 adolescent girls was treated in hospital after engaging in deliberate self-harm during the last two years, new figures show.

ALMOST nine out of 10 young people who deliberately hurt themselves are seen by the health services, either before or after their act of self-harm, research reveals.

MORE men than woman inflict repeated, deliberate self-harm on themselves in a reversal of previous trends in such behaviour, research has revealed.

A NEW project to prevent suicidal behaviour in teenagers is to be rolled out in Cork and Kerry schools.

A UNIQUE project in Germany that has dramatically reduced the levels of suicide, self-harm and depression will be launched in Ireland tomorrow.

ALMOST 3,000 people under the age of 25 were treated in hospital last year for attempted suicide or deliberate self-harm.