Almost 50% of all drownings due to suicide

SUICIDE accounts for almost half of all people who die by drowning in the Republic, according to the latest figures published by Irish Water Safety.

The 2006 annual report of the IWS shows 63 out of 131 confirmed drownings last year were due to people taking their own lives.

While the figure is the same total as 2005, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of females taking their own lives.