Suicide among Travellers up to five times higher

SUICIDE among Travellers is up to five times higher than the rest of the population, research has shown.

The study, Suicide Among the Irish Traveller Community 2000-2006, found that the suicide rate among Travellers was more than three times that of the total population, peaking in 2005 when it was more than five times that of the settled population.

Male Travellers are more than nine times more likely to die by suicide than females, compared with four times more likely in the general population.

The number of deaths in the period was 74.

The study was carried out by Mary Rose Walker, a social worker with Wicklow County Council, and is the first research carried out with the aim of documenting the incidence of suicide among the Travelling community.

The research also found that suicide most often follows the death of someone close to the victim.

The loss of Traveller identity and culture among younger members of the community may play a part in the high suicide rate, while the age group most at risk is the 25-29 group.

“For those without work, who have lost the traditions of travelling and keeping horses, there is nothing to do. Particularly vulnerable are single young men,” said Ms Walker.

“To alleviate boredom, they may drink, take drugs, joyride and engage in other forms of antisocial behaviour. All of these risk-taking behaviours are associated with suicide, and it takes little to persuade somebody for whom life holds no interest to end theirs,” she said.

The most common pattern of suicide that emerged in the research is of the Traveller, who, following the death of somebody close, takes their own life.

In 40% of cases where a Traveller took their own life following the death of somebody close, that death itself was also a suicide.

Violence, whether domestic or feuding, was reported as a contributory factor in 20 cases of suicide.

“With recent changes in society, Travellers have had to learn to cope with increased hostility, difficulty with identity, loss of culture and traditions and a lack of purpose in life,” said Ms Walker.

“Given the existing vulnerabilities of Travellers today, factors such as alcohol or substance abuse, economic insecurity, violence, depression assume an additional risk level. It may, therefore, not be so surprising that an immediate crisis, such as death or marital conflict, can act as a trigger factor,” she said.

The sources of data used for the research include local authority social workers for Travellers, the Department of Environment and Local Government annual statistics of the national Traveller population and data from the Central Statistics Office.