Recession blamed for 25% surge in suicides

SPIRALLING debt, marriage breakdown and depression caused by the recession are being blamed for the alarming 25% rise in the number of recorded suicides.

Just weeks after the head of the National Office for Suicide Prevention Geoff Day warned an annual figure of more than 500 deaths would be a “national disaster”, the Central Statistics Office confirmed the 2009 total was 527, up from 424 the previous year.

However, experts say the figure could be far higher. An additional 195 “deaths by undetermined intent” were recorded by the CSO, a high proportion of which may have been suicide.