Call for register to note suicide trends

The rates of suicide in Cork City and Limerick City were the highest in the country last year, prompting calls for a real-time suicide register to facilitate early identification of trends and clusters.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that while the national suicide rate in 2012 was 11.1 deaths per 100,000, the rate in Cork City was as high as 25.6 per 100,000 and even higher in Limerick City, at 26.6.

The high regional rates were driven by male suicides. Cork City had the highest rate of male suicide in the country last year, at a staggering 43.5 per 100,000, nearly four times the national rate. In Limerick City, the male suicide rate was the country’s second highest, at 36.2 per 100,000.