Cork has highest suicide rate in country
An analysis of official suicide figures in the period 2008-2012 carried out by the Irish Examiner show that other counties with above-average rates include Kerry, Offaly, Leitrim, and Wexford.
Fingal, which covers north Dublin, has the lowest suicide rate in the country — with a level less than half the national average.
Below-average rates have also been recorded in other parts of Dublin as well as Longford, Roscommon, Donegal, and Galway City.
A strong trend over the period identifies high suicide rates in Munster and to a lesser extent in Connacht, while they are generally below the national average in Leinster, particularly in Dublin, where levels peaked in 2009.
Official figures show 2,576 people have taken their own lives since the start of the economic downturn in 2008 — (an increase of 187 on the previous five-year period 2003-2007) with an annual average of 515 suicide deaths registered each year. In contrast, a total of 1,077 people were killed in road traffic collisions over the same period 2008-2012.
Figures show Cork City has an annual average suicide rate of 19.1 deaths per 100,000 population since 2008 compared to the national average of 11.2 suicides.
A total of 114 suicides have been registered in the city since 2008. The annual number of suicides more than doubled in 2012 — from 13 to 30 deaths — which resulted in Cork’s suicide rate increasing dramatically to 25.2 deaths per 100,000 population last year — more than twice the national average of 11 deaths.
However, Cork’s high suicide rate is not linked to the recession as 117 people took their own lives in the city in the five-year period 2003- 2007 — three more than in the past five years.
Only Limerick City had a higher suicide rate in 2012 with 26.3 deaths per 100,000. A total of 15 suicides were recorded in Limerick last year compared to the annual average of just over eight deaths in the city over the past five years. Very high suicide rates were also recorded in Wexford, Mayo, Leitrim, and Kerry in 2012.
CSO figures show 507 suicides were registered last year — down 3.5% on 2011 figures.
Console, the national suicide prevention and bereavement charity, has expressed concern that the CSO figures do not give the full picture of the extent of suicide in Ireland. In particular, it has described above- average rate of suicides in places like Limerick and Cork as alarming.
Console’s director of services, Ciaran Austin, has called for a radical review of the procedures for collecting data on suicide so that agencies can identify problems.
“We need to find out why these trends are happening,” said Mr Austin.
Console has supported the recent call by suicide expert, UCD professor of psychiatry, Kevin Malone, for a real-time database of suicide deaths to ensure the early identification of trends and clusters.
