Recession measures ‘resulted in hike in suicides’

Ground-breaking research by the Cork-based National Suicide Research Foundation into deaths during the recession has found that the “extreme measures” by the Government during the recession contributed to the rise in suicides among vulnerable people.

These were people who didn’t benefit from the Celtic Tiger and were “doubly, affected by the recession”, NSFR director of research Ella Arensman, told the Irish Association of Suicidology annual conference in Killarney.

The in-depth study of 307 people who took their own lives during the period 2008-2011 inclusive in Cork City and County included interviews with health practitioners who had dealt with the deceased as well as a study of coroners’ files.