A matter of extreme urgency - Rural Ireland’s suicide crisis

HOLLYWOOD actor Jeremy Irons is to unveil a memorial today in Waterville, Co Kerry, to those who took their own lives. Located in the town’s community gardens, its purpose is to raise awareness of the extent of suicide in Ireland and in rural areas, in particular. 

According to statistics from the National Suicide Research Foundation, an average of 500 people commit suicide in Ireland every year. That is nine people every week, more than one every day.

The suicide rate among teenage girls is higher in Ireland than it is in any other EU state. Suicide among young Irish males is the second highest in Europe after Lithuania.