Setting the Scene: Statistics on Suicide in Ireland 2009/2010

Instances of people taking their own lives has increased in Ireland over recent years and most people have been affected by it in some way. In 2009, 527 people died by suicide, an increase of 24% on 2008* and the highest recorded in any year.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) recently released their Vital Statistics for the 1st Quarter of 2010 and it appears the situation is not getting any better. In the three months of January, February and March 2010, 104 people took their own lives in Ireland**. This compares with 42 from road accidents***.

The most detailed stats I found in one place were from the Irish Association of Suicidology and were from 1980-2007 (See www.ias.ie/stats.htm 'Suicide by ten year age group' Excel worksheet). These figures show the well-documented rise in young male suicide. After adding the CSO figures from 2008 and 2009, the above graph gives an complete overview.

While young males are still a high risk category, there is evidence that other age groups of people are increasingly resorting to suicide. There has been a rise in the people over the age of 40 taking their own lives. According to an Irish Times interview with Dr. Conor Farren (Oct 12th 2010), a psychiatrist in St. Patrick's Hospital in Dublin, there is anecdotal evidence which suggests the recent rise in suicide is directly linked to the recession. This view has been echoed in other media reports ( e.g. Irish Times 19.10.10).

Some other notable facts/points I have come across include:

• Alcohol is a factor in more than half of all suicides in Ireland and in 93% of cases where someone under the age of 30 has taken their own life (quoted by Dr. Farren in IT article mentioned above).
• In September this year, a UCD All-Ireland Traveller Health Study found that the suicide rate in male Travellers is a statistically significant at 6.6 times higher than in the general population.
• Although the numbers of males who die by suicide is much higher than females, it is estimated that for every male who takes their own life, there are 10-20 females suicide attempts. 

It is important to note that all these figures are only based on the deaths that are offically recorded as suicide. In 2009 there were 195 deaths where the cause of death was classed as "undetermined". The real figures for suicide in Ireland may be much higher than we think.

Sources:
* National Office for Suicide Prevention Annual Report 2009
**CSO Vital Statistics Report 1st Quarter 2010 (table 12) http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/vitalstats/2010/vstats_q12010.pdf
***http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=138

To find detailed statistics on suicide for any particular year, look at the Vital Statistics 4th Quarter/Yearly summary for each year on www.cso.ie. You can see the number of people who died that year by cause of death, gender and in eleven age brackets.