More people died by suicide here last year than were killed in road traffic accidents. According to new official statistics from the Central Statistics Office there were 448 suicides compared with 366 roads deaths in 2001. Almost 40% of the suicides occurred in the last three months of last year.
The figures are from a CSO publication concerning the number of births deaths and marriages in Ireland last year.
The figures also show that Ireland's population grew by 52,000 last year to its highest level since 1881. The number of people living here now stands at 3,838,900 according to the CSO.
The numbers for deaths officially reported as suicide however makes depressing reading. The total up 8.5% to 448.
The figures may also give rise concerns about the social pressures brought on by Ireland's economic boom because they show the numbers committing suicide last year was 83% higher than the total for 1987 - when the economy was in the grip of a sharp economic downturn.
The figures confirm that suicide is now the second biggest cause of death among young people in the 15 to 24 year age group, and that almost 80 per cent of those who commit suicide are male.
