A national Educational Psychological Service will be the Government's main instrument in tackling the increase in suicides among young people, the Minister of State with responsibility for Youth Affairs has said.
Reacting to the 14.6 per cent increase in the number of people who ended their own lives last year, Mr Willie O'Dea said he was "appalled by the explosive growth of suicide in Ireland".
Last year, 433 people in the Republic committed suicide, compared to 378 the year before, according to Central Statistics Office figures. The vast majority of people who took their own lives last year were male, with 355 men committing suicide, compared with 78 women.
More 15 to 24-year-olds committed suicide than any other age category, with 103 (or 23.8 per cent of the overall total), taking their own lives in 1997. A further 22.9 per cent of suicides were aged between 25 and 34 years of age.
Eight children aged between five and 14 years of age took their own lives last year, a four-fold increase on the previous year.
Mr O'Dea said the National Educational Psychological Service will be available to all primary and post-primary schools and to young people no longer in the formal education system. A planning group on establishing the service is in place and its report is "imminent".
A new Social, Personal and Health Education subject being introduced in the primary school curriculum "will deal with issues such as self-esteem and the need to express feelings", according to Mr O'Dea. He said that the project will be extended to post-primary schools once a syllabus is developed.
The Minister said a pilot project was currently under way "in developing a `whole school' approach to all health issues, including those which may contribute to suicide".
The Fine Gael spokesperson for children, Mr Dan Neville TD, called for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the task force on suicide. Mr Neville said he was particularly concerned by the increase in suicide among young people. He said the experience of other countries proved that suicide levels could be reduced and he called on the Government to put prevention programmes in place based on the recommendations of the National Suicide Task Force.
The Samaritans said the latest suicide figures were "very disturbing". They said that while the figures were "shocking and worrying" they did not come as a surprise to the organisation.
"We are only too aware from our work with people in crisis that more and more find it difficult to cope with the stress of modern living and changes in society".
The organisation said it welcomed the publication of the report of the Task Force on Suicide earlier this year. It has had discussions with the Department of Health about the report and is "very anxious" to see its recommendations implemented quickly.
It has urged "anyone who is going through a crisis in their lives and feels under pressure" to contact them at 1850 609090 for the price of a local call.
The Samaritans in Northern Ireland yesterday launched a new advertising drive to reach young people, in particular young men. The campaign will be "designed by young people for young people" and will focus on buses, cinemas and bars.
The campaign launch comes on foot of a study by University of Ulster communications, marketing and advertising student, which suggested that the Samaritans' image was "too frumpy" to appeal to 16 to 24-year-olds. The study suggested 20 people aged between 16 and 24 in west Belfast had committed suicide since the start of the year.
