THE NUMBER of people who took their own lives in Ireland increased by 12 per cent last year, according to official figures.
The rise, the first this decade, has been described as "very disappointing" by suicide prevention campaigner Dan Neville.
According to the HSE's National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP), 460 people took their own lives last year, a rise of 51 over the 2006 total of 409.
The figures show Ireland continues to have the fifth highest rate of suicide in Europe among young men aged 15 to 24. The NOSP annual report found men under 35 accounted for 40 per cent of all suicides, and that the number of men who took their lives was four times that of women.
Geoff Day, director of NOSP, said the rise may be due to improved CSO data collection on suicides, including the registration of more hangings as suicides.
The number of recorded suicides in Ireland peaked in the late 1990s at about 520 and had been falling since, until last year.
Mr Day said that, though Ireland had a low rate of suicide by European standards, no country in Europe had such a discrepancy between the overall level of suicide and suicide among young males.
"We need to concentrate our efforts on reaching men and we have tried to do this through the mental health awareness campaign and Bebo," he said.
In its annual report, published yesterday to mark World Suicide Prevention Day, NOSP said it had unveiled measures which it hopes will reduce suicide numbers.
Mr Neville said the NOSP had the same budget as last year at just over €3 million and was effectively working with less resources when inflation was taken into account.
He said cash spent on suicide prevention by the Government was a fraction of that spent by the Road Safety Authority every year, though the number of suicides exceeded that of road deaths.
Speaking at the "Walk for Life" at Stormont, to mark International Suicide Prevention Day, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said mental health remained the "Cinderella" of the health service.
Several politicians took part to support bereaved families and to highlight suicide awareness.