A total of 383 suicides were recorded in Ireland last year, an increase of 30 over the previous year, according to Sen Dan Neville, president of the Irish Association of Suicidology.
Addressing the association's conference in Adare, Co Limerick, at the weekend, Mr Neville said it was important for people to understand the "tragic problem of suicide in a specific Irish context". He said the levels could be reduced in Ireland, as in other countries where prevention programmes had been introduced, "but these must respond to the unique Irish conditions".