14% increase in suicide rate

More than 480 people have taken their own lives during the past year, which is an increase of 14 percentage points since the publication a year ago of the recommendations of the National Task Force on Suicide, according to Mr Dan Neville TD, president of the Irish Association of Suicidology. He was speaking yesterday in Limerick at a testimonial seminar for the late Dr Michael Kelleher, of Cork, who was described as having made a "remarkable contribution in breaking the silence on a sensitive subject".