Almost half of the people who were killed on the roads or who committed suicide over the last six years in Co Louth had consumed alcohol, a new study has shown.
The study was carried out by the Louth county coroner, Ronan Maguire.
Mr Maguire told The Irish Times yesterday that the study was a record of inquests he had held over six years from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2005.
He said it was not a scientific study as the deaths might have taken place one or two year's earlier. An inquest was quite often delayed if toxicology reports were held up or until the gardaí had completed their investigations.
The study shows that in 2002, 66 per cent of the nine drivers who died on the roads had consumed alcohol.
In 2000, 56 per cent of the 32 people who died on the roads were positive for alcohol and all six pedestrians killed were positive.
There were inquests over the six-year period on a total of 125 people who were killed on Co Louth roads and 45 per cent had consumed alcohol. Of these 93 were men and 32 women.
Inquests were held on 47 people, 42 men and five women, where a verdict of suicide was recorded. Of these, 48 per cent had taken alcohol.
In another category relating to drugs or alcohol consumption, 38 people died from overdoses.