by Louise Doyle
LATEST figures on deaths by suicide published by Central Statistics Office (CSO) show there were 13 suicide related deaths in Donegal in 2020.
Seven males and six females died by suicide during that year.
A total of 201 people have died by suicide in Donegal between the years of 2008 and 2022, according to the figures.
Males make up the majority of those who have died by suicide in the county during the 14-year period (152). Forty-nine females have died by suicide in Donegal in the same timeframe.
Three males and two females died by suicide in Donegal in 2022, according to the recorded CSO figures.
The year of 2009 saw the highest number of males to die by suicide recorded in Donegal (17) between 2008 and 2022, while 2015 saw the highest number of females at eight.
The year of 2015 saw the overall highest number of deaths to suicide in Donegal (23) over the 14-year period.
Nationally, there were 504 deaths from suicide in Ireland in 2020 – an increase from the 500 such deaths which occurred in 2015.
In 2020, both males and females aged 50 to 54 years had the joint highest crude suicide rate per 100,000 with 25.7 for males and 11.2 for females.
Nearly one in every ten deaths due to suicide in 2020 were to those aged 65 and older, which has remained broadly similar over the years.
Over the last nine years (2012-2020), 2018 recorded the largest number of female deaths due to suicide (141). Commenting on the release, Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the Vital Statistics section of the CSO, said: “All deaths attributable to external causes are referred to the Coroner’s Court.
As such, a lag can occur as to when these deaths are registered with the General Register Office (GRO), and in some cases they can be registered much later than the 22 month deadline to produce the CSO’s Vital Statistics Annual Reports.”
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