Conference to examine link between recession and suicide
A major conference is to discuss the potential impact of the recession on suicide levels in the country.
More than 1,000 delegates are expected to attend the event, organised by bereavement charity Console, at Dublin's Citywest Hotel next month.
Speakers will include President Mary McAleese, Dublin City Coroner Brian Farrell as well as a panel of psychologists and psychiatrists with clinical expertise on suicide.
Console believes a recession can cause depression, break up relationships and fuel alcohol and drug abuse - all possible factors leading to suicide.
Console founder Paul Kelly said: "Major financial worries can have an enormous effect on an individual's life.
"They can tear relationships apart, lead to alcohol and substance abuse and bring on serious bouts of depression, especially if a person's self-worth is challenged as a result of losing their job."
Console hopes the conference on April 2 will address issues that cause major emotional distress and can lead to people taking their own lives.
An average of 500 people take their own lives in Ireland every year.
RTÉ broadcaster Mary Kennedy and Today FM DJ Ray D'Arcy will host the conference.
"This conference will work towards reducing the taboo around suicide and thus empower the public to confront the problems that lead to suicide," added Mr Kelly.
Console was established in 2002 by families that experienced the grief of losing a loved one through suicide.
It estimates that an average of six people are severely affected by somebody taking their own life.
