THE TREND in suicide in south Kerry suggests that it is the older generation who are now taking their own lives rather than the young, a finding that challenges the common perception, the coroner for Kerry South has said.
Most of those taking their own lives were living in rural parts of the county where there was increasing isolation and traditional meeting places no longer existed, coroner Terence Casey said yesterday.
Mr Casey said there was a common perception that suicide was mainly among the young, in the under-20 and under-30 age groups.
However, this was not his experience and since 2005 older age groups made up the highest numbers in his region which includes the wider Killarney, Cahersiveen, Kenmare and Killorglin areas.
“The trend is that it is the older generation, rather than the young. What is the reason?,” Mr Casey asked.
Four of the 12 people who took their own lives in 2005 were over the age of 60; and four were between the ages of 30 and 50; there were three in the 20 to 30 age group and one was under 20.
The trend is repeated in the years since, with seven of the nine suicides in 2006 over the age of 40.
Four of the seven suicides in south Kerry in 2008 were over 50 and two of these were aged over 60; while again in 2009 four of the 13 suicides were aged 60 and over; while three were in the 40 to 50 age group and two were over 30.
So far in the 2010 deaths for which there have been coroner’s inquiries, there have been eight verdicts of suicide.
Three of the suicides are of people aged between 50 and 60; one under 50, one under 40, one under 30 and two under 20.
The overall figure is likely to increase as all of the 2010 inquiries have yet to be held, Mr Casey said.
“The age profile is changing to older people,” Mr Casey said.
The suicide question was “extremely complex”.
While it was commonly perceived suicide involved the young with stress and peer pressure as key factors, the records were pointing to an older generation where loneliness and isolation were likely issues, he said.
Mr Casey urged people to talk about their problems.
Most of the suicides were in rural parts of the county where meeting places like the local pub or the creamery no longer existed and post was often now left at collection points.
“There is a gap in social life in rural Ireland. The creamery is gone, the pub is gone. We have to question the suicide trend in the older age groups,” Mr Casey said.