The National Suicide Research Foundation has distanced itself from new statistics purporting to come from the foundation saying that between two and three Irish people kill themselves each day.
Media reports yesterday quoted the figures, saying they were to be presented by the group at a conference this Saturday in Cork.
However, the organisation's chief statistician, Mr Paul Corcoran, said the figures appeared to be exaggerated.
The latest official statistics showed there were 433 suicides in 1997 and an estimated 480-500 last year. Contrary to the reports, he said, the highest rates of suicide and attempted suicide were in urban areas.
A recent study by the foundation found that 0.7 per cent of people aged 15 or over in Limerick city had deliberately harmed themselves by overdosing, or by cutting or hanging themselves.
Dr Pat McKeon, chairman of the lobby group, Aware, also said the figures were inaccurate. He said Ireland's suicide rate was marginally below the European average, with Germany, Hungary, Sweden and Switzerland heading the table.
However, he said, to the best of his knowledge, Ireland was unique in being the only State in which suicide was the most common cause of death for young men.
In other countries, either road traffic accidents or cancer claimed more lives.
Seven times more young men kill themselves than young women, he said. Most worryingly, only 18-20 per cent of the young men who committed suicide contacted a health agency or doctor for help in the previous year, compared to 80 per cent of young women.
"Men feel a need to appear to be strong and seeking help is seen as a weakness," Dr McKeon said.
The Fine Gael spokesman on children, Mr Dan Neville, yesterday called for the immediate implementation of the final report of the National Task Force on Suicide, which was published 14 months ago.
"The State should put all the resources required to tackle this tragic problem. We must not delay in developing and implementing suicide prevention programmes."
While "recent commentary that almost three people per day take their lives is not a true picture of the situation", there had been a worrying increase of 14 per cent in the suicide rate over the past year, Mr Neville said.
Representatives of the National Suicide Research Foundation will be among the speakers at Saturday's conference which, hosted by Fianna Fail Women's Forum, takes place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Imperial Hotel in Cork.
