Alcohol consumption has a "significant" influence on suicide levels among males at all ages and young women, research shows.
The study says that alcohol has a "much larger" impact on suicide rates than unemployment.
The research, which examines the period 1968 to 2009, claims to be the first to provide empirical evidence demonstrating the link between alcohol, as well as unemployment, on suicide rates in Ireland.
The report said the "relatively lenient", and falling, tax treatment of alcohol over the past decade did not reflect concerns about high suicide rates among young people.
The authors, Prof Brendan Walsh of University College Dublin and Dermot Walsh of the Mental Health Commission, back calls to make alcohol more expensive through taxation in a bid to reduce consumption.
Source: Cormac O’Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 10/05/2011
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