The dramatic rise in suicide in Ireland over the last ten or so years has been most noticeable amongst young males. It has been pointed out that 'the public discourse on suicide in Ireland has been mostly informed by medical and psychological explanations, which analyse the epidemiology of suicide in terms of risk factors, linking suicide alcohol and substance abuse, with mental illness such as depression, and with stress associated with transition to adulthood and role adaptation. Such an approach, while useful in understanding individual cases, has not contributed significantly to our understanding of why the overall pattern of death by suicide in Ireland changed over the final decades of the twentieth century. Commenting at the level of individual cases, Durkheim remarked that 'if imitation plays a part in the development of suicide, therefore, suicides should vary with the importance that newspapers have in public opinion. Unfortunately this importance is quite hard to determine.’ This research project utilises an approach which mixes quantitative and qualitative methodologies with a view to developing a robust picture of how the Irish print media reports suicide.