Key achievements in 2011
• Extra €1 million allocated to 22 new projects funded by the NOSP including:
* Dialectical behavioural therapy training for frontline HSE Mental Health Services staff
* New emergency department training programme for frontline acute staff
* Intervention services for people who engage in suicidal behaviour
* Samaritans project to interlink national mental health and suicide prevention helplines
* National training needs analysis and development of training programme for general practitioners.
• Over 3,500 people trained in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and nearly 5,000 in safeTALK (suicide alertness training).
• Launch of new elements of Your Mental Health campaign, including radio advertisements and the redevelopment of the campaign website
• www.yourmentalhealth.ie.
• Independent evaluation of the Your Mental Health campaign demonstrated high levels of awareness of the campaign among the target population and high levels of effectiveness.
• National standards for bereavement support services developed, in partnership with Console and Turas le Cheile bereavement support services.
• Responding to Murder Suicide and Suicide Clusters: Guidance Document completed and disseminated.
• Evaluation of Understanding Self Harm, a new self harm awareness training programme.
• Suicide Support Information System pilot study initiated by the National Suicide Research Foundation.
• Ongoing development of National Guidelines for Post Primary Schools on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

Statistics:
• Suicide and self harm: An overview of key statistics
• 552 deaths by suicide occurred in 2009, a rate of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 population1. By European standards Ireland has the sixth lowest rate of death by suicide, with a reported rate of 10.3 per 100,000, compared with the lowest rate of 3.9 in Greece and the highest of 34 in Lithuania.
• In Ireland, the suicide rate is significantly higher for males than for females.
• In Ireland, the suicide rate is highest for young males aged between 20 and 24 and for females aged between 50 and 54.
• The male suicide rate recorded in 2009 was 20.0, a drop from its peak of 23.5 in 1998. • The female suicide rate has remained relatively constant, ranging from 4.3 in 1980 to 4.3 in 1998 to 4.9 per 100,000 in 2009.
• In 2011, there were 12,216 presentations to hospital due to deliberate self harm nationally, involving 9,834 individuals.
• The rate of individuals presenting to hospital following deliberate self harm in 2011 was 215 per 100,000, a significant 4% decrease on the rate in 2010.
• The national male rate of deliberate self harm was 205 per 100,000, 3% lower than in 2010. The female rate of deliberate self harm in 2011 was 226 per 100,000, 4% lower than in 2010.