In February 2020, the Health Services Executive National Office of Suicide Prevention (HSE NOSP) appointed S3 Solutions Ltd to carry out a rapid assessment of the current situation regarding suicide within the Ballyfermot community. Ballyfermot is characterised by high levels of socio-economic deprivation, high levels of lone parent families, low unemployment, and low educational achievement. In addition, rates of hospital presenting self-harm are consistently above the national average. In Ireland, research has found that “overall deprivation had the strongest independent effect on small-area rates of suicide, with the most deprived areas showing the greatest risk of suicide”. A suicide cluster is defined as “a series of 3 or more closely grouped deaths within a three-month period that can be linked by space or social relationships”. Based on this definition, this rapid assessment found that there was a suicide cluster in the Ballyfermot area in 2019, relating to 8 women who died by suicide over a 10-week period (April – July 2019).

Exec summary P.4 Prevalence of drug and alcohol misuse

Relating to those that died by suicide in the 2019 cluster, where there was drug and/or alcohol misuse, this was likely to be a coping mechanism for a pre-existing trauma, an ongoing trauma, or a challenging circumstance and not the root cause in itself. More generally, there was a significant concern that the widespread misuse of drugs and alcohol amongst young women could lead to more enduring mental health problems, and potentially suicide ideation and suicide attempt.

For more detail, see summary report pages 25 - 27