New 10-Year Suicide Reduction Strategy Approved, Focuses on Bereavement and Societal Factors

Ministers Mary Butler and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill are seeking approval for Ireland’s new 10-year suicide reduction strategy, which will replace the «Connecting for Life» policy that ended in 2024. The new strategy, developed with nearly 1,900 public and stakeholder responses, emphasizes a «whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach» to address factors influencing suicide and self-harm.

The strategy will focus on societal risk factors like poverty, addiction, and online harm. It also aims to expand crisis supports, including Crisis Cafes, Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurses (SCAN) for GPs, and dedicated mental health nursing teams in emergency departments. A key component is a stronger focus on supporting those bereaved by suicide through enhanced services, a national framework, and improved inquest supports.

Ireland has seen a 28% fall in suicide rates between 2000 and 2023, now holding the 11th lowest suicide rate in the EU and remaining below the OECD average of 11 per 100,000 population. Additionally, self-harm rates in 2024 were 5% lower than in 2023 and 19% lower than the 2010 peak. The first implementation plan for the new strategy will be published by Butler in September.