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	The true level of suicide in Ireland will never be known until there is a change in legislation, to allow for a verdict of suicide at inquests, the coroner for west Limerick has warned.</p>
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	Speaking ahead of a weekend seminar on suicide&nbsp;<a class="search" href="http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_person=Brendan%20Nix&amp;article=true" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;">Brendan Nix</a>&nbsp;said suicide is &ldquo;almost at contagion levels&rdquo; and the true figures are being cloaked by the fact that suicide is not recorded as a verdict at inquests.</p>
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	Mr Nix, who is also a senior counsel, said verdicts of suicide should be officially recorded at inquests to allow for real statistics on the tragedy of suicide.</p>
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	The barrister, who presides over inquests in west Limerick which covers Newcastlewest, Abbeyfeale, Kilmallock and Croom, said he has never seen a verdict of suicide recorded over his past 11 years as coroner for the area.</p>
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	He believes the hands of coroners are currently tied because they can only recommend a verdict of death in accordance with the medical evidence as given by a pathologist.</p>
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	&ldquo;The verdict has to be in accordance with the medical evidence&rdquo; and Mr Nix said he had yet to see a medical report that says a person took their own life.</p>
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	&ldquo;If a pathologist is capable of finding that a person died by their own hand as a consequence of tying a ligature around their neck and suspending themselves then that is the verdict that should be recorded by the jury that this person took their own life,&rdquo; he added.</p>
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	CSO figures show 507 people died by suicide in Ireland last year, 15 of those in Limerick city and 16 in Co Limerick.</p>
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	In 2011 the number of people who took their own lives in Limerick city was 11, while it was double that figure in county Limerick at 22.</p>
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	Overall, Limerick has one of the highest rates of suicide in the country at 26.6 per cent per 100,000, compared to 11 per cent nationally.</p>
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	Mr Nix warned that suicide levels in county Limerick are at &ldquo;critical proportions&rdquo; and believes there is a need for the public to be made aware of the true statistics.</p>
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	&ldquo;Since they decriminalised it I don&rsquo;t see why not? I mean whose feelings are we sparing here? Are we sparing the families who are grieving? They all know what happened. They know the truth. We don&rsquo;t have to publish the names of people who committed suicide but we can say that these are the official figures.&rdquo;</p>
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	&ldquo;I certainly think that by going public with the rate of suicide and the prevalence of it won&rsquo;t do any harm. It is not going to go away. ... It is not being spoken of publicly.</p>
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	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s as if it&rsquo;s a taboo subject, but it hasn&rsquo;t stopped it. It is almost at contagion levels,&rdquo; he continued.</p>
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	Suicide statistics are gathered by the CSO following an analysis of information from the General Registries office, which records births and deaths, and information from the gardai.</p>
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	&ldquo;I consider that suicide in west Limerick has reached critical proportions. It is a whole blot on the community out there,&rdquo; Mr Nix added.</p>
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	The coroner also said he would like to see a number of free phones installed at known locations where people have taken their own lives</p>
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	A seminar on the subject will take place, which will be attended by the emergency services, and those working in the area of suicide prevention, takes place on Saturday.</p>
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	The event starts at 9am at Limerick County Hall and anyone affected by suicide is invited to attend.<br />
	<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Kathryn Hayes</span><br />
	<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/change-in-legislation-required-for-true-levels-of-suicide-to-be-known-1.1467475">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/change-in-legislation-required-for-true-levels-of-suicide-to-be-known-1.1467475</a></p>
