47 suicide deaths in constituency

The Northern Ireland figures as a whole, released by the Minister for Finance Sammy Wilson, showed that 862 people lost their lives.

Commenting on the figures, Mr Dallat said: “In 2009 a total of 260 people lost their lives to suicide while the figures increased substantially to 313 in 2010 with a welcome drop to 289 in 2011.

“The figures, when broken down by age, show that the most vulnerable people are in the age group 20-24 but for those in the various age groups right up to 50-54 the figures are only marginally lower.

“In the last two years sadly seven people over 85 took their own lives while four children under the age of 15 ended their young lives by suicide.”

Mr Dallat added: “It is obvious from the figures given to me that those constituencies which suffer social and economic disadvantage have the highest number of suicides while the more affluent areas of Strangford and North Down are among the lowest.”