Psychic cannibalism and confusion in the Irish male soul is manifesting itself in numerous ways. Since l990 there's been a four-fold increase in the number of Irishmen under the age of 25 who killed themselves.
Suicide now kills more young men than accident or disease.
The rate for young males is now over six times as high as that of young Irish girls. Suicide reached an all-time high last year, with 504 people taking their own lives. Interestingly, suicide is highest in rural areas, far lower in more liberal Dublin. David Simpson, co-ordinator of a parenting program in the Northwestern Health Board, has worked in men's health since l984. The result is confusion about identity.