A coroner covering an area of Co Mayo with a high incidence of suicide has criticised Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for making "ill-considered" remarks about the growing problem.
Pat O'Connor, coroner for east Mayo, said following inquests in Swinford yesterday that Mr Ahern's remarks last week were "distinctly unhelpful" and "insulting".
Suicide has become an increasingly common cause of death in east Mayo, as elsewhere in the county, since the early 1990s.
More than half the inquests conducted by Mr O'Connor in the past five years relate to suicide.
The coroner said the attitude of most people in Ireland to suicide has changed through an increasing awareness of it and its consequences for so many people through appropriate, caring and sustained educational initiatives.
"The self-inflicted death of any person is always a great tragedy, not only for the person whose life has ended but for the family, friends and the community in the area in which the person and his/her family has lived."
He continued: "Regretfully, there still appears to be significant gaps in the understanding, education and awareness of the great personal difficulty suicide causes for many families and friends of the victim in some of the top political echelons of our society."
Referring to the controversial comments by Mr Ahern at a conference in Co Donegal, for which he later apologised, Mr O'Connor said: "Ill-considered, off-the-cuff remarks by political leaders of the country, which may be due to a lack of personal understanding and education, are distinctly unhelpful and, above all, insulting to all of those many bereaved families who have been left to ask why such a death occurred.
"Such comments and references to suicide suggest a lack of appreciation about the nature of the suicide and above all a lack of appreciation of the grieving of those families left to suffer following such a death.
"More education and a greater understanding is required at all levels of society, particularly at the top, on what has become, regretfully, in this so called 'tiger economy' of the last few years, an increasing complex issue for Irish society."
Mr O'Connor praised a number of agencies for their "appropriate, caring and sustained educational initiatives" including Aware, the Irish Association of Suicidology, the Samaritans and the Departments of Health and Education.