A helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people recorded its busiest year ever in 2015.

According to the LGBT Helpline, which runs a telephone and online support service, its busiest time of the year was in the week leading up to the marriage equality referendum in May.

Altogether, the telephone service received 3,609 calls last year, a 13% increase when compared to 2014. Meanwhile, the organisation's website received over 73,000 visits and 162 people were supported through its online instant messaging service.

Thirty-seven people also took part in peer support groups.

Just over half of those contacting the LGBT Helpline in 2015 were aged between 36 and 55, while 14% were over the age of 55.

According to the helpline's coordinator, Paula Fagan, the high number of people over the age of 36 making contact highlights the fact that ‘many people struggle with sexuality and gender issues well beyond their teenage years'.

"Older adults can face significant additional barriers to coming out. Many callers in the older age brackets were married or in long-term heterosexual relationships and had children," she noted.

Among callers who were looking for support, five main issues came up repeatedly:
-Sexuality/coming out
-Family and relationship problems
-Gender identity issues
-Health concerns
-Violence, including homophobic bullying.

Among callers who were looking for information, the most commonly sought help was in relation to LGBT-friendly counsellors and psychotherapists. Other common requests included information on parent support groups, LGBT youth groups and support groups for people who were in heterosexual marriages, but were questioning their own sexual identity.

Ms Fagan emphasised that 2015 was ‘an incredible year for LGBT people and LGBT rights' as a result of the marriage equality referendum and other keys pieces of legislation, e.g. on same sex parenting rights and gender recognition.

However, she pointed out that while the outcome of the referendum was positive, ‘the time leading up to the vote was very stressful for LGBT people, their families and friends'.

"As the nation debated the referendum, many LGBT people sought support from our services to cope with the intensity of having their lives debated in public, or to deal with negative attitudes expressed by family members or friends.

"In the week leading up to and including the referendum, we saw traffic to our website increase by 65% on the same time period the previous year. We also received hundreds of calls to our helpline as we became the go-to space for people who wanted to talk about something negative they had heard expressed about ‘gay people' on radio, TV, on the bus or while out canvassing," she explained.

For more information on the LGBT Helpline, click here or call 1890 929 539.