Almost 80% of people who drowned in Ireland last year were male, new figures from Irish Water Safety (IWS) have revealed.

It has just released its drowning statistics for 2014, which show that 114 people drowned last year, including six children aged 14 and under.

This overall figure represents a small decrease on 2013's figure of 123.

The statistics also show that while there were fewer drowning accidents last year (55) compared to 2013 (77), the number of suicides by drowning increased from 27 in 2013 to 33 last year.

Males were seen to be ‘particularly at risk', accounting for 79% of all drownings.

Among the 90 men who drowned last year, 53% were accidents, 23% were suicides and the rest were undetermined. Among the 24 women who drowned last year, 50% were suicides, 29% were accidents, 4% were homicides and the rest were undetermined.

The statistics also show that six teenagers died last year - three of which were accidents and three of which were suicides.

Overall, 55% of those who drowned were in the 30-59 age group, 25% were aged 29 or under and 20% were aged 60-85.

The highest proportion of drownings took place in Leinster (39%), followed by Munster (33%), Connacht (17%) and part of Ulster (11%).

The county with the highest number of drownings was Dublin (16), followed by Cork and Limerick (both 13), Galway (12) and Kildare (7). Four counties recorded no deaths by drowning - Wicklow, Kilkenny, Leitrim and Roscommon.

IWS emphasised that it ‘only takes seconds for tragedy to strike'. It emphasised the importance of uninterrupted child supervision and appealed to people to undertake appropriate training before pursuing any water activities.

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