Inquests into death by suicide should be held in private, the suicide prevention and bereavement charity, Console, has insisted.

Currently in Ireland, it is legally required that inquests into death by suicide are held in public. However this can be very traumatic and intrusive for grieving families and should be reconsidered, the charity insisted.

According to its CEO and founder, Paul Kelly, Ireland should look at how this sensitive issue is dealt with in Northern Ireland and Scotland. In both places, a public inquest is not held if the authorities agree that a death was suicide and a public inquest would not be in the public's interest.

Mr Kelly pointed out that families that have lost a loved one to suicide have already been through ‘one of the most devastating events possible' and holding an inquest in public can then make them feel like they are being put on trial.

"Deeply private information about drugs or alcohol in the deceased's system, or if they had a row with someone before ending their life, can all be discussed in a public forum with the media in attendance. This is a deeply intrusive system and one that should not exist as we face up to the reality that over 475 families this year will have to face this, sometimes unnecessary, trauma," Mr Kelly said.

He acknowledged that death by suicide and other sudden and unnatural deaths must be investigated, ‘but the dignity and privacy of the family must be at the core of these proceedings', he said.

He believes that the current system can prolong a family's grief unnecessarily and can also add to the stigma of death by suicide.

"Public inquests can have a trial-like aspect which harks back to the days before suicide was decriminalised in 1993. Families do not have to undergo such public scrutiny when someone dies of cancer and we feel that the individual private and personal circumstances surrounding deaths by suicide are not necessarily a matter of public interest," Mr Kelly noted.

He said that many families do not grieve properly ‘because they are on tender hooks' waiting for the inquest to take place, which could be up to a year after the death.

He also pointed out that some families believe the inquest will give them answers about their loved one's death, ‘when its actual role is to establish the facts and reach a medical conclusion'.

"We need a more sensitive and compassionate way of investigating suicide deaths in the Republic and we should start by making the inquests into those deaths private," he said.

Mr Kelly made his comments at the Console World Suicide Prevention Day Conference at Croke Park in Dublin.

Console offers a 24-hour helpline and counselling services to people in crisis and those bereaved by suicide. The helpline number is 1800 247 247 or more information on the charity is available here