From The Irish Times JASON KENNEDY and ANNE LUCEY An alcohol awareness charity has criticised a Kerry councillor ’s call to allow rural drivers have two or three drinks before driving…

The rate of suicide among young men in Ireland is one of the highest in Europe, a major new report has warned. An estimated 165 young men took their own lives in the Republic in 2011 – out of a total of 525 suicides – while another 72 young men died by suicide in the North.

Suicide rates among young men could be reduced by restricting access to the means for self-harm, a new report suggests. Young Irish men need to develop their emotional skills to ward off the risk of suicide, says the report, published today by the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland .

An alcohol awareness charity has criticised a Kerry councillor’s call to allow rural drivers have two or three drinks before driving home, while an organisation representing vintners said it hoped the proposal started a conversation on the issues facing rural Ireland.

THE STORY OF how Kerry County Council voted for a plan to allow rural drivers to have ‘two or three drinks’ to combat rural isolation has, understandably, made a lot of headlines today.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS dismissed a motion backed by Kerry County Council to relax drink-driving limits in rural parts of Ireland in order to allow isolated people to have “two or three” drinks before driving home.

An alcohol awareness charity has criticised a Kerry councillor's call to allow rural drivers have two or three drinks before driving home, while an organisation representing vintners said it hoped the proposal started a conversation on the issues facing rural Ireland.