People living in Roscommon have the best life expectancy in the Republic of Ireland for both men and women, according to statistics released today.

The figures show that the suicide rate is 47% higher in the Republic of Ireland than in Northern Ireland.

The figures also show that Leitrim has the lowest life expectancy for men and Limerick has the lowest life expectancy for women in the Republic of Ireland.

The average lifespan for men and women in Roscommon is 76.9 and 82.2 years respectively, while it is 72.8 years in Leitrim for males and 79.3 years in Limerick for females.

In Northern Ireland, life expectancy is slightly worse for males than it is in the south - 75.6 compared to 75.9 years. It is the same for females on both sides of the border - 80.6 years.

The statistics, published by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, also show that Ballymoney, Co. Antrim has the highest life expectancy for both males and females across the whole island with a life expectancy of 78.1 and 82.4 years respectively.

The highest premature death rate on the island was in Belfast, which was 32% higher than the all-island rate and the lowest was in Roscommon, which is 27% lower than the all-island rate.

The highest premature death rate in the Republic is in Louth and the lowest is in Roscommon, the figures show.

The statistics also show that the suicide rate in the Republic is 12.4 per 100,000, compared to 8.4 per 100,000 in Northern Ireland.

Offaly, Cork and Leitrim have the highest suicide rates on the island of Ireland.

The Institute pointed out that the differences in suicide rates are striking, and may be parlty due to differences in the methods used to establish suicide rates in the two jurisdictions.

The statistics also show that the average uptake of child immunisation is higher in the north (97%) than in the Republic (90%).

The report from the Institute marks the first time that these detailed statistics have been made available for Ireland, north and south.

The statistics werte gathered by Ireland and Northern Ireland's Population Health Observatory in the Institute of Public Health.

Further details of the statistics are available at... http://www.publichealth.ie