It said it has implemented a co-ordinated plan which includes providing relevant community support services. It confirmed recent cases are being verified and links between them are being examined.

In one suburb, a teenage boy and two teenage girls who were known to each other all took their own lives within days of each other. However, claims that there have been 16 suicides in Cork in 16 days have been disputed.

In an impassioned plea for state action on the growing suicide crisis, mental health advocate Conor Cusack tweeted political leaders with the statistic, and called for the establishment of a 24/7 emotional wellbeing centre in Cork to help those at risk.

However, Ella Arensman, director of research at the National Suicide Research Foundation, on behalf of the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention, claimed the figure was inaccurate.

“The factual information indicates three cases of suicide in Cork City since the start of November,” said Prof Arensman.

She was unable to provide suicide statistics for the wider county region. She said CSO figures show the number of suicides in Cork City over the last five years ranged from 22 in 2010 to 16 in 2014 — the latest confirmed CSO figure.

This equates to 18.9 per 100,000 population in 2010 — almost double the national rate — to 16.1 per 100,000 in 2014. Responding to what she described as an “emerging suicide cluster” in the city, Prof Arensman said the HSE has launched a co-ordinated, multi-disciplinary response in schools and the community which included: n Offering support to family members, friends, and colleagues of the deceased; n Gathering information about high-risk individuals and service use trends; n Offering awareness and training workshops in the community; n Liaising with the media.

She said suicide clusters are relatively rare, and that it is important to conduct independent in-depth investigations of each case to improve knowledge of risk factors and patterns, which will contribute to enhanced risk assessment and prevention of similar cases.

Meanwhile, a multi-agency taskforce is due to meet in City Hall on December 5 to discuss the recent spike in suicides.

Support is available from the Samaritans on 116 123, Aware on 1800 80 48 48, or Childline on 1800 66 66 66.