Figures released yesterday by Irish Life show that cancer remains the leading cause of death in Balbriggan far exceeding heart disease in second place.

Irish Life, Ireland's leading life insurance company, has published its annual claims report which shows that cancer remained the leading cause of death and illness during 2015.

Death Claims

• €103 million paid out for families of 1,551 people who died.
• The average payment was €66,462
• Cancer was the biggest cause of death claims.
• Higher percentage of women (48%) died from cancer than men (39%).
• Over 1 in 3 death claims for people under 40 were due to accidents.

Specified Illness Claims (SIC)

• €48M was paid out in 763 Specified Illness Cover claims.
• 40% of claims were to people under age 50.
• Men made up over half of Specified Illness claims, with women making up 42%.
• Breast cancer was the number 1 overall cause of all Specified Illness claims.
• For men, prostate cancer was the main cause of cancer related claims.

The data from the Irish Life specified illness report gives us a great insight into the health of the nation.