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20 June 2007 - Paisley and McGuinness meet Children's Commissioner

First Minister Rt Hon Ian Paisley MP, MLA and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP, MLA held their first meeting with Children’s Commissioner Patricia Lewsley today.

The meeting covered discussions on a range of issues including suicide levels among young people in Northern Ireland and the recent tragedies.

Both Ministers gave their commitment to providing all possible support to initiatives designed to tackle this issue. They said: “The greatest wealth that any community has is their young people and their wellbeing is our highest priority. In today’s society young people face a tremendous array of pressures in their daily lives, it is important that they are enabled and empowered to deal with their problems and are made aware of the services available to support them.

“This issue is one of the most important that we presently face and is a major priority for ourselves and will be raised with our Executive colleagues at the earliest opportunity.”

They also discussed the co-ordination and prioritisation of children and young people's issues across government and the Ministers expressed their wish to maintain a close working relationship with the Commissioner.


Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister News