Speaking on World Suicide Prevent Day the Ministers gave their full backing to a joint newspaper campaign to raise awareness of the level of suicides, Mr Paisley described it as “one of the most important issues facing the Executive”.
“We should not underestimate the impact a suicide has on a family and friends of the victim and also on the local community. When such deaths are preventable it is simply an unspeakable tragedy.
“The rising level of suicides here, and how we bring a stop to it, is one of the most important issues currently facing the Executive. We wish to reiterate our commitment to tackling this issue head-on and to providing whatever support is necessary to taking action to address it,” Mr Paisley said.
Mr McGuinness said: “We applaud the four local newspapers for their joint efforts in raising awareness of suicides and offer our full support to it. We fully understand the need to act sooner rather than later on this issue.
“The rise in such deaths, especially of our young people, is distressing and tragic. Our young people, our sons and daughters, are one of the greatest treasures any community has. We must make sure they are equipped to deal with all the pressures today’s world throws at them and that they have access to the necessary services,” added Mr McGuinness.
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