The British government has been urged to release funds to tackle the surge in suicides among young people across Belfast.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams made the appeal after a visit last night to the family of Fiona Barnes, whose body was found in Belfast's City Cemetery on Sunday, just yards from her boyfriend's grave.
Michael McComb, with whom the teenager had set up home, committed suicide
earlier this year.
Mr Adams extended sympathy to the Barnes family and confirmed he would be
seeking an urgent meeting with Northern Ireland Office Health Minister Angela
Smith to tackle the problem.
"Too many families have suffered the deep hurt and trauma of bereavement
following the suicide of a family member or friend," the West Belfast MP said.
"Greater efforts must be made to tackle this problem.
Mr Adams said counselling projects were being run on a shoestring budget in
the north and west of the city.
He added that a strategy for the prevention of suicide, developed by the North
and West Trust, had not been fully implemented because of a lack of funding.
Fiona Barnes and Michael McComb's suicides have brought back harrowing memories of a six-week period in north Belfast earlier this year when 13 young men and women took their own lives.
Priests and community workers have urged youths facing problems to seek help
before their troubles become overwhelming.
At the height of the earlier suicide crisis, centred around the economically
deprived Ardoyne district, a special 24-hour hotline was set up.
PA