The governments on both side of the Border need to show leadership in tackling suicide and self-harm, Gerry Adams said today.
The Sinn Féin president told a conference hosted by his party at Stormont that an alliance on suicide prevention needed to be forged throughout the island, with both administrations building on their anti-suicide strategies.
"The key now is delivery," the West Belfast MP argued. "We need to see the implementation of this approach. We also need to integrate the existing strategies north and south.
"Last week the Assembly mandated the Health Committee to conduct an inquiry into suicide, gathering evidence on the problem, and reporting back to the Executive and the Assembly by February.
"This presents an important opportunity to push suicide prevention to the top of the Executive's policy agenda. It also presents an opportunity to further build an alliance against suicide on this island."
Official records say 645 people took their own lives on both sides of the Border in 2005. One year later it increased, with 291 people dying as a result of suicides in Northern Ireland and almost 500 in the Republic.
PA