ASK any teacher in any school in Ireland what their greatest concerns are, and they will most likely mention the mental health of their students.

Key issues affecting young people in the Republic of Ireland will be up for discussion at a Young People's Assembly being held in Liberty Hall in Dublin this afternoon.

THE tragic suicide of two young men, who signed a pact to take their own lives after meeting on an internet chatroom, shines a light on a crisis besetting Irish society which successive governments have failed to address with any real conviction.