Rising suicide rate must be tackled

URGENT investment is needed to deal with the rising suicide rate, a leading campaigner in the area has urged, as latest figures reveal eight people kill themselves every week in Ireland.

Counselling services need to be improved as a matter of priority, said Dan Neville, president of the Irish Association of Suicidology.

He was speaking ahead of the group's annual conference, to be held in Belfast this weekend. The focus of the conference, to be attended by 300 delegates from across the world, is on preventing suicide among the young.