Priest says Belfast suicide rate 'terrifying'

A parish priest in Belfast has expressed his concern about the high number of suicides among young men in north Belfast.

Fr Aidan Troy claimed 13 men had killed themselves in the area in the past six weeks.

The latest victim was an 18-year-old whose body was found in the grounds of Holy Cross Church in Ardoyne just hours after the funeral of another teenager who had taken his own life.

Fr Troy said the level of suicides among young men in north Belfast was “terrifying” and he linked the problem to ongoing punishment beatings and threats from paramilitaries.