Rising suicide rates among Irish teenagers can be halted if health experts and psychologists join forces to lift the "taboos and terror", the President Mary McAleese declared today.
As agencies grappling with an issue shrouded by stigma gathered at Aras an Uachtarain to devise a new priority action, the President also stressed the vulnerability of older men.
She urged agencies and victims' families to pit their wits in a bid to strengthen available support for those at risk. Mrs McAleese said: "For the young person walking around Ireland somewhere with a great big bit of concrete in his stomach who can't face tomorrow, maybe just maybe he would know all this is, is a bad patch.
"We need to be able to reach him to take that cement block and say it's easier carried with company."
With 444 suicides recorded in Ireland last year the authorities have been attempting to cope with the problem that has placed the state among Europe's blackspots.
Although ranking towards the lower end of overall cases among EU member countries, Ireland has one of the highest instances of 15 to 24-year-olds taking their own lives.
The Government is expected to announce a special suicide prevention strategy later this year. After being inaugurated for a second term in November President McAleese pledged to open up her office to people and groups struggling to cope with the challenges of modern life.
And as part of that commitment she hosted a forum at Aras an Uachtarain for those groups working across the island on suicide intervention and prevention.
Even though the vulnerability of teenage youths has caused alarm, the President also spoke out about the dangers facing men in retirement. "I see it a lot," she said.
PA