Suicide prevention is awaiting a space in a Ministerial diary

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) published statistics in November 2025 confirming 290 registered suicide deaths in the North, according to PIPS Suicide Prevention Ireland Charity.

A spokesperson for the charity said: "We know that five years into the Mental Health Strategy, only 16% of the promised funding has been allocated.

"Through a recent Freedom of Information request by PIPS Suicide Prevention Ireland Charity the Department of Health NI confirmed that the All-Ministerial Group on Wellbeing, Resilience and Suicide Prevention is meant to meet 4 times per year," they added.

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"However, the actual timeline tells a different story. The group met on October 6, 2021 and there were no ministeral meetings for more than three years. The group met again on April 3, 2025, and in November 2025, suicide statistics confirming 290 registered deaths were published.

"In January 2026, a scheduled meeting of the All-Ministerial Group on Wellbeing, Resilience and Suicide Prevention was cancelled. The group is now due to meet on March 12, 2026, four months after the statistics were released.

"In its FOI response, the Department of Health NI has stated that 'meetings have not been possible due to pressures on Ministers’ diaries, and that the meeting on 12 March will review the future frequency of its meetings.' This is not the urgency suicide prevention requires.

"When suicide continues to claim lives across our communities, leadership cannot move at the pace of ministerial diaries. Suicide prevention requires urgency, not cancelled meetings and delayed oversight. The scale of suicide in NI and the families affected by it demand leadership that matches the urgency of this crisis," said the spokesperson.

"At the same time, an inquiry into suicide prevention is underway, yet the All-Ministerial working group did not provide direction for that inquiry, despite its remit being to monitor progress, determine additional actions, examine wider progress, and address the risk and protective factors associated with suicide," they added.

"There is a concern that this inquiry could become a delaying exercise that diverts attention from the urgent action needed on suicide prevention, particularly for community and voluntary crisis intervention services supporting people at their most vulnerable.

"This is not just about funding. It is also about leadership, political priority and the urgency that suicide prevention demands - to fully fund the Mental Health Strategy, with a clear focus on strengthening community and voluntary crisis intervention services.

"More than 6,500 people have signed our petition calling for the Mental Health Strategy to be fully funded. Add your voice. Lives cannot wait for space in Ministerial diaries."