The coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in people feeling suicidal in Northern Ireland, Stormont s mental health champion has warned.
Professor Siobhan O Neill said that losing loved ones to the virus and the impact of restrictions was causing people to feel hopeless.
She was speaking after it emerged over 25,000 people called Northern Ireland s suicide prevention service Lifeline during 2019/20.
A total of 25,638 people called the crisis line in the 12 months to last April, an increase of over 2,000 from 23,555 in 2018/19.
In 2019/20, 5,255 calls were also made to Lifeline by third parties on behalf of an individual, down from 5,732 the previous year.
They are generally made by someone concerned about a person s mental health, such as a GP or the emergency services.
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Covid-19: Court challenge to child sport ban passes first stage
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A court challenge to the ban on children playing sport outdoors due to Covid-19 has cleared the first hurdle after the Department of Health (DoH) decided not contest the application.
A judicial review is now scheduled to take place on 18 March.
The case, brought on behalf of an individual child, argues the ban is harming children s physical and mental health.
Stephen Atherton, the layer acting on behalf of that child, said that his client s life had been reduced to the size of a screen .
He told the High Court in Belfast: This impetus comes against a backdrop of the Mental Health Champion for Northern Ireland, Professor Siobhan O Neill, and other child health experts declaring publicly that the pandemic is having a devastating effect on children and child welfare is now a national emergency.
Coronavirus Northern Ireland: When will lockdown end and life return to normal
It is almost one year since Northern Ireland entered its first lockdown and the question on everyone s lips is, when will it end?
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With at least another month of lockdown restrictions ahead after numerous extensions, a return to some kind of normality still seems a long way off.
The rainy days have been adding to the gloomy feeling around this lockdown but better days are hopefully just around the corner.
This evening First Minister Arlene Foster said the current lockdown has made a major difference in efforts to suppress the virus.