More than eight out of ten people believe politicians are failing to adequately fight suicide in Ireland, a major cross-border study revealed today.
Some 83 per cent of people polled in the Republic and 86 per cent in the North said their governments were found wanting when it came to raising awareness about the issue.
The vast majority want to see more done to tackle suicide rates while stigma surrounding such deaths has eased, according to the Irish Association of Suicidology survey by Millward Brown IMS.
Almost a quarter of respondents in the Republic and 22 per cent in the North said they would not feel ashamed if a member of their family died by suicide.
There was also strong support for the decriminalisation of suicide, with 79 per cent in the Republic and 64 per cent in the North agreed on the law changes.
The majority of people on both sides of the border - 57 per cent in the Republic and 56 per cent in the North - disagreed that once someone has decided to complete suicide that nothing can stop them.
Although most people agree suicide is a symptom of a mental illness, this level of association is notably higher in Northern Ireland than in the Republic, the poll found.
The view is less clear cut in the Republic, with a very significant minority (38 per cent) disagreeing that suicide is related to mental illness. In the North men and younger people are less likely to link the two.
Almost seven out of ten people in the Republic and six out of ten in the North see alcohol as a major contributor to suicide, with respondents from the Republic in the 25 to 34 year-old age group particularly inclined to hold this view.
Fine Gael's deputy spokesman on Health and Children, Dan Neville said the findings of the report "point to a high degree of latent support for organisations that try to prevent suicide and there is much goodwill and understanding available for these organisations to take advantage of, in their efforts to prevent suicide in Ireland."