Web suicide pact is line of inquiry in lake deaths

The PSNI is continuing to investigate the possibility that two young men who died, in what is thought to be a suicide pact, made…

The PSNI is continuing to investigate the possibility that two young men who died, in what is thought to be a suicide pact, made contact with each other via the internet.

The bodies of Barry McGlade (20) from Brook Valley Omagh, Co Tyrone, and Nicolas Jamieson (24) from Walkinstown Dublin were found at Gortin lakes in Tyrone on Tuesday by a specialist search team.

The two men, who had not been seen by their relatives since Saturday, are understood to have written to their families indicating their intentions and providing details of where and how their bodies could to be found.

The McGlade family appealed for privacy last night following the deaths as the PSNI confirmed officers were still investigating the theory that the two men had drawn up their plans in an internet chatroom.

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Fr Neil Farren, a curate in the parish of Drumrath in Omagh, was present as the bodies were recovered from the water. It was reported yesterday that he believed the McGlade family had no idea how Mr McGlade came to meet Mr Jamieson, nor did they know how the events at Gortin lakes came about.

"There were no signs in the days leading up to it," he told the Irish News.

The deaths in Co Tyrone coincide with a spate of attempted suicides in Belfast and a call by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams for Stormont Health Minister Michael McGimpsey to take urgent action.

Teenagers were congratulated yesterday for helping to save the life of a man found hanging from a tree in west Belfast. They helped search for the man after the discovery of a suicide note.

Fifteen deaths by suicide occurred in west Belfast over three months earlier this year, with seven occurring in just one week.

Gerry Adams last night expressed his "sorrow at the deaths of two young men at Gortin lakes" and expressed alarm at reports that a further eight attempted suicides had taken place in the Shankill area of his constituency.

He pressed Mr McGimpsey to "take urgent action to extend and expand the current 24/7 helpline and referral service across the North.

"The levels of suicide and self-harm are increasing at a frightening rate," he said.

"Last year alone there were more than 600 reported deaths by suicide on the island of Ireland, a significant increase from the previous year.

"This figure does not take account of deaths not listed as suicide, or of the huge numbers of mainly young people who self-harm," he added.

Moreover, it was essential, he said, that services aimed at reducing the number of deaths from suicide be extended.

"We also need more community-based services, more psychiatric nurses, more psychiatrists, more psychologists and all of this requires funding, planning and the political will to implement the report. It is also vital that this issue is pursued on an all-Ireland basis," he said. A "joined-up approach" by health ministers North and South would ensure that more resources are available, he added.