A new five year government plan focusing on suicide prevention will offer secondary school students guidance and training in stress management.

With Ireland ranking fourth highest in the EU for deaths by suicide, the government aims to combat the worrying issue by arming young people with the tools needed to navigate stressful modern life.

'Connect for Life' is a strategy which hopes to reduce the number of suicides in Ireland by advising teachers how to identify vulnerable students or young people believed to be reliving stress through alcohol consumption or drug use.

The plan will also see the introduction of classes, delivered by experts in the field as opposed to teachers, on the grounds that students may be more candid with an objective adult outside of their daily school environment.

It is understood that the plan will not require extra funding, with Minister of State, Kathleen Lynch, asserting that existing resources will be used in order to develop and maintain the programme.

By strengthening links between schools, hospitals and healthcare services, the government aims to address issues of self-harm and suicide as quickly as possible, with Ms. Lynch explaining: "We need to connect all of these services, It's about making everyone- schools, communities, voluntary groups or health services- are working together and have teh same message."

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