Plea after teenager's death

Fiona Barnes and her boyfriend, Michael McComb

Young people are being urged to talk about their problems rather than take their own lives.

The plea follows the death of 18-year-old Fiona Barnes from the Divismore area of west Belfast.

Her body was found at the grave of her boyfriend in the City Cemetery on Sunday.

Michael McComb took his life two months ago. His sister, Debbie, 15, was killed by a stolen car on the Springfield Road, Belfast, in March 2002.

Fiona's family said she found it difficult to cope with her boyfriend's suicide.

Speaking on Monday, her father, Aidan, said she spent most of her time at his grave.

"She took Michael's death very badly. She could not handle it. I got help for her," Mr Barnes said.

"I would not say she had this planned. I would say she had thought about it. I reckon she sat beside his grave all night."

We do feel the pain of people who are going through such tragedies Fr Sean Dillon

Fiona's 18th birthday was last week. But according to her family she did not want to celebrate it.

The family say the last few weeks were very difficult as the couple were supposed to be away on holiday together.

Father Sean Dillon - who was called to administer the last rites to Fiona - said young people must be encouraged to seek help.

"The church is always reaching out to people in difficulty, especially in these situations, in a very particular way," he said.

"We do feel the pain of people who are going through such tragedies."

The police said they were not treating Fiona's death as suspicious.

In a period of six weeks at the beginning of the year, 13 young men in Belfast took their own lives.

The Ardoyne Association and PIPS - a group working to help people contemplating suicide and self-harm - handed out thousands of leaflets at that time.

A 24-hour telephone helpline was also set up.

Community workers and officials from the health board are also working at ways to address the alarming rise in suicides among young people.