A study has found that children as young as six have tried to take their own lives. The details of the study will be presented at a conference in Killarney, Co Kerry.

More resources need to be put into mental health services for new mothers and pregnant women, University of Ulster researchers will tell an international conference on suicide prevention today.

The man suspected of shooting his wife before turning the gun on himself at their home near Newry was a respected youth co-ordinator.

An Ulster charity worker is accused of storing more than 23,000 images of child sex abuse on his computer. Londonderry man John Llewelyn James (39) is now at the centre of one of the biggest alleged cases of child pornography ever uncovered in Northern Ireland.

The Health Service Executive has announced it is to increase the number of sexual assault treatment units. Two new units will open in the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar and at University College Hospital Galway, while a new pay and on-call system is to be introduced for GPs elsewhere.

The number of criminal trials held in the Circuit Court has increased by over 20%. More than 2,500 Circuit Court trials took place last year – an increase of a fifth over two years.

The Department of Health last night insisted it is committed to providing high quality care for stroke patients in Northern Ireland in response to criticism that it was denying sufferers a ‘clot- busting’ drug.

Experts from across the world are due to discuss the issue of suicide at a special conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, this week.

A male nurse at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald has been struck off the medical register for inappropriate behaviour. Jonathan Gourley, 32, a nurse in an orthopaedic ward, made suggestive comments to female members of staff and touched them inappropriately.

The Health Service Executive has announced that it is to appoint 60 new consultants to hospitals that have high-performing accident and emergency departments.