Minister at suicide boy's funeral warns his friends: 'Suicide won't make you a celebrity'

Reverend Shane Forster's message was delivered during the funeral of Northern Ireland schoolboy Lee Walker. The 15-year-old died on Friday night.

One month ago Wayne Browne, 15, killed himself in a nearby village and one week ago his 15-year-old friend James Topley also died in the same location. All the boys attended Craigavon Senior High School.

There are fears that the suicide pact could eventually involve a dozen teenagers.

Reverend Forster said: "There are so many theories as why Lee, James, Wayne and Stuart died in this way. Many of those theories are just born out of fear. But if you have any idea of what is going on tell someone.

"People's responses are no longer words of why, of how, and how the family are going to cope. Instead people are saying, 'Who will be next?' That is just not healthy.

"By taking your own life you do not become a celebrity. There is no glorification in suicide. All there is is pain."

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There are suggestions that social networking websites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook could have been used as forums by the youngsters to talk about their plans and the most effective way of carrying them out.

Psychologist Dr Arthur Cassidy, who has been working with youngsters in the area following the deaths, believes as many as 12 boys could have made a pact which involves "agreed dates".

He said they were "undoubtedly assisted by research done on the Internet".

"We've had young people coming to us crying and saying that they fear their friend is going to be next," he said. "We've been trying to just be there for the young people, listen to their problems and show them help is available."

Dr Cassidy said parents should be especially on their guard if their children have suddenly made new friends "without any logical explanation". The mother of one of the three dead boys said she had no idea why her son would have wanted to end his life.

Dorothy Browne, mother of Wayne, said her son had been "happy and outgoing", adding: "I can't believe that Wayne has done this. I can't believe it at all. We are breaking our hearts, we wouldn't want to see this happen to another family."

With the community and the boys' school in mourning, the authorities and church leaders have tried to play down fears of a suicide pact.

Reverend Brian Harper of Mullavilly Parish Church admitted there was no explanation for three suicides in a month but said talk of a pact was making things worse.

"The community has gone into free-fall hysteria over the weekend," he said. "Parents have been told that their children are dead.

"Children are receiving text messages that their best friends are dead. They are going absolutely hysterical, and once text messaging starts, it flies through the whole community."

Stormont Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said he wanted to talk to the companies behind Internet networking sites about their strategy for dealing with vulnerable teenagers.

He said: "One of the questions we have to ask though is what responsibility are Internet operators assuming in this because the Internet is being used widely as part of the contagion?

"How are they fitting in with the suicide prevention strategy and the prevention mechanisms? How do they see themselves fitting in with that? Or do they see themselves simply making a buck?"