Member's statement: Alcohol-specific Deaths

Member's statement by Miss Órlaithí Flynn on 16 February 2026.

MLA

Miss Órlaithí Flynn

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

16 February 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Alcohol-specific Deaths

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5391006

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I rise with deep sadness and concern following publication of the latest NISRA figures on alcohol-specific deaths in the North. In 2024 alone, 397 people died from alcohol-specific causes: that is 397 lives cut short and 397 families devastated and left with an unbearable absence in their homes. Such deaths now account for 2·2% of all deaths registered here. The trend is deeply alarming. Since 2014, the number of alcohol-related deaths has increased by more than 80%. That is not a stable situation; it is a worsening public health crisis that is unfolding in plain sight. The figures show stark inequality. Over the most recent five-year period, there were almost four times as many alcohol deaths in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived. We know what that means in real terms. Communities that already face hardship carry the heaviest burden of addiction, illness and loss. Men continue to be disproportionately affected — almost two thirds of those who died were male — but the rate among women has risen sharply over the decade. Most of those dying are in midlife, between 45 and 64 years of age. Those are people who should still be at the heart of their families and communities. As Sinn Féin spokesperson for addiction and suicide prevention, I want to be clear that alcohol dependence does not exist in isolation; those deaths are inseparable from the reality of co-occurring mental ill health, such as depression, anxiety and deep trauma, that too often goes untreated. Many people who struggle with their mental health turn to alcohol to cope. Over time, harmful alcohol use worsens mental health — it deepens isolation and increases the risk of suicide — and there emerges a cycle that people and families feel trapped within. Therefore, when we speak about alcohol deaths, we are also speaking about mental health services, waiting lists, crisis support and the absence of accessible care that treats addiction and mental ill health together rather than separately. What is needed now is urgent and sustained investment in community addiction services, early intervention, family support and properly resourced mental health care that recognises the reality of co-occurring addictions. Today, I acknowledge the families who live with the pain of those losses every day: the grief, the questions and the sense of what might have been had help come sooner. The people who died were not statistics; they were loved, valued and needed, and their loss must compel us, collectively, to do much better.

416 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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