30 May 2022
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is set to tell the Oireachtas Justice Committee that the coroner system is in need of root-and-branch reform. The Committee is examining the issue on Tuesday. ICCL will say that too many grieving families have been left without peace or answers.
In 2021 ICCL published a wide-ranging report on the gaps and inadequacies of the system. Twenty-one years after an independent working group had found that the system was in dire need of reform, we found little had changed. It is still mostly a network of part-time, under-resourced and under-supported coroners. Due to these incredible pressures, it often functions with neither thoroughness nor compassion.
ICCL’s Head of Legal and Policy, Doireann Ansbro, will tell the Committee that:
“Families find themselves with no waiting areas, very little information, and almost no support when they attend inquests. They are left out in the cold. Many also find they don’t get the answers they need at these inquests and are left fighting for justice for years.”
We found that grieving families are faced with a maze of confusing details. They are not guaranteed and are often unaware of legal supports. In contrast, the State and its institutions bring the full force of their legal arsenal.
We found that the Coroner’s Service is not independent from An Garda Síochána. This gives rise to serious issues when the death involves contact with the gardaí. We also found that delays in finding answers can span decades. Cases such as Shane Tuohey’s and Adrian Moynihan’s, which have both been ongoing since 2001, illustrate this point.
The gardaí said Shane Tuohey died by suicide, but evidence not presented at his inquest suggests otherwise. Witness statements made to gardaí have disappeared, and other witnesses refuted statements attributed to them by gardaí. The inquest didn’t take any of this on board. Shane’s family have demanded a fresh inquest for over 20 years.
Adrian Moynihan died in 2001 from restraint asphyxia. He was restrained in such a manner that he could not breathe, and he died. Yet the inquest returned a verdict of death by misadventure, as if Adrian had simply had an accident. The truth of how Adrian died has never been uncovered.
Since publishing the 2021 report, ICCL has conducted awareness raising campaigns focusing on these particular cases.
Crucially, we found recommendations made at inquests receive little to no follow-up. This means the system cannot be trusted to guarantee to families that what happened to their loved one will never happen again.
ENDS/
Find Doireann Ansbro’s Opening Statement to the Committee: https://www.iccl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/220525-ICCL-Opening-Statement-on-Coroners-Reform-FINAL.docx
Find ICCL’s report on the coroners service: https://www.iccl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ICCL-Death-Investigations-Coroners-Inquests-the-Rights-of-the-Bereaved.pdf
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is Ireland’s oldest independent human rights campaigning organisation. We monitor, educate and campaign to secure human rights for everyone in Ireland.
For comment: Doireann Ansbro
For media queries: sinead.nolan@iccl.ie