CALLS HAVE BEEN made for the government to hold a national event to remember those who have died since the pandemic started, and to put in place a process for grieving and reflection caused by the novel coronavirus.

The Irish Hospice Foundation has submitted a three-page paper outlining a series of proposals for Ireland to remember and reflect on the Covid-19 pandemic, with the aim of expressing a “collective connection with the bereaved and to honour, comfort and support”.

A total of 1,754 people who were confirmed to have Covid-19 have died; the first death was announced publicly on 11 March. There have also been 14,000 deaths that aren’t related to Covid-19, but where friends and family may not have been able to grieve properly.

In the height of measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 in Ireland, some people were restricted from visiting relatives in nursing homes, hospices, and other care settings.

Funerals were also limited to a small number, and were webcast so that people could give their condolences and grieve online. In some instances, communities lined the streets as the hearse and family members drove past, as a way of marking their respects. 

In response to the limitations on grief and remembering the dead in the past few months, the Irish Hospice Foundation has proposed:

• A national day, week, or series of mourning and remembrance events for all who have died since the pandemic started,
• Having a national conversation on dying, death and bereavement in Ireland, led by Government.

Chief Executive of Irish Hospice Foundation, Sharon Foley said:

Although we are not through the pandemic, we must begin to plan for a process of active collective remembrance, reflection and recovery as part of the recuperation in post-Covid-19 Ireland.

“Our collective experience over the past number of months has shown us that we can’t afford to turn away from our collective mortality and we need to come together and learn how to face it, head on.”

She called on the government to lead this work in partnership with critical agencies.

In conjunction with the HSE, the Irish Hospital Foundation launched Ireland’s first national Bereavement Support Line in June to offer support and assistance to all those who are bereaved.

The Foundation has also received funding from Creative Ireland to deliver the Government’s new Creativity in Older Age Programme announced this week, which will produce a series of projects designed “to give meaning to the difficulties” experienced through dying, death and bereavement including the curation of a poetry collection.