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A GROUP THAT supports bereaved parents has condemned the lack of “dignity and respect” shown to children who were buried in coffins with unrelated adults.
The practice, known as “tandem burial”, was discussed in a 29 August letter – seen today by TheJournal.ie - from the HSE’s Tony O’Brien to Ambrose McLoughlin, then Secretary General of the Department of Health.
It appears from reports we have that on occasion and in exceptional circumstances, there was a practice where a neonate who died in hospital and where the other options for burial of this neonate (e.g. burial in a hospital or religious plot) were not selected, that the remains of the neonate would be placed in a coffin of another deceased person.
Ger O’Brien, from First Light – formerly known as the Irish Sudden Infant Death Association – told TheJournal.ie that the practice was another sign that “as a society, we haven’t respected the dignity of every child.”
The life of that child must be validated as being as important as any child.
O’Brien said that this was not done, since “their final resting place is not even identifiable.”
Marie Creegan, social worker at Féileacáin – the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Association of Ireland – told TheJournal.ie her group had received up to 15 calls from worried parents since this morning.
This just brings to the fore once again that infants just don’t seem to count – we don’t value babies.
The letter – which emerged following a Freedom of Information request by RTÉ – says tandem burials took place “in a limited number of hospitals,” as confirmed by current and retired staff, in particular mortuary staff.
Ideally the awareness and understanding of both families involved would have been sought, though this is not guaranteed.
In a statement sent to TheJournal.ie this evening, the HSE emphasised that tandem burial was a “historical practice” which ended in the early 1980s, and “does not occur in HSE hospitals today.”
The scale of the practice is difficult to determine due to the changed landscape of all healthcare facilities, including maternity hospitals, from that time to today.
Furthermore, the record-keeping for such practices was not sufficiently comprehensive in order to allow a full picture in relation to the practice to be established.
Ger O’Brien warns that parents and families must not now be “retraumatised,” and called for the HSE and Department of Health not to systematically inform all parents.
For some people, it would just be too traumatic, some may actually prefer not to know.
And notifying everyone would take away their choice, which was done in the first place when the children were given the tandem burials.
Instead, she is calling for a clear time frame to be made public, so parents who think their children may have been involved can choose to come forward, if they wish.
“When they do come forward, the HSE should then facilitate them completely,” she added.
Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó’Caoláin has this evening called on the HSE to “establish the full extent of this practice,” calling it inappropriate and offensive to the families involved.
This is yet another distressful revelation that will cause considerable upset, for mothers who have lost children in birth or who had still births in the 1980s.
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A Huge WIN for common sense!!!!!!!!
@Kevvy kerrr: p s.— there’s a regular poster on her called ‘common sense’— wasn’t referring to him/her/they/them!!!
@Kevvy kerrr: I might be able to sleep at night eventually. A great day for justice.
@Basildon Joe: Talking to yourself yet again, I see.
@Brendan O’Brien: who Are you muugy man? Cocka roacho
@Basildon Joe: Yes, that’s him!
Absolutely wonderful work by the mighty FG, no wonder sensational simon is heading for an awesome win :)
@Brendan O’Brien: a crushing defeat for the climate cult lol
Over a million passengers arrived at Dublin Airport in 2023 and were getting onward connecting flights.
They never left the airport and therefore wouldn’t have had any traffic impact on our infrastructure and shouldn’t have been included in the Airport Passenger Cap
@Chaotic State: but they were not included. And yes this is great news
@Chaotic State: Actually 2.4 million passengers were transfer passengers between Europe and North America. Dublin is now the 5th largest transatlantic hub in Europe.
Great news!
@G: FG are a class act
There’s an argument to be had that the national infrastructure should be brought under the remit of the Oireachtas. A compromise would be that the cross party transport committee could oversee it, rather than the Government of the day. It’s absolutely bonkers to think that a road restriction from 2007 could impact the national economy through this infrastructure so much.
@Tom tom: It’s such a bad reflection on our politicians
@Tom tom: Absolutely bonkers to think that Eamon Ryan sat on the fence on this!!!
@Thesaltyurchin: Shock, horror…well I never…..
@Brian Hunt: that’s fair
Fingal county manager Ms Farrelly should now be sacked immediately.
@Gavan Hogan: for what??? Abiding & holding firm to the actual 2007 report??
@Frank Mc Carthy: Yes, an outdated report based on old infrastructure
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: mmmm, let’s see, say I just don’t agree with the speed limit on the motorway of 120km/ hr…… so I can go at 150km/hr??? You HAVE to operate under existing laws at the time
@Frank Mc Carthy: You seem to only apply that logic sporadically according to your comments on other articles.
@Diarmuid Hunt: ??chutes?? The ‘pot calling kettle black’ dilemma??
@Frank Mc Carthy: You were never the brightest in the shed it seems.
@Frank Mc Carthy: That’s not really a relevant comparison. Nice try though! Maybe you should tell the judge that gave the stay your little comparison and see if he changes his mind!
@Alex: shed?
Fire the clown immediately
There are 1 million more inhabitants than in 2007, that’s less than 20% growth, the total passenger traffic in 2007 in Dublin airport was 23.3 million, and back then the oil prices were as high as they’re now and you could buy a €9.99 Ryanair ticket to Barcelona and hotels were cheaper and widely available. A 32 million passenger cap counts for 37.34% increase. Europes population hasn’t grown that much since 2007 and most importantly, our infrastructure hasn’t improved much since then. It’s a scare tactic by airlines, you can keep up a higher demands with a 32 million cap without overwhelming the mediocre infrastructure we have. No metro, no trains, no extra lanes, no extra train tracks.
@J Ven: the M50 increased from a 2 lane to a 3 lane motorway. That’s a 50% increase. Much more bus services as well. Metro in the works….. How is it a scare tactic by airlines who have to reduce their capacity or not expand because of the cap?!?! It’s literally stopping growth, not just for the airlines but negatively impacting jobs and tourism. There are way more Americans travelling here compared to 2007
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: the M50 increased to a 3 lane in 2007 when the passenger traffic was 23.3 million, today remains the same, it hasn’t changed.
@J Ven: The M50 upgrade began in 2006 and was completed in 2010. If all stakeholders and news articles are saying the condition was based off old road infrastructure….. Maybe you might be wrong!!!
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: a big scare tactic.and pure greed here. No metro will ever happen.
@Basildon Joe: Wouldn’t be newsworthy if the DAA were proactive and had the cap raised years ago. It’s nonsense to cap an airport based on infrastructure from 17 years ago that has since been upgraded…… Economic growth doesn’t happen with charity and good will, a bit of greed from them benefits us all with extra routes and more tourists. Otherwise the airlines will just go elsewhere to make the profit like we’ve seen with Ryanair moving planes from Dublin
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: I don’t know what age are you, but I drive a 3 line M50 in 2007, besides that, what about the other motorways, or are you suggesting that all hotels and tourists stays within the M50? The city centre is locked during peak hours, no extra lanes, not much has been done in Dublin or the country to transport that many passengers who are nothing going through the M50, but the M1 as well with the same lanes as 2007, the city centre and other parts of Ireland. I don’t know how old you are, but traffic wasn’t that bad in 2007 even in the city centre, it was barely manageable and starting to need upgrades that’s never came to a satisfactory extent.
@J Ven: You don’t need more lane on the m50.
@J Ven: Here, read the M50 website and argue your version of reality with them, link to their facts below……. Peak hours to travel to the airport are between 4am and 7am for the non stop departures from 6am to 9am. Travelling from the airport is probably busiest between 11am – 2 pm (all year), and again from 10pm to 12pm. (More so in the summer). That doesn’t line up with local rush hour traffic!
https://www.m50concession.com/the-m50-upgrade-2/
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: “Metro in the works”
Are you joking?
We will be flying to mars by the time we get a metro working:)
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: I’ll take that you’re a kid who doesn’t use the M50 or drove 20 years ago vs today. I’ll take you for a kid who never drove in another European capital. You’ve got two ears and one mouth, use them accordingly, the M50 is not Dublin, read about the traffic bottleneck concept in engineering, learn something and then speak.
@J Ven: I’m in my 50s, live in Dublin. If you’re going to argue that the M50 was 3 lanes in 2007 maybe get your facts right first, your memory obviously isn’t as good as you think. It’s a simple thing to get right and I was even good enough to source the info for you….. Dublin City is a disaster without any input from the airport. It is poorly planned. The country has also had a population increase of approx 900k people since 2007 and a lot of people moved to Dublin and commuter towns from the country since the crash, many of whom work in the city. Public transport isn’t amazing either….. You might take your own advice and learn when M50 was up and running as 3 lanes and we wouldn’t have gotten into this little too and frow! You’re welcome!
Every other industry will be looking at this now and wondering if the planning laws they don’t like that may affect their profits can now be scrapped outside of the planning process. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
@John Dennehy: It’s nice to have an independent judiciary
@John Dennehy: When a law or a planning is 100% outdated, judges shouldn’t upheld them, it’s common sense.
@Alex: What happens if a judge considers a law outdated that the majority of people, including yourself, don’t? Would you have a problem with the judge not enforcing it, or do you think you will be able to pick and choose the laws you want enforced?
@John Dennehy: hopefully :)
Proper order.
@Tom tom: yet another reason to vote for the mighty FG
Woderic O’Gorman says that a Trump win would be a disaster for Ireland. It wouldn’t be a fraction of the disaster Woderic has been to Ireland!
@Brian Hunt: Trump is a disaster for everyone except lawyers
@FoxyBoiiYT: trump is god
Fantastic news hopefully will see Trump Force 1 landing soon back in Ireland.
Outstanding – keep feeding the Dublin monster / it’s working out so well.
@Patrick O’Leary: I was actually looking for the anti Dublin brigade. I found you
Any time the government sets a cap on something (prices, rent, wages, passenger numbers) it never has a positive effect on the economy. Hopefully the Supreme Court steps in to overrule more nonsensical economic intervention by the government in the future, but I won’t get my hopes up.
@Frank O’Hara: Well, it looks like they all can be challenged now.
@Frank O’Hara: The government didn’t set the Dublin airport passenger cap. Fingal county council set it as part of the planning approval for the second east west runway.
@Michael Fehily: That’s incorrect. The cap was put in place on 2007 as part of the conditions of planning for Terminal 2. It was put in place as there was a concern over road congestion in the surrounding areas around close to the airport. Most notably the M50 which still had a physical toll both and was only two lanes. The new runway which has seperate restrictions is not connected to the current passenger cap that is in place.
Common sense prevails. Proof that the DAA & fingal council aren’t fit for purpose (already knew that) and should resign or be sacked
I dont have a view on the CAP per se. other than
Why is CARGO not shipped to Shannon / Cork
But I have an issue with court overruling the Planning rules.
Sets a bad precedent IMHO..
@Pete Lee: because it’s useless to ship it somewhere else than Dublin.
Can’t understand how people in the Midlands don’t use shannon/knock a lot more. There’s no traffic congestion loads of parking. You can collect someone stress free.
@Michael Carty: More comprehensive flight choice at Dublin because of population volumes. Hense better choices from Dublin
@Michael Carty: Because Dublin want all the planes/passengers/resources. The rest of Ireland can go f themselves as far as the Jackeens are concerned
@FoxyBoiiYT: Airlines decide where they fly not airports. No gov or IAA can regulate where they fly
@Michael Carty: Used Cork over the weekend, living in South Tipperary. Great little airport, in and out of security in 5 min. Parking reasonable, don’t know why anyone down this end of the country would use Dublin if they can help it.
@Michael Fehily: No, there are more destinations from Dublin because successive Irish Governments have for decades failed to foster regional development as to do so would require a level of competence beyond them – look at the boreen passing as a national primary route between our second + third largest cities (both with international airports nearby) as just one embarrassing example. I know you probably consider Dublin as being literally centre of the Universe but you should try taking off the blinkers some time. And BTW the word is spelt “hence”, not “hense”.
Waterford Airport needs government investment to assist the private monies already raised -
@D: O Leary asked them to extend the runway for his knew planes maybe 10 years ago and they told him no. They only figure out now that it should be done. Clowns
Great news!! Proper decision
Was Ryanair going to build a second airport in wicklow few years ago and were refused just asking why and by who and what reason
@Chris Whelan: Ryanair wanted to open Baldonnel as a second airport. They also offered to build an independent terminal at Dublin. They were refused on both because the govt feared a loss of duty free sales and slot fees at Dublin
@Chris Whelan: Ryanair should be supporters to do whatever they want. Truly amazing company
Hear…hear…we need unending pollution so billionaire airline owners can make more money.
No polluter pays nonsense!
A County Council should have no role in regulating such an important piece of national infrastructure.
Build a new airport in Wicklow
More carbon taxes for Paddy Irish instead
We can not deliver infrastructure in this country because of a legal system whereby the individual right takes preference over the common good, whereas Chona is the other way round. Neither is balanced, and we need to achieve that.
Meanwhile beurocratic and senseless planning systems (with a little bit of nepotism thrown in) simply don’t deliver for fear of a court challenge.
That is why projects like the Childrens Hospital spend years ( typically 7 to 20) the planning and 3 in construction with massive budget overruns.
Meanwhile m50 is gridlocked when a simple overhead rail system (or underground) should have been built.
money talks and BS walks.. they didn’t build another runway for nothing..
Horray, planning permission being overruled never ends badly in Ireland. Absolte Joke of a country. Simply cannot see beyond Dublin
@FoxyBoiiYT: it’s wonderful to see the climate cult in total meltdown :)
@Mike Doe: how dare you ! Hehe
May build more fuel storage facilities at the airport now
have your say