Galway lobby sees registration of deaths abroad
Irish citizens who die abroad will now finally be allowed to have their deaths registered in Ireland thanks to a Galway-led campaign.
Government has passed an amendment, which allows Irish citizens who die abroad to have their deaths registered in their home country.
The long awaited amendment to the Civil Registration Act was introduced in the Dáil by Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, following a long campaign spearheaded by a Galway family.
The change in law has come about following the death of Galway City student, Keith O’Reilly in Chicago in 2009.
When that tragedy occurred, Keith O’Reilly’s parents, Yvonne and Liam, led a campaign to have the legislation changed so that their son could have the death registered to the country of his birth.
City councillor Pádraig Conneely (FG) took up the baton and led the campaign with the O’Reillys from Woodhaven, Merlin Park.
Cllr Conneely, the O’Reilly family and other Irish families affected by the anomaly in the legislation addressed the Oireachtas on the problem in 2010.
Cllr Conneely and Ms O’Reilly were among those who made a strong case to the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection again two years ago; and Galway West Fine Gael TD, Seán Kyne, prepared a private members bill in the Dáil proposing the changes.
Cllr Conneely, in welcoming the amendment, said families affected will now be able to apply to have the death of their partner, child or sibling, recorded on the new register of Irish deaths abroad and receive an equivalent to an Irish death certificate.
He said the law, as it was, unnecessarily heaped more suffering on families, who suffer a bereavement of a loved one abroad.
“This new amended legislation will bring some comfort to the many families who have lost a loved one abroad,” added Cllr Conneely.