New Mayo Coroner calls for more investment to reduce inquest delays

The new Coroner for Mayo has called on the Department of Justice to invest in the Coroner's Service to ensure that inquests are carried out in a timely manner.

Crossmolina-based GP, Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald, was appointed as the new Coroner for the district of Mayo by the Minister of Justice this week. Dr Fitzgerald, who is the current Coroner for Mayo North replaces Swinford-based solicitor Pat O'Connor, who retired from the position of Coroner for Mayo in October.

Her appointment will also result in the Mayo North Coronial District merging with the District of Mayo meaning that there will be only one coroner covering all of the county.

Dr Fitzgerald told The Mayo News that she was honoured to take up the role and looked forward to working on behalf of the people right across Mayo.

Having recently served a term as President of the Coroners Society of Ireland, she welcomed the reforms that are being introduced into the coroner's service but feels that greater investment is needed in the service.

“I was involved as President of the Coroner's Society in meetings with the Department of Justice and we are faced with huge challenges with the lack of pathologists and delays in getting PM [post mortem] reports done and toxicology. People expect results to come back faster.

“While reform is moving forward in the right direction we are the poor relation in comparison to other parts of the justice system and they should invest more into the Coroner's Service. We play an important role in the interface between the people who have died and their relatives and we are there to protect their interests. We do have an important role but in order to carry that out we definitely need to be resourced better,” she explained.

Long delays

Her predecessor Pat O'Connor commented last year that pathologists were waiting for up to six months before they received the results of toxicology tests due to under-resourcing in the State lab.

Dr Fitzgerald was appointed a Deputy-Coroner for Mayo North in 1986 before taking up the role on a full-time basis 24 years ago following the retirement of the late Dr Mickey Loftus. During that time she has covered a number of high profile events including presiding over the inquests following the R116 Coast Guard helicopter tragedy off the Blacksod coast in 2017.

She said that the role is almost a full-time role but she was fortunate in that she has stepped back from her medical practice to concentrate more on being the new coroner.

“It is becoming like a full-time role but I am in a fortunate position that I have stepped back from general practice full-time. I still do some clinical work but the brunt of running the practice has gone from me. I am in a fortunate position that I have the time for it.

“It was looked upon as a part-time job and you were not paid and you had to cover all your costs and expense of administration and staff so you needed the main job to be able to afford to be a coroner. At this stage the payment I will get will cover the administration and it has stepped up since I started last Monday,” she added.