Right to Die Ireland welcomes Dying with Dignity Vote

Right to Die Ireland is pleased that the Dying with Dignity Bill has passed to the next stage in the Dail. We have campaigned on this issue for the past eight years, since the deaths of Marie Fleming and Anne Holliday who we remember today.

As well as lobbying politicians, we have made submissions to the Constitutional Convention and the Oireachtas Joint Justice Committee. We thank Gino Kenny TD for bringing forward this Bill. We now need an informed and compassionate debate that respectfully hears all concerns.

Tom Curran, partner of Marie Fleming, says:

“The Dying with Dignity bill was just passed to the next stage in the Dail. A true tribute to Marie Fleming and to all others who, unfortunately, this bill is too late to help. Ireland has come a long way to be a world leader in freedom and rights for its people and this is another step forward in giving the Irish people the right to choose. This bill, when it becomes law, will relieve the fear and anguish of the many people who are facing the probability of a painful and prolonged end of life journey. The Right to Die on our own terms is one of the last frontiers in a long battle to take control of our own beings, our bodies, our lives and our deaths. This is another step on the road to the victory of compassion and kindness over cowardice and dogma that prop up our status quo.”

Michael Nugent, partner of Anne Holliday, says:

“The right to die is not only about the act of dying. It is also about the quality of life while you are still alive. My wife Anne Holliday died of terminal lung cancer, after a year and half of knowing every day that she was living and dying at the same time. Anne died naturally, but she had made preparations to take her own life, with my assistance, if she felt that she needed to. Making that decision made a huge difference to her quality of life, because she knew she could live her last months without worrying about unnecessary suffering at the end. It enabled her to fully live and enjoy the time that she had left. Other dying people deserve that peace of mind, and this bill when it comes law will help many others to both live and die with dignity.”