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Coroners to challenge draft Coroners' Bill E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Wednesday, 03 January 2007
West Galway Coroner and President of the Coroners' Society Dr Ciaran McLoughlin has indicated that the Coroners Society will be consulting a senior counsel for direction on the draft Coroners' Bill, which will be brought before the Dáil in the coming weeks.

In a recent interview in 'The Examiner', Dr McLoughlin welcomed the proposed legislative reform of the coroners' service, which would increase coroners' powers. However, he noted that wording in the proposed bill that states that some coroners "may cease to hold office", was of major concern.

He noted that while it is recognised that the number of coroners need to be reduced, the legislation proposes to do this without consulting coroners. There are 48 coroners' court districts throughout Ireland. All coroners are either a lawyer or doctor, appointed by local authorities. All are part-time State officials, except Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, whose position is full-time.

An inquest into a person's death is held at a coroner's court, if someone dies in unnatural circumstances. Questions of civil or criminal liability cannot be considered, or investigated.

The draft legislation proposes the establishment of a centralised Coroner Service with its head office in Navan, governed by the Department of Justice. It would reduce the number of coroners to between 25 and 30, with many full-time positions replacing part-time ones.


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