We have campaigned long and hard for this bill and we were devastated, when on the 10th May, the Bill was unable to proceed through its Third Stage, before the joint Oireachtas Justice and Equality Committee, because the government had withheld a ‘money message’ for the bill. Overall the Bill reforms the coroners’ service and brings up to date very old legislation about the coroners’ service dating back to 1962. In 2000, a Working Group was formed from the Department of Justice to review the Coroners’ Service and the 1962 legislation. In 2007, a Coroners Bill was introduced into the Dáil but did not advance. In 2015, Deputy Clare Daly TD, who has championed our cause from the outset, rescued the bill. Deputy Daly and her staff inserted into the Bill our clause, making inquests mandatory in all maternal deaths (see below for an explanation). They also worked flat out to bring the rest of the Bill up to date with over 60 amendments which would make the Coroners’ Service fit for purpose. The cost of a fully modernized Coroners’ Service is approximately 12 million euro overall. It is a crucial public service for the common good, as a whole. The part of our segment of the Bill, the clause for mandatory maternal death inquests, is approximately 160,000 euro per year. This is a truly minimal sum per year for the crucial work of a public inquest when a woman dies in our maternity services. Approximately eight women die each year in our maternity services. Families need to know what was the chain of events leading up to why their wives, partners and the mothers of their children have died. The public need to know. The HSE and our 19 maternity units need to know so that they truly learn lessons from these tragedies. When the Bill could not proceed at the joint Committee meeting on the 10th May, Deputy Daly declared that she was ‘gutted’ that this bill is being held up. The Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Justice and Equality Committee, Deputy Ó Caoláin said that the government withholding the money message approval for the bill was ‘intolerable’. We in the Elephant Collective who started this campaign on behalf of the families are devastated. The husbands and families are even more devastated. Could we ask you to send a message to the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald saying again that you support mandatory inquests into maternal deaths? This is the Minister’s email address minister@justice.ie This campaign, which has gone across the country and with dozens of small voluntary groups contributing to the knitting in commemoration of the women who have died in our maternity services, is absolutely non-partisan. Councilors across the board have supported this measure for mandatory inquests for maternal deaths from all parties, from Independents, from non-party. The country feels the weight of this measure for mandatory inquests for maternal deaths as a matter of justice. Passing this measure will put us in line with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees a right to life and a right to know why a life has ended unexpectedly. This carries the corresponding obligation of authorities to conduct an effective investigation into an unexpected death. We would be so very grateful if you could act. Sincerely, Dr Jo Murphy-Lawless on behalf of the Elephant Collective School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Mary Howard Criticises Fitzgerald For Blocking Mandatory Maternity Inquiries http://www.clare.fm/news/howard-criticises-fitzgerald-blocking-mandatory-maternity-inquiries/