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THE REPORT of the Forum on End of Life has brought a sharp focus to how we treat death, dying and bereavement. The report is published today with draft proposals for making Ireland a better place in which to die. The Irish Hospice Foundation, which initiated the project, has recorded the opinions of – among others – illness groups, religions, older people, children’s interests, funeral firms, emergency services, doctors and nurses, architects, human and legal rights bodies, chaplains, statutory bodies, gays and lesbians, Travellers, educationalists and suicide support services.

One pivotal view is the need for a national end-of-life strategy to permeate every aspect of Irish life. As is clear from the submissions, death issues are not just the business of doctors and nurses. There needs to be regulation and high standards in the funeral business, in domiciliary care services, in bereavement and spiritual care, in mortuaries and in the treatment of remains after death.