A decision on whether or not the scope of an inquest will include psychiatric care provided to a mother before she killed her three children in Dublin five years ago will be made this month.
Senior coroner Dr Myra Cullinane told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday morning that she hoped the inquest into the deaths of Conor McGinley (9), Darragh McGinley (7), and Carla McGinley (3) would be heard this year.
The children were killed by their mother, Deirdre Morley, a paediatric nurse, at their family home in Newcastle, Co Dublin, on January 24th, 2020. They died by asphyxia.
Their father, Andrew McGinley, discovered their bodies.
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Ms Morley, who attended the preliminary inquest hearing remotely on Wednesday, was found not guilty of their murder by reason of insanity following a 2021 trial at the Central Criminal Court.
At a preliminary inquest hearing in 2023, Mr McGinley sought that the scope of the inquest be widened to include the care his wife received in the preceding two years.
However, the application was challenged by a legal representative for consultant psychiatrist Olivia Gibbons, who had treated Ms Morley before the deaths.
Submissions were also received from the Health Service Executive (HSE) concerning the scope of the inquiry, the court heard on Wednesday.
Dr Cullinane told those present that as no further submissions were received, including from Ms Morley, she would rule on the scope of the inquiry later this month.
Separately, counsel for Ms Morley, Nora-Pat Stewart, made an application seeking certification for legal aid and legal representation from a solicitor on the coroner’s inquest panel.
“I don’t need to go into details of this particularly difficult matter. Complex issues arise and Ms Morley is not a woman of means and will not be, into the future, it would seem, a woman of means.
“On that basis, she does need representation to give her effective right of audience if any issues arise in the context of the inquest hearing,” she said.
Dr Cullinane said she was satisfied to make the application, though the decision would ultimately be the Legal Aid Board’s to make.
Ms Stewart also sought that Ms Morley’s medical records be disclosed to interested parties in full, unredacted, for the purposes of the inquest.
Alongside the records, the coroner said she would disclose reports prepared by two forensic psychiatrists who assessed Ms Morley following the deaths.
A transcript of the criminal trial, alongside the contents of a Garda investigation file, will also be disclosed, she said.
The inquest was adjourned to October, during which witnesses will be considered.
“I would anticipate that we should proceed to hearing very shortly thereafter and hopefully within this year,” she said.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr McGinley said it was “positive” that the inquest into his children’s deaths is “moving forward.”
“I look forward to hopefully an extended scope,” he said.
“An inquest is to be a clear and transparent process, and that’s what I would hope, and it can only be done if everybody engages positively with it, and that’s why I’m here,” he said.
Mr McGinley has said details of his wife’s illness that emerged during the trial were unknown to him.
Counsel at a previous inquest hearing outlined Mr McGinley’s belief that his wife’s condition had not been properly diagnosed and she had not been properly treated.
Mr McGinley also believed he had not been properly involved in her diagnosis and treatment in relation to its nature, extent and symptoms.
