Elma Walsh appeared on RTÉ’s Liveline on Tuesday to share her son Donal’s story and make the case for improved palliative care services in Ireland, rather than introducing a law that would facilitate people taking their own lives or being coerced into doing so by others.
The programme was discussing the latest push to legalise euthanasia/assisted suicide in Ireland.
Elma, founder of #LiveLife, a foundation established in honour of her son Donal, spoke about how he had been given just seven weeks to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, but went on to live for seven months.
During those precious months, Donal got to do incredible things with his family and friends, while working tirelessly and with extraordinary bravery to address teenage suicide, encouraging his peers to embrace life and live it to the full.
Through his appearance on RTÉ’s Saturday Night Show in 2013, Donal made a huge impression on his peers and local community, becoming nationally known and respected.
On Tuesday’s Liveline, Elma spoke about the dramatic change to society that legalising euthanasia would bring. She warned that experience in other countries shows how vulnerable people, including those in situations like Donal’s, could increasingly “feel obliged” to opt for assisted suicide out of fear of becoming a burden on their families or the state.
Against a line-up of campaigning callers pushing for the door to euthanasia to be opened, Elma did an excellent job emphasising the need for improved palliative care facilities in parts of Ireland where services are currently lacking, rather than introducing euthanasia and all the horrors that would follow.
Other contributors on the programme included Tony Curran, who spoke eloquently and from the heart about the terrible mistake it would be to open the door to euthanasia.