Father vows justice after daughter’s suicide

THE father of a young woman who hanged herself hours after being transferred from a private hospital to a public ward vowed last night to pursue the Department of Health though the courts until he got justice for his daughter.

Anne O’Rahilly, a 21-year-old student from Adare, Co Limerick, died in the public psychiatric unit of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital on September 20, 2002, just 16 hours after being transferred from St Patrick’s Private Hospital in Dublin because her health insurance was not adequate.

Her father, Jim O’Rahilly, is suing the Mid-Western Health Board for mental distress.