Emily O’Reilly warning over assisted deaths

Ireland could be exposed to the practice of euthanasia in the not-too distant future, European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has warned.

She told a major conference on advocacy for older people in Dublin that in some mainland European states euthanasia and assisted suicide were undergoing a “normalisation process”.

Euthanasia is legal in EU states such as the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Assisted suicide is legal in Germany.