Right to die: ‘An ethical issue that this country will have to address’

Though the last prosecution in Ireland for a suicide attempt was in 1967, the jury is still out on the topic of assisted dying.

Debate around assisted dying has been a slow burner in Ireland, where up to 25 years ago, suicide and attempted suicide were still criminal offences.

The last prosecution for a suicide attempt was in 1967, the Seanad was told in 1991, when then-justice minister Ray Burke spoke on a new bill proposed by Fine Gael’s Dan Neville, seeking to decriminalise suicide.