Families of nursing home Covid victims to hold their own remembrance day

Speaking on behalf of a number of families of the 23 residents who died at Dealgan House (pictured), Co. Louth, Ann Cleary said they found it “extremely disrespectful” to the people who died in nursing homes.

Up to around 2,000 people who lost loved ones in nursing homes during the pandemic are to hold their own Remembrance Day service on March 18.

Organisers Care Champions is holding two candle-lit vigils in Cork and Dundalk, the locations of some of the nursing homes hit hardest during the pandemic.

They have decided to go ahead with their own event because none of the people involved with organizing the National Ceremony of Remembrance and Reflection on March 20 had contacted them.

There was a fear that nothing would be done to specifically commemorate the estimated 2,100 lives lost in the country's nursing homes during the pandemic, so they went ahead and organized their own.

Although around 300 people are expected to attend each event in person, at least 1,400 will be expected to join the events - which will be streamed live on Facebook - virtually.

The Taoiseach’s Office, which is organizing the official March 20 event in Dublin, was asked last week why Care Champions had not been invited or even consulted.

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A government spokesperson said: “Families of the bereaved, regardless of the setting, will be represented at the commemoration, along with frontline workers from across all sectors.”

Care Champions CEO Majella Beattie said: “We hadn’t heard from anybody from the government during the initial planning of the March 20 event.

“So, we decided to just go ahead and do our own thing. It is a pity that, with something as sensitive as this event, the families of those who died in nursing homes were not asked what kind of service they would like.

“Families were also not asked to take part. Although the Taoiseach’s Office has called on Thursday to invite three representatives, we had already decided to hold our own event.”

Last week, the Irish Examiner reported representatives of families who lost loved ones in nursing homes were furious organizers had not been in touch.

Speaking on behalf of a number of families of the 23 residents who died at Dealgan House, Co. Louth, Ann Cleary said they found it “extremely disrespectful” to the people who died in nursing homes.

She also said many felt it was “as if their lives did not matter, that their deaths are irrelevant” and that not even being asked about the forthcoming service was an “insult to injury”.