Deirdre Morley and Andrew McGinley take separate High Court medical negligence actions

Deirdre Morley, a highly trained paediatric nurse, was found not guilty of the murder of Conor, 9, Darragh, 7 and Carla, 3, by reason of insanity last year.

Both parents of the three McGinley children who were killed by their mother in their Dublin home have filed separate but similar cases against the HSE, the Governors of St Patrick’s Hospital and a named person in the High Court this week.

The legal action is a bid to highlight the need for improvements in Ireland’s mental healthcare system, the children’s father, Andrew McGinley said.

Mr McGinley filed a case in the High Court on Thursday through Callan Tansey Solicitors over concerns about his wife, Deirdre Morley’s care before she killed their three beloved children in their Newcastle, Co Dublin, home on January 24, 2020.

Ms Morley, a highly trained paediatric nurse, was found not guilty of the murder of Conor, 9, Darragh, 7 and Carla, 3, by reason of insanity last year.

“I want to understand why my children died. Two years on from their deaths and I’m still no clearer,” Mr McGinley told the Irish Examiner.

Mr McGinley has been campaigning for changes in mental health care and amendments to mental health legislation so that families of people who are mentally ill are involved in their care.

He has been campaigning on the issue with Cork woman Una Butler whose two children, Zoe, 6, and Ella, 2, were killed by their father, her husband, John Butler, before he killed himself in 2010 in Ballycotton.

They both believe that had they been informed of their spouses’ mental ill health and had they been involved in their care, their children would still be alive today.

Mr McGinley said that his High Court action is to highlight the need for improvements in Ireland’s mental healthcare system.

'I want to understand why my children died. Two years on from their deaths and I’m still no clearer,' Mr McGinley told the Irish Examiner.

“I know how my children died and they died a traumatic death, but I’m no nearer to understanding why. And I truly believe that had the changes that Una Butler campaigned for in 2010, had they been made and implemented that Conor, Darragh and Carla would be alive today,” Mr McGinley said.

“And if this [High Court action] is a means to an end to get better mental healthcare in Ireland and to get significant changes made to the Mental Health Act then so be it. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to make that change.

“I’m adding my voice to the voice of Una Butler. Do we need more voices? Do we need more tragedies so we can get more voices together? Hopefully not.” 

Similar legal proceedings against the HSE, the Governors of St Patrick’s Hospital where his wife had been treated, and a named person were also lodged in the High Court on behalf of Ms Morley on Wednesday. The case is understood to allege that there was medical negligence in her care before she killed her children.

Mr McGinley said that his legal action “reflects” that of his wife’s, which was lodged one day earlier.

“Both my own legal counsel and her legal counsel are having good conversations together,” he said.

Ms Morley is currently in the care of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Co Dublin.

She was committed to the facility last June by Mr Justice Paul Coffey.

Mr McGinley said that direct contact with Ms Morley is now difficult because Conor’s last words ‘go through his mind quite a bit.’ “I struggle with that quite a lot,” Mr McGinley said.

At the trial, it emerged that Conor said ‘Mum, stop’ as she put a bag over his head before suffocating him.

“Those words are quite distressing to me and I struggle to think about Deirdre without thinking of those words. But that’s for me to try to work through and cope with and deal with,” he said.