Mayo Coroner Retires

Pat O'Connor said autopsy protocols need to be updated

Intro:

In an exit interview with this Substack, Mr O’Connor stopped short of recommending specific autopsy protocols be implemented to detect covid vaccine damage but did note that there is ‘always a need’ to update autopsy procedures.

Updated 3.45pm

Mayo Coroner Pat O’Connor presides over his final inquests today after 38 years in the service. Mr O’Connor retires from the role officially at midnight tonight as stipulated by the Coroner’s Act.

Section 11 of the Act states that all coroners must retire upon turning 72.

“This is an important day in my life-the end of an era in my professional career as a coroner. I have served for 46 years in the colonial service in Ireland, 38 years as an appointed coroner, more recently as the first coroner for the coronial District of Mayo. 

I followed in the footsteps of my grandfather Pat O'Connor who was a solicitor and the coroner for East Mayo from 1901 until 1942 when he died. 

My late father Val O'Connor served as the coroner for the district of East Mayo whilst also practicing as a solicitor with his sister, my aunt Moya who was the deputy coroner for the district from 1942 until 1978. 

On the death of my father in 1988 I was appointed the Coroner for East Mayo and in 2016 becoming the coroner for the district of Mayo. In my years as a coroner, I have conducted more than 1800 inquests, some of those with a jury.”

The Mayo Coroner made headlines in 2021 when he called out the lack of accuracy in the method of counting ‘covid deaths’ imposed by health authorities in 2020.

O’Connor’s observation marked a radical step, as one of the longest serving coroners in the country and spokesman for the Coroners Society of Ireland.

“In reality, a lot of people have terminal cancer or multiple other serious co-morbidities. People can die from Covid and or with Covid. I think numbers that are recorded as Covid deaths may be inaccurate and do not have a scientific basis,” Mr O’Connor said.

“When a person is suffering from a number of medical conditions which will or may lead to their death at some short time in the future, if they are unlucky enough to be infected by the Covid virus then at death if they prove to be Covid positive in a test, it is that which is recorded as the principal cause of death — even though that person may have been terminally ill with a short life-expectancy prior to such testing.”

The Coroner went on to question excess death figures on the national airwaves in an interview broadcast on RTE in February 2023.

“I know my colleague down in Cork Philip Comyn has noticed a significant spike in the number of deaths reported to him in the month of January and my own figures have gone up by 37% from last year and last year was quite a significant year itself,” Mr O’Connor said in in nterview on RTE Radio's News at One.

Mr O’Connor presided over the inquest into the death of Joseph McGinty, following the child’s untimely death post Pfizer vaccine. The Coroner said he considered ‘very carefully’ Joseph’s covid vaccine but said none of the medical evidence he heard or received suggested it played any role in the boy’s death. He returned an open verdict, which means the evidence does not fully or clearly explain the cause and circumstances of death.

In an exit interview with this Substack, Mr O’Connor stopped short of recommending specific autopsy protocols be implemented to detect covid vaccine damage but did note that there is ‘always a need’ to update autopsy procedures.

Q) Do you think it is time standard autopsy procedures in Ireland were updated to include methods to detect damage caused by covid 19 vaccines?

“I think that there is always a need to educate the medical profession and update autopsy procedures in the country, but not solely limited to any one perceived possible cause of death whether it be drugs, alcohol, medications or medical practices.”

Q) Any comment on the rise in number of deaths since the covid vaccine roll out / Ireland's excess death rate?

“I do await, like many others, a detailed nationwide scientific analysis of all the deaths that have occurred since 2020 in Ireland.”

Q) How many inquests have you presided over during your career?

“I do not have an exact number at this stage, but it would be circa 1,800. I was Deputy Coroner from 1977 to 1989 to my late father Val O'Connor and held a number of inquests in that period also, due to my father failing health

So, I have been working in the Coronial system for 47 years or thereabouts.”

Q) How would you describe the changes in death trends that have taken place over that timeframe?

“Death has always been and will be difficult for the family and friends of the deceased. The loss of a loved one will always be difficult to cope with though with time the acceptance of the finality of death is easier to cope  and come to terms with. There have been no significant changes in death trends in my experience in those 47 years.”

Mr O’Connor became Coroner for the District of Mayo East - a small coronial district - in 1988 and held that title until 2016.

In 2016 he became Coroner for the District of Mayo, after the merging of the District of South Mayo (itself a merger of the districts West and South Mayo) and Mayo East.

From 2016 onwards Mr O’Connor was dealing with 80% of post death investigations and inquests in County Mayo.

Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald , now a retired GP continues as the Acting Coroner for North Mayo. Dr Fitzgerald took over the role following the retirement of her father-in-law Dr Mick Loftus, former GAA president and Mayo All-Ireland winner. Dr Loftus passed away last year aged 93. He is reported to have been the last remaining member of Mayo's last All-Ireland Football title winning squad in 1951.

Mr O’ Connor thanked his staff, the courts service, hospital pathology and medical staff and the wider network of coroners.

“My gratitude also to those who acted as deputy coroner to me through the years particularly my late aunt Moya O'Connor who was one of the first 100 women to qualify as a solicitor in Ireland, my colleagues Regina Hopkins, Brendan Donnelly, Paul Cunney, and most recently my son William who continues in that role as deputy coroner for the District of Mayo. “

“I wish to acknowledge the sensitive and careful coverage of inquests by the Press Corp and media in general, particularly the local newspapers and radio led by the legendry veteran Tom Shiel. They were always understanding of the sensitive nature of the evidence given at inquests and the great grief of a sudden death that had to be investigated by the coroner, was for the bereaved families of the loved one who passed away.”

Mr O’Connor thanked friends and colleagues and pointed to changes planned for the coronial system to be implemented by the Department of Justice.

“The coroners service is a network of coroners located throughout Ireland 

“Coroners are either qualified doctors or lawyers. Their job is to look into the circumstances of a sudden, unexplained, violent or unnatural death so that a death certificate can be issued. 

“Coroners provide an important public service to the living and in particular to the next of kin and other people affected by the death. Coroners not only provide closure for those bereaved suddenly but also perform a wider public service by identifying matters of public interest that can have life and death consequences,” Mr O’Connor said addressing the public court for the final time as a coroner this afternoon.

“There are changes in the offing at national level to the Coronial Service throughout Ireland being spearheaded by the Department of Justice. Change is in the air - but not just yet,” he said.

Earlier this year, video footage of Mr O’Connor was circulated on social media, in which he called Castlebar based journalist Jemima Burke ‘scum of the earth’ after she accused a Garda of interfering with her right to film publicly on the street outside the O’Connor Law Offices in Swinford.

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