Andrew McGinley welcomes news that inquests into deaths of his three children are due to be held this year

Seán McCárthaigh

The father of three children killed by their mother at their family home in south Dublin five years ago has welcomed news that inquests into their deaths are scheduled to be heard before the end of the year.

However, the scope of the inquiry to be held by the senior coroner in Dublin, Myra Cullinane, has still to be determined.

Dr Cullinane told a brief sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that she planned to hold the inquests into the deaths of Conor (9), Darragh (7) and three-year-old Carla McGinley before the end of 2025.

The bodies of the three children were discovered at their family home at Parson’s Court, Newcastle, Co Dublin on January 24th 2020.

At the opening of the inquests into the children’s deaths in September 2020, it was revealed that postmortems had shown that the three young siblings had died from suffocation.

Their mother, Deirdre Morley, a paediatric nurse, was subsequently found not guilty of their murder by reason of insanity following a trial at the Central Criminal Court in May 2021.

The children’s father, Andrew McGinley, has called for the scope of the inquests into their deaths to be widened to examine the diagnosis and treatment of his wife’s mental illness before the tragic event.

At the latest sitting of the inquests, Dr Cullinane asked all interested parties to confirm that there would be no further submissions in relation to the scope of her inquiry in addition to those requested at a previous hearing in June 2023.

Submissions have already been made on behalf of consultant psychiatrist, Olivia Gibbons; Mr McGinley and the HSE.

Counsel for Ms Morley, Nora-Pat Stewart BL, confirmed that she would not be making any submission on the scope of the inquiry.

Ms Stewart also acknowledged there was no reason why proceeding with the inquests would not be in her client’s interest.

The coroner said she would issue her ruling on the scope of the inquiry by correspondence with the parties by July 31.

It was also agreed between the parties that there would be full disclosure of Ms Morley’s medical records without any redactions.

The coroner heard that some medical records were already available to the relevant parties “as part of another process.”

Counsel for Dr Gibbons, Simon Mills SC, confirmed that his client had no objections to the disclosure of such documents.

Dr Cullinane replied that she intended to share the medical records, which would cover a significant time period, with the parties “within days.”

The coroner said she would also make available the reports of two forensic psychiatrists who had examined Ms Morley after the deaths of her three children as well as a transcript of her trial and the Garda file on the investigation.

Ms Stewart also applied for legal aid for Ms Morley, who attended the hearing via videolink, so that she could be represented at inquests that would involve “particularly difficult matters” in which complex issues were expected to arise.

Dr Cullinane noted that legislation only allowed legal aid to be granted to one family member but granted the application after no objections were raised to the application.

The coroner said it was ultimately a matter for the Legal Aid Board to confirm if legal aid would be certified.

She adjourned the hearing for mention to October 3rd to indicate a list of witnesses expected to give evidence.

Dr Cullinane said she intended to hold the full inquests “shortly thereafter” which she indicated would be before the end of the year.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr McGinley said he welcomed the fact that the process was moving forward and expressed hope that there would be “an extended scope” to the inquests.

“An inquest is to be a clear and transparent process. It can only be done if everybody engages positively with it. That’s why I’m here,” said Mr McGinley.

The coroner previously heard that Ms Morley had been an in-patient at a private psychiatric hospital less than six months before the death of her children.

Mr McGinley’s legal representatives told the coroner that he believed his wife’s condition had not been properly diagnosed and she had not been properly treated.

They also claimed that he had not been properly involved in her diagnosis and treatment and that Mr McGinley believed there was a link between her medical treatment and his children’s deaths.

The inquests heard that Mr McGinley’s motivation in seeking to widen the scope of the inquest was to identify circumstances which could prevent the recurrence of such a terrible event.

His lawyers claimed such an objective is entirely legitimate and is underpinned by the public policy consideration of coroner’s courts.

However, counsel for Dr Gibbons, a consultant psychiatrist at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services who had treated Ms Morley, claimed the proposed extension of the scope of the inquest would result in an inquiry that would be “a radically different matter not envisaged by the Oireachtas.”

Ms Morley had been voluntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility in July 2019 and had been discharged from the care of Dr Gibbons on August 1st 2019.

At the hearing in June 2023, Dr Mills also pointed out that an expert witness had given evidence on behalf of Ms Morley during her criminal trial that she had only formed the intention to act on her children in January 2020 and that she had not disclosed that intention to anybody.

He also noted that civil remedies were available and were being taken up by both Mr McGinley and his wife as they were taking legal actions against medical professionals and the HSE.

Dr Mills said they could also make complaints to various regulatory bodies that oversee medical professionals.