What Has Changed: Registering A Death During Covid19 Time

As we all adapt to the new normal following the arrival of the Covid19 in Ireland, how do people who have recently been bereaved register the death of a loved one?

Prior to Covid19, a family member would attend their local Civil Registration Office with the Death Notification Form issued to them by a Hospital, Nursing Home or GP to register the death.

However, since March 27, all Civil Registration Offices have been closed to public callers.

As seen in the recent  RTE documentary about Covid19 in Ireland, some people had to cope with the pain of losing a family member to Covid19.

If a person dies of Covid19 anywhere in Ireland their death is automatically referred to the coroner  as Covid19 is an infectious disease and all deaths involving infectious diseases are referred to the Corner for the County to assess if further investigation is needed.

The Coroner either advises the next of kin to proceed with the death registration OR the coroner registers the death after a post-mortem and/or inquest is held.

The Death is then registered with the Civil Registration Service by the Coroner’s office.

For those who lost a loved one without Covid19 issues, they were still faced with registering a death during a pandemic along with their grief.

To handle this matter, the state pushed through emergency legislation to allow applicants to register a death by applying with a form found online along with submitting documents confirming the identity of the applicant and the deceased by post.

The government’s temporary legislation was introduced until 31 May 2020, however, the Dept of Health and the HSE continues to wish to minimise face to face meetings – that are not medically related –  with the public, and so now this legislation has been extended to 31 August 2020.

Below is the link to register a death:

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/64a092-registering-a-birth/#how-to-register-a-birth-during-the-Covid19-19-pandemic