Free vote on assisted dying bill is welcome

WITH Sinn Féin in freefall, who would blame Simon Harris if he opts for a three-week election campaign and called the troops to arms by the end of November?

This time last year, it looked almost a sure thing that Sinn Féin would be the main political party when it came to forming the next government. The coalition couldn't seem to catch a break – everything they did fell to bits and the housing and homelessness figures were haunting them night and day.

But as they say, a week is a long time in politics. With Leo Varadkar out of the picture, Simon Harris seemed to grab the imagination of the general public and suddenly the polls began to shift in favour of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

Unfortunately, as has been the case in the past, the third wheel of a coalition, the Green Party, didn't get a similar bounce and more than likely will suffer the wrath of the electorate when a general election is eventually called – shades of what happened to the Labour Party, whose numbers were once in the 30s, but now languishes at just a handful.

As Sinn Féin stumbled from one crisis to another over the past few months, matters only worsened in recent weeks, with two sitting TDs cutting all ties and opting to go it alone – the most recent being Brian Stanley from Laois/Offaly – and suddenly all previous predictions for that constituency are off. His erstwhile colleague in South Kildare, Patricia Ryan, who created a bit of a media storm during the last general election by missing some of the campaign as she was away on holiday, has also left Sinn Féin.

Even though all eyes are now firmly fixed on when the next general election will be called, some things will unfortunately fall off the agenda as a result.

Later this week, the final report by the Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying will go before the Dáil. The report, which was published in March, recommended that assisted dying should be made legal under strict criteria.

Accepting the report will not mean that a law is passed, but it will indicate the level of support among politicians. Thankfully, tanaiste Micheál Martin has said that Fianna Fáil members will have a free vote on the issue.

To those of you who don't follow the goings on in the Dáil too closely, that means the whip system, whereby the party gives instruction to members as to how they are to vote, or face the consequences of being expelled, will be removed and they can vote as they choose.

The tanaiste, who has made it clear that he does not agree with such legislation and has serious reservations about it, will nonetheless favour a vote of conscience for each individual member of the party.

This is bound to be a divisive issue, but not one which will be high on the agenda during election time.

Those who have fought to have assisted dying made legal in Ireland still have a long way to go before that happens, even if there is a resounding yes vote this week.

As with the composition of any legislation, it takes time, and even with the best will in the world there will be challenges, both within the various political parties and among groups advocating a yes or no vote.

Just remember the chaos, bitterness and downright lies which were bandied about during the campaign to introduce abortion into this country. And after all of that, the legislation was challenged in the courts.

Ask any ordinary voter what are the rules and regulations surrounding abortion in Ireland today and I would safely bet not one person would give the correct answer. The same will happen when it comes to assisted dying.

We all know it is a sensitive subject, but if we are being truthful, it is one we all have to face up to and talk about. No-one likes the idea of losing a loved one, but let's be brutally honest here – there are people we all know who, because of declining health, have zero quality of life. If they express a wish to end their lives, I believe we should grant it.

That said, I also accept there must be a series of checks and balances to ensure the system is not abused simply to ensure inheritance money is not used up, providing the best possible care for those people.

Modern medicine, such as it is, has resulted in most people living a lot longer than the body was originally designed for. We have to face that fact and deal with the consequences.