[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”9″ display=”basic_thumbnail”]Friday 3 January 2020
Marian Finucane was a powerful voice for the hospice movement in Ireland and also an incredible supporter of the work of the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF).
She was a Director of the Board of the IHF from 1996 until 2010.
Marian was involved in so many projects with the IHF over the years:
– She was one of the early advocates of our Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HFH) programme which was established in 2007 and seeks to ensure end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care are central to the everyday business of hospitals. It is one of our flagship programmes here at the IHF and is now active in over 40 acute hospitals nationwide in partnership with the HSE.
– She launched our first ever National Forum on End of Life in Ireland in 2009. The Forum is still running today. We welcome over 300 delegates to Dublin Castle every two years to discuss topics relating to Death, Dying and Bereavement in Ireland.
– In 2009, she also launched the bereavement leaflet ‘Coping with the Death of Your Same Sex Partner’ in partnership with GLEN.
– She also wrote a powerful piece for our ‘The Gathering: Reflections on Ireland’ book in 2013.
Most recently she attended the launch by then-Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, of the IHF’s 30th Anniversary programme in 2016.
Speaking today, CEO of the IHF Sharon Foley said: ‘The mission of the Irish Hospice Foundation is to strive for the best care at end of life and in bereavement, for all. As we continue to work towards making this a reality for more people in Ireland, we need powerful advocates. Marian Finucane was certainly that for the IHF. Over many years and across many IHF projects, she so generously gave of her time and used her voice to ensure topics relating to death, dying and bereavement were constantly in the public’s eye. We are so grateful to her for that. She will be sorely missed by many. Our deepest condolences to her family and friends.’
New Chair of the Board of the IHF is Jean Callanan: ‘Dying, death and bereavement can be difficult subjects for us all to fathom and to talk about. Marian Finucane was never one to shy away from these vital conversations. Through her rich and varied work with the IHF, she was a real voice for change, particularly in the area of access to palliative care.’
