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‘She could have been saved’: Milly Tuomey’s family on how the system let her down

Essential features, opinion articles and reviews for Irish Times subscribers this weekend

Fiona and Tim Tuomey with their daughter Daisy, at the Four Courts, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Sun Apr 28 2024 - 08:13

On Wednesday in Four Courts number one, the case for wrongful death of 11-year-old Milly Tuomey concluded. It was taken by the Tuomey family on behalf of Milly, against several defendants involved with the State’s mental health services. Following mediation, the settlement included a €65,000 award, costs and letters of regret to the family.

Barrister Pearse Sreenan outlined a story of missed opportunities and systematic failures after the Tuomey family sought help for Milly in the eight weeks before her dying by suicide; expert opinion concluded “individual breaches in duty of care led to a systemic failure in addressing the needs of Milly Tuomey, which very likely, prevented her life from being saved”.

This weekend in The Irish Times, Milly’s parents, Fiona and Tim, and her sister Daisy, reflect on how the system let her down, how they cope with their grief and why it’s important to remove the stigma linked to suicide.

Also this weekend, Crime Editor Conor Lally looks back on the life of Tony Felloni, who died this week, aged 81. Felloni, the criminal known as “King Scum”, grew up in 1950s inner city Dublin, streets he would later play a central role in flooding with heroin. Decades on, the aftershocks of his actions are still felt.

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David McWiliams, meanwhile, assesses the impact of online shopping on the traditional high street. It has had a negative effect, he writes, but high local authority rates also present a crucial problem for bricks and mortar businesses. As rates rise, fewer business will be prepared to risk opening, while established ones question their margins and might be tempted to shut down. Needless to say, this is bad news in the eyes of McWilliams, who argues that the future of small Irish towns is essential to the fabric of Irish society.

In Galway, Marese McDonagh speaks to Ian McDonagh, Ireland’s first Traveller funeral director. “I think we are moving away from the local auctioneer or the local publican being the local funeral director. There is new blood coming into the industry and I think it is welcome because the newer generation is educating themselves in the field of embalming and funeral directing,” he says.

In the opinion pages, Jennifer O’Connell says wanted to know what age is the right age for her daughter to get a smartphone. So, she put the question to the nine-year-old’s teenage siblings. “Never,” said one. “Not for as long as possible,” said the other, adding: “She doesn’t need to be stuck inside her head on her phone. She needs to be in the real world for as long as she can.”

Also in opinion, Pat Leahy reckons the dream of a left-wing Government is slipping away. After the last election, parties on the left skedaddled from the prospect of power, he writes. Only one stood up: the Greens. Have they got everything they wanted? Nope. But they have learned that if you want to achieve your political objectives, you must get into government. Will the other parties – and Independents – of the left learn that lesson? There’s no sign of it.

As usual, we have loads of great culture writing to offer this weekend. Tara Brady interviews actor Kerry Condon, the intensely private – and successful – Irish star who likes to stay out of the limelight; and Fiona Gartland meets best-selling novelist Jo Spain, who says: “I rely on the next book, contract or TV show to pay that mortgage.” We review Zeinab Bedawi’s richly rewarding An African History of Africa; and, not to get too meta, Donald Clarke reviews the reviews of the reviews of Taylor Swift’s new album.

In food and drink, John Wilson helps you pick the perfect summer wine while Mark Moriarty celebrates that versatile, powerful key to quality home cooking: the lemon.

Ahead of the Munster hurling clash between Cork and Clare on Sunday, Denis Walsh has a feature on the Rebels’ manager Pat Ryan, whose biggest challenge when he took the job was to manage transition. Cork have contested five of the last six under-20/21 All-Ireland finals and won three of them; this year’s under-20 team were minor champions three years ago. When old campaigners Pat Horgan, Seamus Harnedy, Conor Lehane and Damien Cahalane were all picked to start last week, people wondered where the young players were? The inconvenient answer was hidden in plain sight, writes Walsh.

In this week’s On the Money newsletter, Dominic Coyle looks at how to access a low cost loan to retrofit your home. Sign up here to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox every Friday.

As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport, including subscriber-only reports and analysis from the Masters. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.

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