Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Seán Burke and Dr Isaac Burke recently reported on the inhumane death of our elderly neighbour after he was admitted to Mayo University Hospital with a urinary tract infection.
This man was a single farmer who lived alone with no immediate family. We looked after him for years providing hot meals and maintenance around his house.
While in hospital our neighbour was prescribed powerful anti-psychotic drugs and sedatives including Haloperidol and Midazolam. These drugs leave patients unable to eat, drink, communicate or even see the food left at their bedsides. Our neighbour suffered severe dehydration and malnutrition. In the weeks leading up to his death he would lie in a stupor, strapped to his bed with rails up on either side, catheter installed, and cold food left on a tray untouched at the end of his bed.
We visited him continually and raised concerns with doctors, nurses and healthcare staff. We were met with silence with one nurse saying about his treatment, “It’s all been agreed.”
We reported the death of our neighbour to An Garda Síochána in Castlebar. Garda Maura Hopkins confirmed at the end of February that a formal investigation had commenced with a PULSE number assigned. Three weeks later Garda Superintendent Deirdre Gill wrote to us denying an investigation had ever been stood up and saying an investigation would never be opened. Her reason was that the person listed as “next of kin” raised “no issues or concerns with the treatment of [the deceased] at MUH.” The fact that we had provided care to our neighbour for years, visited him daily in the hospital, were eyewitnesses to the abuse he suffered and were willing to make statements meant nothing to An Garda Siochana.
We then requested the Mayo County Coroner Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald to hold a public inquiry, an inquest into this man’s death. She has refused to do so.
Not only in Mayo University Hospital but up and down this country elderly people are lying in hospital beds, drugged on anti-psychotics and sedatives, with food left at the end of their beds where they cannot touch it. Food is being wheeled away and dumped. These people are dying before our eyes.
We cannot say we did not know. It is our duty to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
If you have a family member, friend or neighbour in hospital we would encourage you to visit them as often as possible and raise concerns with staff, with management, and with your local politicians if you see abuse. Don’t be intimidated, don’t be afraid to speak out. Every life is precious.
Seán Burke and Dr Isaac Burke recently reported on the inhumane death of our elderly neighbour after he was admitted to Mayo University Hospital with a urinary tract infection.
This man was a single farmer who lived alone with no immediate family. We looked after him for years providing hot meals and maintenance around his house.
While in hospital our neighbour was prescribed powerful anti-psychotic drugs and sedatives including Haloperidol and Midazolam. These drugs leave patients unable to eat, drink, communicate or even see the food left at their bedsides. Our neighbour suffered severe dehydration and malnutrition. In the weeks leading up to his death he would lie in a stupor, strapped to his bed with rails up on either side, catheter installed, and cold food left on a tray untouched at the end of his bed.
We visited him continually and raised concerns with doctors, nurses and healthcare staff. We were met with silence with one nurse saying about his treatment, “It’s all been agreed.”
We reported the death of our neighbour to An Garda Síochána in Castlebar. Garda Maura Hopkins confirmed at the end of February that a formal investigation had commenced with a PULSE number assigned. Three weeks later Garda Superintendent Deirdre Gill wrote to us denying an investigation had ever been stood up and saying an investigation would never be opened. Her reason was that the person listed as “next of kin” raised “no issues or concerns with the treatment of [the deceased] at MUH.” The fact that we had provided care to our neighbour for years, visited him daily in the hospital, were eyewitnesses to the abuse he suffered and were willing to make statements meant nothing to An Garda Siochana.
We then requested the Mayo County Coroner Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald to hold a public inquiry, an inquest into this man’s death. She has refused to do so.
Not only in Mayo University Hospital but up and down this country elderly people are lying in hospital beds, drugged on anti-psychotics and sedatives, with food left at the end of their beds where they cannot touch it. Food is being wheeled away and dumped. These people are dying before our eyes.
We cannot say we did not know. It is our duty to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
If you have a family member, friend or neighbour in hospital we would encourage you to visit them as often as possible and raise concerns with staff, with management, and with your local politicians if you see abuse. Don’t be intimidated, don’t be afraid to speak out. Every life is precious.
