The Chief Executive of the Irish Hospice Foundation has said today is a day to pause and reflect on the 35,000 people who died in Ireland in the last year and to reach out to those bereaved in these pandemic times.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Sharon Foley said that "one year on, we pause and reflect and think of them and extend our sympathies to their families".
There is concern about the longer psychological impacts of deaths during this time for many, she said, especially for those not able to visit family and loved ones in nursing homes.
She said 30,000 people had died from causes other than Covid-19 in the last year, while there were 4,500 deaths linked to Covid-19.
Each death represents "a deeply personal experience which has been extraordinarily difficult" through Covid, with restricted funerals where people cannot gather or hug to comfort people.
A study conducted on behalf of the Irish Hospice Foundation found that nearly three quarters of those surveyed struggled to know how to support family and friends who have been bereaved, and over 60% found it difficult to show respect in the absence of attending a funeral.
Less than one in five said there is enough support for those who are bereaved.
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Ms Foley said many people had avoided going to hospices, hospitals or other care settings due to the restrictions on visiting.
She said it is necessary to see "what good has come out of this given the extraordinary shift to the community [services]" and to ensure that people can die in their place of choice.
She said the IHF would reflect with its HSE partners on the need and desire for special palliative care in the community.
'You missed the gentle rhythm of telling your story when it felt right'
Helen Coughlan from Greystones in Co Wicklow lost her father almost a year ago.
Speaking on the same programme, she explained that the hospital he was in went into lockdown "with no notice" for the family.
Her father had had a stroke affecting his speech, she said, meaning that they could not call or FaceTime him.
Ms Coughlan said she quarantined so that she could bring him home to pass away, but once they got home, she realised he needed palliative care.
They did not get that for him in time, she said, and her siblings did not get to see him before he died because they were trying to protect him from getting Covid.
"A year on and none of my friends have hugged me, touched me or sat beside me", Ms Coughlan said.
"I don't think many people in my wider circle even know the circumstances of how my Dad died, they just know he died, because you missed all the ebb and flow of the gentle rhythm of telling your story when it felt right and that was all lost afterwards."
She said she cannot ever reclaim the "loss of those moments in time" that she would have had with people.
As someone who has been bereaved, she said, there is a "sense of hierarchy" of bereavement because of Covid.
When seeing the daily figures she said she is "devastated" for all those families who have lost someone due to Covid, but she thinks of all the other families watching the news every night who have lost someone that day and "there's no real sense of a space for those deaths".
"It's like they almost don't exist", Ms Coughlan said.
The Irish Hospice Foundation support line can be reached on 1800 80 70 77.
