Before we know it, and without a proper, balanced debate, it is entirely possible that Ireland will permit assisted suicide. There is no constitutional impediment to prevent this happening and therefore no need for a referendum. All it will take is the media spotlight to shine on a few genuinely heartbreaking stories of patients nearing the end of their lives, and politicians will suddenly feel obliged to pass a law allowing people to “die with dignity”.
In 2013 the Supreme Court dismissed an attempt by Marie Fleming, who suffered from MS, to be given the “right to die”. It said there was no right in the constitution “either to commit suicide, or to arrange for the termination of one’s life at a time of one’s