Tributes paid to South Tipperary coroner Paul Morris on his retirement 

Clonmel solicitor Paul Morris was lauded on his final day as South Tipperary’s coroner for the compassion and sensitivity he showed families going through the ordeal of an inquest of a loved one’s death  during his nearly 41 years in the role. 

Mr Morris received a fitting send off at the conclusion of his final inquest hearings at Clonmel Courthouse last Wednesday from those who worked alongside him for many years in the difficult task of determining the causes of south Tipperary’s sudden, unexplained or violent deaths.  

Representatives of An Garda Síochána, the legal profession, Courts Service funeral directors and Tipperary County Council  gathered in the Circuit Courtroom to pay tribute to the solicitor noted for the empathetic, thorough, impartial and fearless way he conducted inquests during his long career. 

Mr Morris’ wife Gerds and daughter Muireann were also present. 

His retirement means  north Tipperary coroner Joe Kelly is now coroner for the entire county due to the amalgamation of the North and South Tipperary Coronial Districts. 

Clonmel Garda District Superintendent William Leahy led the tributes and thanked Mr Morris for the guidance and help he gave gardaí over the years in dealing with traumatic incidents where grief was brought to people’s doors. He was always very approachable. 

“The one thing that can be said about you in all your dealings is that you showed the utmost empathy as you tried to establish the facts.” 

Supt Leahy also praised the efficient and thorough way Mr Morris conducted inquests and recalled that he dealt with some very high profile inquests during his career. He also paid tribute to Mr Morris’ brother and fellow solicitor David, who acted as assistant coroner up to about a decade ago. 

 Speaking on behalf of south Tipperary’s solicitors, John Joy said Mr Morris always treated his solicitor colleagues with the greatest courtesy and was held in the highest esteem by them. 

The Clonmel solicitor said Mr Morris fulfilled his role as coroner with “honesty, integrity, independence, impartiality and fearlessness”. 

He showed great sensitivity to families attending inquests and eased the pain of many people coming before his inquests. “You have given a great service to the State and I hope you have a long and happy retirement,” he concluded. 

His sentiments were echoed by Dan Walsh BL who congratulated Mr Morris on his retirement on behalf of the South East Circuit’s barristers. 

He said the families affected by the loss of loved ones greatly appreciated the way he dealt with them with great empathy, sensitivity and professionalism. 

Revenue Sheriff Fred Binchy said the families who came before Mr Morris at inquest hearings always felt they got “a very fair and respectful hearing in trying and difficult circumstances”. 

“And where and when necessary you held people to account and it was done with sensitivity and respect for the people who had to try to come to terms with what happened,” he added. 

Tipperary County Council’s Director of Corporate, Human Resources, Climate Action & Environmental Services, Clare Curley, thanked Mr Morris on behalf of the local authority for the manner in which he conducted himself as south Tipperary’s coroner.  

Courts Service Manager Gerard Connolly recalled that Mr Morris took over as coroner in 1980 shortly after he started work at Clonmel Courthouse. 

“It has always been a great pleasure to deal with you and you handled your role as coroner with great sensitivity,” he added. 

Also present were funeral directors Jim Devitt from Cashel and John O’Donoghue from Clonmel, who transport deceased people from south Tipperary to Waterford University Hospital for post mortems. 

Mr Devitt thanked Mr Morris for being there to help and advise them over the years.  “It was greatly appreciated that you have personally been there to help us and we wish you well in retirement.” 

In his response, Mr Morris began by paying tribute  to his predecessor Patrick J. McCormack, who on his appointment as County Registrar, contacted him and encouraged him to apply for the coroner’s job and assisted him in preparing for the interview. 

He also paid  tribute to his staff, the gardaí, County Registrars,  Courts Service staff, funeral directors, consultant pathologists attached to Waterford University Hospital, all the medical and healthcare staff at local hospitals he engaged with over the past four decades.   

Looking back on his career, he recounted the painstaking efforts he and colleagues in the Coroners’ Society of Ireland made in the 1990s to reform and modernise the Irish coronial system, which resulted in Minister for Justice Nora Owen setting up the  Coroners’ Review Group.

 He prepared the Society’s written submission to this review group and noted many of the submission’s recommendations are now reflected in the 2019 Coroners Amendment Act. 

Mr Morris also recalled how his proposal to the Central Statistics Office to audit coroners’ file cases of self-harm to establish more reliable statistics on the rate of suicide deaths has  borne fruit beyond the most optimistic expectations.

 It has also led to the coroners’ files now being used to collate data for drugs, road traffic and fire deaths, making the Coronial Service a “very influential driver” of the development of social policy in this area. 

Mr Morris reflected that a coroner must make decisions “without fear or favour” and “must tell truth to power when carrying out our duties to implement the public interest of pointing to circumstances which if left unremedied, might lead to further fatalities”.  

“Sometimes representatives of the establishment do not like it. However, the essence of the Office of Coroner is its independence from political control.” 

He said the public interest must at all times be defended especially when dealing with inquests when the State or some servant of the State has caused or contributed to the cause of death of a citizen. 

Mr Morris said as coroner he had been required to become intimate with death and he had been required to integrate death into his life as a companion. 

He firmly believed that a coroner had a “pastoral role” to play when engaging with bereaved relatives. 

“I think all coroners including myself have struggled to find ways and means to be there for the bereaved families and to offer authentic and meaningful expressions of condolences that have some chance of giving comfort and compassionate consolation to them.” 

“Each coroner must dig deep within himself or herself to find an inner sensitivity and inner solidarity free from prejudice and self-righteousness so that we are capable of compassionate communication with the bereaved.” 

He spoke of  how he relied heavily on the treasury of literature, especially poetry, to help him bring comfort to grieving families. 

“Sometimes it is helpful if the coroner can put the death of a loved one in perspective for the family lifting their vision beyond the horizon of their pain and assuring them that there is the possibility of hope waiting in the wings of their life.” 

He recited from Heather Buck’s poem The Shattering and Maya Angelou’s book A Letter to a Daughter to illustrate this point.

Mr Morris concluded very appropriately by reciting The Coroner’s Prayer, which he wrote for the Coroners’ Society of Ireland around 20 years ago.