Funeral Times issue 5 2021

The magazine for Funeral Directors in Ireland

2021 Vol.21 No.5

BRANDED PRESENTATION BOXES

RING BINDERS ID EA L f o r o n l i ne c o n d o l en c es

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Each funeral and memorial ceremony is tailored to the person who has died, and the wishes of the people who love them. We can help commemorate the person who has died with an upbeat celebration of life, instead of taking a more solemn tone.

A humanist funeral or memorial is the perfect option for families and friends ö©Ë ö Äæ Þ¬Ä Ú ɇ × ÚÞËÄ ½ Ú ĉ æ¬ËÄ on the life of their loved ones – without religion. This can be especially important if the person who died was not religious.

A funeral can include time for silent Ú ĉ æ¬ËÄ ËÄ æ© ½¬£ Ë£ æ© Þ Ɍ This time is inclusive of people from all backgrounds and people with religious beliefs can take this opportunity to say a silent prayer, if they wish.

Find your local celebrant Our funeral and memorial ceremonies are conducted by humanist celebrants. ËÄæ æ ËÄ Ë£ ËêÚ ½ Ú ÄæÞ æË ü æË ĈÄ Ëêæ ÃËÚ Ëêæ Þ ü¬Ä¤ ¬¤Ä¬Ĉ and personal farewell.

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DROMORE Sheena Bradley 07732 143183

humanists.uk/ ceremonies

Humanist Ceremonies™ is part of Humanists UK, a registered charity in England and Wales (no. 285987) and company limited by guarantee (no. 228781) info@humanists.uk

The magazine for Funeral Directors in Ireland

Townley family taking care of others 4

Contents

Photography competition winner 21

Townley family taking care of others..................................................................4 Eimer Duffy on the importance of Google reviews...................................10 IAFD News......................................................................................................................16 Funeral Partners boosting engagement with funeral homes.................20 Photography competition winner.......................................................................21 BIE News .......................................................................................................................26 Randy Rogalsky on the never-ending challenge of jaundice.................44 NAFD News ................................................................................................................. 53 Launch of new five-year strategy....................................................................... 53 IFSO appoints new Director of Regulation....................................................56 Jennifer Muldowney reports on NFDA Convention in Nashville........62 SAIF News ....................................................................................................................66 Dr Bill Webster meets a fork in the road........................................................70 A cup of tea and a chat about death with Mattie Lennon.................... 75 Classifieds .....................................................................................................................78

IFSO appoints new Director of Regulation 56

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING CONTACTS: Graham Brown, Ruth McQuillan, Vikki Crangle, Paula Hanna Tel: (028) 3835 5060 (048) from ROI Funeral Times is owned and published by: InHouse Publications, 1 Annagh Drive, Craigavon, Co. Armagh BT63 5WF E: sales@funeraltimes.com

Disclaimer: Readers are urged to support the magazine’s advertisers, but the publishers cannot be held responsible for any claims made or implied in the advertisements. The publishers reserve the right to refuse advertising. Opinions expressed in this magazine by contributing writers and advertisers are not necessarily those of the publishers. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contributed for inclusion in this magazine but no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from the use of published articles. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior consent. Articles and photographs for inclusion are welcomed but the publishers cannot accept responsibility for their loss or damage however caused.

FuneralTimes | 3

Paddy, Patricia, Paula and Aidan with their new 2021 Mercedes Benz Hearse from Pilato

P. Townley & Sons A family business P

Townley & Sons, provide an award winning and professional Funeral service on a full-time basis in a uniquely caring and family environment. They serve Louth, Meath and all surrounding areas.

Established in 1988 by Paddy and his wife Patricia Townley, the family centred approach includes their children Paula and Aidan who Paddy & Patricia proudly display are fully their Professional Services involved in Excellence Award 4 | FuneralTimes

the day-to-day contact with families. Maurice and Barbara are also involved.

The dedicated staff ensure that a family’s loved one’s final journey is arranged with meticulous attention to detail, in a dignified, compassionate and empathetic way. Their ethos has always been ‘Our family taking care of yours’.

The Funeral Home at Crosslanes, Drogheda, Co. Louth, was completely renovated and extended in 2016 to offer families a tranquil setting to allow friends and family to pay their final respects. With four separate viewing rooms, two arrangements rooms, a coffin show room, tearooms and an area for viewing of signed Mass cards and other memorial items for purchase. They can comfortably cater for large numbers of mourners and there is ample secure, off-road parking.

All staff at P. Townley & Sons Funeral Directors A virtual reality tour of the Funeral home can be viewed on the Website www.ptownleyfuneraldirector.ie.

P. Townley and Sons continue to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to those in need.

All religious denomination funerals with Burials or Cremations are catered for and they provide a complete repatriation service to and from all over the world.

The cost of a funeral is tailor made to suit each family’s individual wishes for their loved one. They offer an estimate at the end of the arrangement process for the family if they choose.

Video Streaming from the Funeral Home allows family and friends who are unable to attend the ceremony to view it online. Mourners are offered the opportunity to take part in the grieving process through a secure online viewing system. With the family’s permission, Paddy and Patricia can set up a live feed to the funeral service and family members can click on the website to access this.

Online shop Martin says “In the last 12 months we have established a very active Facebook page (P Townley & Sons Funeral Directors Drogheda) where, with the families approval, we post all the deceased Death Notices and acknowledgements as well as other interesting local events in memory of the deceased or events that help the bereaved”.

“Also, on our Facebook page we offer for purchase, signed Mass cards, Personalised Candles, t-lights, and other memorial items like bookmarkers and mass booklets - anything to help make it easier for the bereaved families”.

The Townley family are passionate about following their ethos of ‘Our family taking care of yours’ and every day they strive to help the bereaved through what can be some of the most difficult times of their lives.

FuneralTimes | 5

E-Class Hearse

Find out more online at: www.duffycoachbodies.com

Season’s Greetings Best wishes for the New Year, from all at Duffy Coachbodies.

IE Landline: 00 353 42 933 4312 UK Landline: 00 44 20 3290 7335

Eco-friendly sanitising solution providing another layer of comfort when it’s needed most.

As a Funeral Director, providing additional peace of mind, comfort, and safety for families during the funeral of a loved-one is of paramount importance.

Especially during these times, protecting your staff and the families is even more vital.

At Sanity System, safety and peace of mind is of upmost importance. A product originally designed by Italian engineers from the automotive industry to sanitise their National Ambulance Service; Sanity System has been safely helping automotive services in all sectors across the world since 2010.

Officially licenced and certified by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, our eco-friendly, medical grade sanitisation machines will not only destroy any harmful pathogens inside your vehicle but will also remove any lingering odours.

Ozone gas is recommended 8 | FuneralTimes

to sanitise surfaces, objects, and the materials of your car’s interior. Vehicle interiors hold millions of particles and pathogen agents carried by the air & humans. Fabric and seats absorb the bad odours, while tapestry and seats attract bacteria and allergens.

Sanitising with our ozone gas generators provides a deeper and more wholistic sanitisation than others, because it kills more than 99% of all pathogens such as bacteria, moulds, fungi & viruses, including COVID-19, which may be present in your vehicle.

A simple plug and play system, you can fully sanitise your vehicle in under 20 minutes. It is provided with a built-in catalyser, that at the end of the sanitising cycle, safely reconverts the ozone back in oxygen, allowing you to safely enter the vehicle as soon the sanitising cycle has finished.

Sanity System also provide machines that cater to indoor

spaces - doing the same job for your offices, rest rooms and public use areas. We would be delighted to arrange a visit to your premises and offer a complete sanitisation solution, ensuring maximum safety and peace of mind for your staff and visitors.

Until December 21st, 2021, Sanity System are offering all Funeral Directors the opportunity to rent our vehicle sanitisation units for just €55.00 per month, with unlimited use included.

The machines can also be purchased outright during this period for just €1395 + VAT, down from €2195.

See www.sanitysystem.ie for more details or contact Neville Murphy directly on +353 87 2276060 or by email neville.murphy@sanitysystem.com

Compact & Silent • Completely Automatic • Plug & Play

SPECIAL OFFER Unlimited use, medical grade sanitisation for your vehicles for

ONLY €55 per month!

The ideal ozone sanitisation device for the interior and air-conditioning system of all vehicles.

Proven to kill viruses & bacteria, including Covid-19, mould, fungi and remove bad odours.

Offer valid until December 21st 2021

(Rental terms based on 12-month lease)

Units also available to purchase at

€1395.00 + VAT

Reduced from €2195.00

SANITY SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL

Unit 13A Base Enterprise Centre, Ladyswell Rd, Dublin 15, D15 CF6K Please contact Neville Murphy +353 87 2276060 or by email neville.murphy@sanitysystem.com The Safest and Most Ecological Method to Sanitise with Ozone www.sanitysystem.ie

Eimer Duffy is a Social Media Consultant and Trainer at FIT Social Media. Through bespoke solutions, Eimer helps Funeral Directors and Celebrants gain a better online presence, build communities and trust online with zero stress and hassle in a short space of time. She also co-hosts the only social media for business radio show in Ireland called “The Let’s Get Social Show” every Friday at 2pm on Dublin South FM and the show is on podcast too. Check out www.fitsocialmedia.ie to learn more.

Why are Google reviews important and what is the best approach in acquiring them?

O

h isn’t it great when you get a recommendation about a product or service from a family member or friend.

We all like to hear something good about something we are considering and value recommendations from people we trust.

This gives us confidence and peace of mind when it comes to purchasing a certain product or booking a service we need. Online recommendations/reviews can and do carry weight in the decision making process on whether to take the next step or not, I am sure you agree.

I recently got asked by a Funeral Director; “why is it important to have reviews on Google?”

becoming a customer. And this can also be said about when it comes to searching for a funeral service provider and to find out about the services they provide.

So when it comes to reviews, the quantity and quality of the reviews for a Funeral business is very important. Not just for people to read, but also for the business too, as this has a ranking factor for local search and beyond.

Having a good ranking in a local search is key to begin with, as people do search for local first. They then look at funeral business listings that include customer reviews first. Having customer reviews shows greater credibility and encourages more click throughs online for a business.

Google My Business Listing

So I always say let’s start and look at the journey your potential customer is on, which begins with the Awareness stage. This is where people are aware they need help and look for products or services they need, usually online.

And when it comes to searching online, Google is the “go to” search engine for most people, but there are others such as Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Ask.com to name a few to use too. And the phrase “to Google” has now become a popular phrase when it comes to searching online.

Most people start with their phone, then either a tablet or desktop computer “to Google” things online. More times than not, they look at the business they are interested in, and to see if there are any reviews of the business, products or services they provide, before they consider 10 | FuneralTimes

To have reviews hosted on Google you need to have a Google My Business listing. If you don’t have a listing yet, then you can register for free https://www.google.com/intl/en_ie/ business/ and follow the steps. Once you are registered, you will then have the facility for customers to leave your Funeral business reviews on Google, as well as access to lots of the great benefits that a Google listing brings the business.

Now what’s the best approach to acquire reviews?

In your Google My Business listing you have an admin panel where you can update your business information, add content, update

with posts, get insights into what people are interested in and receive and reply back to messages as well as reviews.

People who you have helped can either leave their feedback (a review) by clicking on the “Write A Review” button on the front of the knowledge panel of your Google My Business listing. This is found when they have searched for your Funeral business (and selected your business name) on Google and then the knowledge panel appears on the right hand side of a computer screen.

Click on the “Share review form” and the unique link appears, copy this and then you can send in a personal email to who you wish to send it to.

And you can also ask personally for feedback on their experience with the review link (if they do not have a Gmail account and have another type of email account eg: a Hotmail account or Outlook etc...): The person clicks on the same Feedback/ Review link (mentioned earlier) you have sent them and this blue screen will appear: They need to click on “Sign in” and then the “Sign In” screen appears.

If they are searching for your business on a mobile phone it appears just below the search bar and slide-along the blue button group, and they will then find the blue button titled Reviews. Once they click on it and then click on the stars, they can then leave their thoughts on their experience.

You can also ask personally for feedback on their experience with the review link (if they have a Gmail account): If you would like to personally send them a link and ask them for feedback of their experience, then this is easy for you to do so.

All you have to do is, go to your Google My Business Account on a computer (easier to share the link from) but you can use the Google My Business app.

On a computer in the “Home” dashboard scroll down and find “Get More Reviews” (see the little guy in the little blue shirt). See below what he looks like:

They then have to click on the blue text “Create An Account” (which I know sounds strange): Then they would select “For myself” Then they would click on “use my current email address instead” to then leave their feedback and so can leave their feedback (review) using their own email address and they don’t have to have a Gmail account.

This is what they will see and can leave their rating and comment then click on “Post”.

FuneralTimes | 11

Eimer’s Top Tips: I would have your Google My Business listing review link in your email signature for ease of access should someone wish to give their feedback on their experience.

It is recommended to reply to reviews within 24 hours and at the very maximum 48 hours.

Your customer has publicly given their feedback on their experience and so thanking them shows your community and anyone who “Googles” you that you have acknowledged it with a reply.

All in all, reviews are important.

Why not give the families you have helped the opportunity to give your Funeral business some new reviews on Google by asking them for some feedback on their experience.

After you have assisted a family and when you feel it is the right time, you might wish to email them and within the email at the right point of

the conversation you might like to add the link placed behind for example; the word “feedback”.

All that the person has to do then is to click the link and leave their thoughts.

Once they click on “Post”, you will have a new review on Google and become notified by Google in an email that you are then prompted to reply on your computer or through the Google My Business app on your phone. Once you reply the person who left the review will be notified.

And potential customers will get a sense of what your customers think by looking at your reviews.

Eimer Duffy, FIT Social Media Website: www.fitsocialmedia.ie Phone: 00353 (86) 8492032 Email: eimer@fitsocialmedia.ie

I

f you have any more questions, send them into Eimer and she will answer them for you, and we will publish them in our next edition. All questions submitted and published can be anonymous if you wish.

You can email Eimer at eimer@fitsocialmedia.ie.

12 | FuneralTimes

Frank Campbell at his Desk

Funereal Soft Furnishings Ltd, are a family run business since 1942.

We supply funeral directors and coffin manufacturers with coffin interiors, shrouds, coffin pads and consumable products.

Our company has been in operation for over 70 years. The company started as Shroud Manufacturers, part of W L Doggart & Sons, Undertakers Merchants on 26 February 1942. The factory was based at 7 James Street South, Belfast. Frank Campbell, joined the company in April 1951 and went on to be Managing Director in the company until his retirement in 2001.

Franks son Mark who joined the business in 1991 now owns and runs Funereal Soft Furnishings.

BLACK FACE MASKS NOW AVAILABLE • ALSO DISPOSABLE SHEETS

Double elasticated frill with broad lace

Coffin pad with gold cross comes with strings or elastic. Available in a range of colours

19” White Satin elasticated frill shown with broad white/gold lace, narrow lace also available

Blue Nitrile XL Gloves

Tel: 028 9024 0270 53 Little Donegal Street, Belfast, County Antrim BT1 2JD

www.funerealsoftfurnishings.com

FuneralTimes | 1

The mountains may be imagined but the Coleman Milne Mercedes Plug-In Hybrid is realilty... and available to test drive now.

Season’s Greetings to you all.

www.coleman-milne.co.uk

IAFD News Keith Greaney appointed as Secretary of Irish Association of Funeral Directors The Board are delighted to announce the appointment of Keith Greaney from John J Conneely & Sons Funeral Directors, Co. Galway as Secretary of IAFD. We are sure you join us in wishing Keith well and we are looking forward to working together moving forward.

Keith Greaney

Gardai intercept criminal gang who were using RIP.ie to find empty houses

P

lease be aware before you consider publishing personal information on RIP.ie that a gang of thieves from South Dublin used the obituary website RIP.ie to plan raids on the empty houses of the recently deceased. The gang reportedly attempted to attack a home while relatives were at the funeral and outside the home.

The Irish Independent reported that the gang was detained by gardai who found RIP.ie details of a deceased person’s home address and funeral details leading them to their destination while the house was empty.

REMINDER CMA regulation in Northern Ireland – are you compliant?

CMA requires clearer prices and information from funeral providers The CMA has ordered funeral directors and crematorium operators to make prices clear for customers or risk court action down the line.

Last year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) completed its in-depth market investigation into the funerals sector. This identified a number of concerns, including that prices for similar services differed considerably 16 | FuneralTimes

between funeral directors and the way that information was provided made it hard for families to compare prices and choose the right combination of services for their loved ones.

Many of the remedies have now been made into law through an Order. In addition, further remedies concerning the regulation of funeral directors have been recommended to the government.

The Order requires that, from 16 September

IAFD News 2021, all funeral directors must display a Standardised Price List at their premises and on their website. This list must include: • The headline price of a funeral.

• The price of the individual items comprising the funeral.

• The price of certain additional products and services.

In addition, funeral directors may not: • Make payments to incentivise hospitals, palliative care services, hospices, care homes or similar institutions to refer customers to a particular funeral director.

• Solicit for business through coroner and police contracts.

Consultation on revision to death notification and registration process The General Register Office (GRO) is responsible for the registration and maintenance of life event registers (birth, marriage, death, adoption, and other) for lreland.

A Working Group comprising several Government Departments and agencies has developed a set of proposals that seek to revise the way deaths are reported and registered. A consultation document containing these proposals is available at www.oov.ie/ consultations.

The changes proposed include: • The introduction of a legal obligation on the

medical practitioner who pronounces a person’s death to inform the HSE/GRO of this within 24 hours of the date of death.

• To introduce a time frame within which medical practitioners must medically certify a death. Currently there is no time frame for completion of this certification.

• Reducing the time period afforded to relatives to register a death from three months currently.

These changes are considered essential to improve the flow and timeliness of information on deaths for public health management and other important public functions and to align with practice internationally.

Benefits of joining Irish Association of Funeral Directors • Membership of a professional organisation recognised by the general public • Board of funeral professionals available to assist members • Funeral director led organisation for promoting and developing standards of funeral service including a Code of Practice for all Members • Representation of Members with Government, local authorities and media • Unique all island network of funeral directors • Professional Indemnity Insurance included as part of Membership fees • Dispute resolution and Mediation -including legal advisory service • Access to IAFD education programme • Links to other trade associations FuneralTimes | 17

IAFD Contacts Donal Forde (President) Forde & Sons Funeral Home South Gate Bridge Cork, Co. Cork Ph: 021 4318222 Email: fordes@indigo.ie

Niamh Sweeney (Education Officer) John Sweeney and Sons Fairgreen Arklow Co Wicklow Ph: 0402 32333 Email: niamh@johnsweeneyandsons.ie

Dara Gillespie (First Vice President) Finlays Funeral Service Tierney Street Ardee, Co. Louth Mobile: 086 7923472 Email: dara.gillespie@finlaygrp.com

Dermot McCarthy McCarthy’s Funeral Home Gurrane, Banteer, Cork.

Ph: 029 56044 Email: dermot@mccarthyfuneraldirectors. com

Robert Fanagan (Immediate Past President) Fanagans Willbrook Street, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 Ph: 01 4931000 Email: robert@fanagans.ie Niall Mulligan (Hon. Treasurer) Heffernan’s Funeral Directors Trim, Co. Meath Mobile: 086 8208501 Ph: 046 9438662 Email: heffernansfd@gmail.com Mary Cunniffe (PRO) Massey Bros Funeral Home Templeogue Village Dublin 6W Mobile: 085 8010742 Ph: 01 4907601 Email: mary.cunniffe@hotmail.com Fintan Cooney (Membership Officer) Fanagans 54 Aungier Street Dublin 2 Ph: 01 4167700 Email: fintanjen@gmail.com 18 | FuneralTimes

Keith Greaney Conneely Funeral Directors Flood Street Galway 091 562866 keithgreaney@gmail.com Tom Lawless Lawless Funeral Directors Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co. Offaly Ph: 057 9322622 Email: info@tullamorefunerals.ie Kylie Gourley Funeral Partners Northern Ireland 300 Newtownards Road Belfast BT4 1HF Ph: 028 9045 1021 Email: kylie.gourley@funeralpartners.com

tailor-made solutions to the funeral trade

Funeral Supplies Donegal Ltd.

Bond in textured fabric’Bond’ two-tone beige

Tweed blue/green

Grass Matting available in: • 2 m wide Rolls • 4 m x 4 m Mound Cover

Funeral Supplies Donegal Ltd. Leghowney Donegal Town Co. Donegal Ireland Tel: +353(0)74 9723715 Fax: +353 (0)74 9723742 Mobile: +353 (0)87 2376169 www.funeralsupplies.ie info@funeralsupplies.ie

Funeral Partners expands social media presence to offer families more ways to engage with funeral homes Funeral Partners’ Northern Ireland branches have expanded their social media presence over the past month to launch new community initiatives and offer families more ways to stay in touch as Covid-19 cases continue to rise.

Keeping connected with families on Facebook

F

uneral Partners’ Northern Ireland funeral homes have collectively reached over 2,300 followers on their new Facebook pages by providing families more opportunities to connect online.

Jon Baird, Business Principal of Bairds of Antrim Funeral Directors in Antrim, said: “Since the introduction of our Facebook page we have seen a huge rise in engagement. Comments from our followers have been very positive, and it has certainly raised the profile of our brand within the local community and beyond.”

One of the key benefits discovered by the Northern Ireland branches is the ability to continue interacting with families as Covid-19 safeguarding restrictions remain in place in their funeral homes.

Jon continued: “By using the platform people in

the Antrim community have been able to keep communicating with grieving families. This has been so positive in the current situation and a great source of comfort.”

The Facebook pages have also helped branches become more aware of local initiatives, groups and charity events. Emma Moore, Branch Development Manager, explained: “We can view and engage with groups that we normally wouldn’t have had an opportunity to interact with. The new page can also be tagged in events we’re supporting, which in turn encourages our followers to get involved.

“With more and more people using social media, especially since the beginning of the pandemic, it is a vital tool to improve our communication and presence within the communities that we are proud to serve.”

Social media photography competition James Brown & Sons Funeral Directors in Belfast and John Gray & Co Funeral Directors in Bangor, Newtownards and Holywood decided to run a photography competition through Facebook. This enabled them to engage with their local communities while remaining cautious with social distancing to protect each other.

Inspired by the recent 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the Northern Irish funeral homes ran a four-week Facebook advertising campaign asking people to send pictures of wildlife, nature and the environment to be in with the chance of winning £200-worth of photography equipment.

Regional Development Director Julian 20 | FuneralTimes

Beverley Brown, Marketing Manager at Funeral Partners and Terry Weir, Funeral Director at James Brown & Sons Funeral Directors with Andy Coulter and his winning photograph.

Hodgkinson and James Brown, Consultant at against a vibrant magenta sky that seemed to James Brown & Sons, received a number of mirror the water, so I took the shot.” breath-taking entries to Funeral Partners judge before awarding first awarded Andy with a place to Andy Coulter, camera strap as his prize an electrician at Antrim & for the winning shot Newtownabbey Borough and now plan to turn Council, for his shot of the best entries into a a lone tree shrouded by calendar for 2022. Sales water. from the calendar will Andy said: “I happened be donated to Cruse to have a photograph Bereavement Support that fitted the bill which in Northern Ireland to I took in January after support their muchpainstaking patience, so needed services. when my wife tagged Andy concluded with me in Funeral Partners’ some advice for the Facebook post, I knew I runners-up: “The chances had to submit it. of me walking across “I first noticed the that image while it was tree while out for a in a flood and good light walk about three or was a million in one, so four months before you really have to plan actually taking the for your shots, put in the photo. However, there groundwork and practice, had been no substantial practice, practice.” rainfall to cause a flood, Mulhollands Funeral which I felt was needed Directors in Carrickfergus to hide the rather messy Andy Coulter’s first-place photograph. and Larne recently foreground. launched its own “I kept walking the same path to find the photography competition through Facebook perfect conditions and eventually, after two and hopes to engage with its local communities weeks of downpour, the tree was left isolated with the same level of success.

Thinking about selling your business?

F

uneral Partners is interested in further expansion in Northern Ireland and would be happy to have an informal and confidential chat with any Funeral Directors who are considering selling their businesses. Contact Chief Executive Officer Sam Kershaw directly on 07834 531822 or email: sam.kershaw@funeralpartners.co.uk, or get in touch with Acquisition & Mergers Director Steve Wilkinson on 07528 970 531 or email: steve.wilkinson@funeralpartners.co.uk. www.funeralpartnersnorthernireland.com FuneralTimes | 21

Margaret Davis Professional Embalming Services Presents “CARING THROUGH COVID” Saturday 22nd January 2022 2pm-4pm (Venue to be confirmed) This short session aims to provide support for trained embalming colleagues involved in care of the Deceased with a diagnosis of COVID 19 For further information and to confirm attendance please email margaretdavis4@icloud.com • Session is open to Trained Embalmers • Spaces limited

“Quality, Professional Embalming Care Service Founded on the Importance and Values Associated with Viewing & Visitation of a Loved One After Their Passing” margaretdavis4@icloud.com Tel. 07841 100249 22 | FuneralTimes

New Delivery -

Quinn Hearse and Limousine

Darragh Walsh (Tipperary) gets the keys to his newly built 3 Door E Class in Quinn Hearse and Limousine’s newly refurbished showroom

Padraic Cawley Civil Funeral Celebrant Celebrating the life of the deceased, reflecting their personal beliefs, wishes, values and traditions.

T: 087- 2676050

E: padraic@padraiccawley.ie W: www.padraiccawley.ie

INSTITUTE OF

CIVIL FUNER AL S

FuneralTimes | 23

Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund celebrates 50th Anniversary F

ounded by the late Mrs Josie Kerr MBE and her late husband Walter. It all began with one letter to the Belfast Telegraph in 1971 announcing their hope to form a volunteer group and inviting others who had been afflicted with kidney disease or simply wished to help to get in touch. Sadly, the prompt for this letter was the loss of their three sons at birth as a result of pregnancy toxaemia which seriously affected Josie’s kidneys.

She came close to death and wanted to express her gratitude to the medical doctors in Belfast and say thanks for the treatment she received To this day, Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund brings people together to raise funds for vital research. It goes without saying that the strength of any Research Fund is its members and those willing to offer even a little of their time to help. The NIKRF are always

delighted to welcome and support those who wish to get involved. They are the leading local charity which raises money for research into kidney disease and want to carry on the legacy of their work and enable the next generation. People of any age can be affected by kidney disease and it is for this reason that the leaving of a legacy donation or nominating the charity for donations is greatly appreciated.

Funding research provides the evidence that improves practice and alleviates suffering. Fundraising events are organised throughout the year by the NIKRF groups in Northern Ireland. Supporting important research is the only way to help fight kidney disease. The Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund is a totally voluntary charity with no paid members. All money raised is through generous donations from the people of Northern Ireland. This is why new members and benefactors

are so vital to carry on their achievements. 90% of all income goes to support research here in Northern Ireland and the findings of this research is spread throughout the world. Over £10,000,000 has been raised to date. This has provided funding for more than 100 research fellows in Northern Ireland, many of whom are currently world leading renal clinicians.

If you would like to learn about the work of NIKRF or support and help us in any way please contact us by email: info@nikidneyresearch.org or post to: NIKRF, c/o Dialysis Unit, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7AB or tel 028 9041 9201

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BIE News BIE News Ireland Division Hi All, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who made the effort in attending our meeting at the Maldron Hotel, Portlaoise on the 24th October 2021. It was great to see everyone in person after such a long time and amazing to catch up. We were privileged to have a good friend of mine Mr. Ben Whitworth join us on zoom to give us a presentation into his experience in Covid19 so far. It was a great insight into what the UK has gone through and he also went into details on how Covid19 cases were treated and embalmed. A huge thanks to Ben for putting the time into his presentation and joining us at our first face to face meeting. We can’t wait to see you in 2022! I have to say it was one of the best meetings I have attended in a very long time. There were huge discussions and ideas for upcoming meetings, embalming techniques and problem solving on any issues people were experiencing. Thanks again to everyone who came and everyone contributed a bit to the meeting. That is exactly what I want to see going forward!

I would like to say a huge congratulations to Cyril Gantley of Mortuary Science Ireland Ltd. on his recent achievement. He is now a fully qualified BIE tutor in the Republic of Ireland. We are so proud of you Cyril and you are going to be an amazing tutor!

Our AGM and next meeting is on the 9th January 2022 which will be face to face and the venue will be confirmed in the invitation. So once again I would really encourage all our members to attend. We have had a great year with very interesting speakers and topics and I can guarantee next year won’t disappoint!

All ideas are welcome and can be forwarded on to myself or to Jenny.

On a final note, I have to say I’m blown away with the response I received on my last chairperson’s letter.

The amount of support I received in calls and texts I just want to thank each and every one of you. I can safely say it definitely brought awareness to the situation and I don’t think people will think twice about being quiet on the topic of bullying and mistreatment in the Industry! Stay safe everyone and see you in January.

BIE Irish Chairperson Niamh Cusack

List of BIE Officers and Appointed Representatives for 2021 IRISH DIVISION Chairperson: Niamh Cusack MBIE Ballingowan West, Villierstown, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford.

Tel: 086 3744762 E: cusackembalmings@gmail.com 26 | FuneralTimes

2nd Vice Chairperson: Robert Fehily MBIE Strand Road, Carrigaline, Co. Cork Tel: 087 660919 E: robertfehily@gmail.com

Secretary: Jennifer Tighe MBIE St. Patrick Street, Boyle, Co. Roscommon Tel: 086 8854333 E: Jennytighe30@yahoo.com

List of BIE Officers and Appointed Representatives for 2021 National Council Rep 1: Pamela Murphy MBIE 14 Parknasillogue Court, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow Mobile: 085 7415421 National Council Rep 2 & Divisional Liaison:: Barbara Fowley Cruagh Lane Killakee Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 Mobile: 086 1911022 E: Barbarafowley@yahoo.ie Treasurer: John Hawe MBIE 12 Meadow Vale, Smith’s Road, Charleville, Co. Cork Mobile: 087 6390087 E: jmhawe@eircom.net Public Relations Offcer: Cyril Gantley MBIE 336 Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12 Mobile: 085 7671582 E: cyril.gantley@mortuaryscience.ie Professional Standards Rep: Susan Moran 20 Cedarwood Park, Newbridge, Co. Kildare Mobile: 086 0619500 E: susan.moran@mortuaryscience.ie National Education Rep: Ann Shepherd Lisameen, Ballinalee Longford, Co. longford Mobile:086 2784244 E: annshepherdbie@gmail.com NORTHERN IRELAND DIVISION Chairman Pat Harley, MBIE 67 Creggan Road, L’derry BT48 9DA Tel: 07712 899137 E: pat.harley@hotmail.co.uk

Vice Chairman: Mrs N Taggart, MBIE 11 Alderley Crescent, Newtownabbey BT36 7WY Tel: 07917 220073 E: nikkiknockaning@aol.com 1st National Council Representative: Laurence O’Neill MBIE 98 Stewartstown Road, Belfast BT11 9JP Tel: 028 9062 0099 E: oneill8210@hotmail.com 2nd National Council Representative: Ellison Sloan MBIE Tel: 028 3833 6175 Treasurer: Andrew McMullan MBIE 22 High Street, Ballymoney Co. Antrim BT53 6AQ Tel: 028 2766 2265 E: andrew@mcmullanfunerals. com Secretary: Liam Edwin Boyle, MBIE 4 Bradford Place Belfast BT8 7AW Tel: 07713 575501 E: liamboyle15@hotmail.co.uk Public Relations Offcer: Ciaran Bailie Tel. 07523 477852 27 Navan Court Armagh

Student Liaison Officer Charlie Poots MBIE National President: Bobby Hopkin-Hoggarth MBIE Imm. Past President: Dr Phil Gore MBIE 1st Vice President: Dianne Hughes National PRO & National General Secretary: Karen Caney FBIE White Meadow Cottage, Brailsford, Derby DE6 3DA Tel: 01332 349035(BIE) Mobile: 07786 432014 E: karencaney@btopenworld.com National Treasurer: Michael Liddle FBIE 10 Yew Tree Close, Silsoe MK45 4EQ Business Tel: 01582 490005 Home Tel: 01525 860117 E: michael@silsloe.wanadoo.co.uk Editor: Gwen Schofield FBIE 9 Seymour Walk, Meltham, Holmfirth HD9 4BP Home Tel: 01484 851994 Mobile: 07778 279100 E: gwen.schofield@ntlworld.co.uk Master Fellow: David Kaye FBIE Student Liaison Officer: David Coster MBIE

1st Educational Committee Representative: Stephen Shields MBIE James Brown & Sons 300 Newtownards Road, Belfast Tel: 028 9045 1021 E: jamesbrown.belfast@ funeralpartners.com FuneralTimes | 27

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ince their formation, Damian and the team at Creative Binding have always been on the lookout for opportunities and ideas to bring new products and solutions to the funeral industry in Ireland. Having built many strong and lasting relationships with firms across the island, Creative Binding Solutions are a valuable source for printing and design.

The past 18 months has changed virtually every aspect of life, from personal choice to commercial needs, a fact not lost on Damian and the team.

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Leave no stone unturned!

Staff at Finders International Probate Genealogists locate deceased’s next of kin on behalf of Funeral Directors, Hospitals, Councils, Nursing Homes and Solicitors.

W

e had an interesting case recently where we were asked to locate one person in the UK, a grandchild of the Deceased lady. This initially appeared to be relatively straightforward research however the research took longer than expected as it turned out that she had married 6 times and had moved house approximately 10 times. When the correct lady phoned us back in response to an approach letter that we had sent she laughed and

congratulated us on tracking her down given her many marriages. She wasn’t sure herself how many times she had married, 5 or 6 but we were able to confirm to her that she had married 6 times.

That was quite an unusual case but a good outcome.

On another case, we were contacted by a Solicitor as there was a problem locating a death record for a beneficiary who had died. None of the family knew who had taken care of the affairs of this

Deceased lady. We located a sympathy notice in the newspaper for the Deceased lady and contacted the nursing home where she had been a patient. Staff at the Nursing Home said that she had been transferred to hospital and hospital staff said that she had been transferred to a hospice.

We contacted the hospice who explained that they had notified the lady’s next-ofkin of her death so her death could be registered. It turned out that the Deceased lady’s

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next-of-kin had also since passed away without having had a chance to register her death. The hospice were able to provide details so that finally this lady’s death could be registered 8 years after her passing.

There can be many disagreements when it come to a Will or where an estate is involved. And in our research we come across many families that have become disconnected because of disagreements. In fact, sometimes there aren’t even disagreements however the family chose not to disclose information or provide misleading information. We often come across family members who say that they have no siblings when they have several siblings. One lady

said that her sister was her half-sister and therefore not entitled until we compared their birth records and her half-sister was in fact her full sister and absolutely entitled.

Another case saw a lady say that her brother had been adopted out of the family and that her father had not been named on his birth record when in truth her father’s name was on both birth records and he had not been adopted, but rather had been reared by an aunt as an

arrangement that meant that the aunt had company and help.

On one of our favourite rip. ie death notices, the cousin who arranged the Deceased’s funeral and provided the wording for the death notice stated that they were the ‘last surviving first cousin’. This of course was not true and the other 2 first cousins were delighted when we located them and let them know that they would be benefitting from their cousin’s Estate.

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Glyn Tallon - 14 Academy Street, Navan, Co. Meath Tel: 086 826 8876 / Fax: 046 903 6001 Web: www.tallonmortuaryspecialists.com Email: info@tallonmortuaryspecialists.com FuneralTimes | 33

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Pictured are Paul McEvoy and his son Darren, from Paul McEvoy & Sons Funeral Directors, Newry, taking delivery of their new Mercedes 5 Door Hearse from Gerard Duffy of Duffy Coachbodies. Paul McEvoy & Sons continue to use Duffy Hearses due to their classic style, design, quality of build and level of customer care. Paul McEvoy & Sons Funeral Directors was established in 2002, by Paul who had worked in the profession for a number of years before hand. Realising there was a void to be filled in Newry and the surrounding areas, Paul decided to give the public the choice of another Funeral Director. Paul has a fantastic hard-working family, who he credits with being the backbone of the family-run business. Paul’s eldest two son’s Gareth and Darren are now following in their father’s footsteps in the funeral business.

Philip Ward and his son Max of J.P. Ward & Sons are pictured taking delivery of another new Mercedes limousine from Gerard Duffy of Duffy Coachbodies. Max who is in transition year at school, is the third generation of the Ward family to visit Duffy Coachbodies in Dundalk. Philip’s father J.P. Ward, purchased a hearse from Duffy Coachbodies in 1984 and the Ward family have dealt exclusively with Duffy Coachbodies for all their funeral vehicle requirements ever since. Duffy Coachbodies would like to thank J.P. Ward & Sons for their continued support.

38 | FuneralTimes

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The business was established early 2021 after 2 years of planning, research and marketing. Anita is a Nurse/Midwife who returned to college to study Mortuary Science and Embalming. Andrew is a Printer and Graphic Designer and Martina comes from a business and legal background.

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Jaundice, the never-ending challenge

By Randy Rogalsky, CFSP, MBIE Randy has been with The Dodge Company Canada since 1988 and President of Dodge (Canada) since 1994. He is a licensed embalmer and funeral director.

T

he most controversial embalming topic, without a doubt, is jaundice. In my 45 years in funeral service, I have heard virtually every theory on the subject. Do I have my own way of embalming a jaundiced body? My methods have evolved, but, yes, I think I have a pretty good method and I will share it with you later on.

When I started working at my first job back in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, in western Canada, a small town of some 3,500, I worked for a fastidious man. He loved embalming and I had to watch for quite a while before he would let me have my hand in the procedures. He was not the type of man that would just let me loose in the prep room and tell me to sink or swim. He taught.

He had a way of saying Metasyn that I learned many years later was pronounced differently, and I’ve chuckled with many of my friends in the business over the years that it doesn’t matter how you say it as long as you use it. Now this dates back to the years when Dodge did not print the “index” on the bottle. The theory back then among the scientists at Dodge was that the index isn’t as important as what is in the formulation that makes the product work, and that one day in the future “index” might not actually be a factor.

We all know the rest of that story. Products like Freedom Art were developed and have become popular, particularly for jaundice. As we all know, Dodge has been printing the index on the bottles for quite a few years now. Indexes were always assigned and were printed on one of the first pages of the Catalog.

Mr. Barron believed that Metasyn did not have formaldehyde in it because it was meant for jaundice and he thought that formaldehyde would make a jaundiced body turn green.

I didn’t know any differently at age 17, right

44 | FuneralTimes

out of high school, so whatever he taught me I absorbed. It didn’t take long, and after some conversations with our Dodge rep of the day, for me to learn that, in fact, Metasyn did have formaldehyde in it. But it also had an exceptional product called “plasdoform” which was a remarkable scientific discovery back in the late with 60’s. It was a controlling agent that encapsulated the formaldehyde, so that by the time the plasdoform was released, most of the bile would have been removed from the blood drainage.

I was taught early on to use warm water, because of the contraction and expansion factors, and the fact that the normal body temperature of a living human is 98.6°F. So depending on the size of the person and whether or not there were any other conditions such as edema, you just reached for the Metasyn, matched it with equal quantities of Rectifiant and Metaflow, some Icterine dye, added your warm water and you could not go wrong.

One of the most prominent theories over the years and one that is still held to this day in some circles, is that you need to use large volumes of a low index chemical to mitigate the conversion from yellow to green or to flush the system out. There were even people who talked about using milk, of all things! I was never able to ascertain whether that was supposed to be skim milk, 1% milk, or 2% milk. But it didn’t take much of a chemist to tell you that milk will just turn to a sour smelling mess if you dare try using it. A wonderful mentor of mine told me many years ago when I started working for Dodge, don’t ever sacrifice anybody’s deceased mother, or father, or anybody in your care for an experiment in embalming. Don’t do that!

So when I hear embalmers saying they tried

something on a body and it didn’t turn out, I always feel for that family and shake my head.

I maintain that an embalmer should stay within the parameters of true professionalism. We need to arrive at a prescription and a course of action, but we do not ever want to incorporate wacky notions using something off the grocery store shelf.

I’m not going to get into “flushing” and all kinds of complicated mixtures, and I am also not going to delve into the old bilirubin to biliverdin stuff either. We all know what jaundice is and why a person becomes jaundiced. This article is about how to treat it, and to offer up a good way to do it, so that if you try this out, you will meet with a fair expectation of success.

You may feel that some of what I explain is aggressive. But in my last article, entitled “It Can Be Done,” I discussed a forthright way of treating extreme edema for a rapid result when time is short. We will get to an assertive way to treat jaundice too, and all you need to do is try it, and please don’t count bottles.

I have always considered yellow jaundice to be a major chemical reaction that has occurred for all the wrong reasons within a person’s body, and that the best way to approach it is with some counter-chemistry. Pharmaceuticals are all about the same thing, and one little pill can do an awful lot in a person’s body, so the same thing makes sense in embalming.

Mr. Barron always said to me that we needed to get this person’s head up nice and high, because one of the things that often happens is that they can turn green after the cavity injection has happened. Have any of you ever heard this before? Well, that is something I learned a long time ago, and it stands true. We hear people talking about how beautiful the body turned out after the embalming and, low and behold, sometimes they come in the next day and the person has turned green or dark, particularly the ears and cheeks.

It is difficult to generalize about jaundice because there are so many variable conditions.

Are the person’s eyes a bit yellow, is there just a mild yellow tinge to the complexion, or is this person seriously jaundiced and almost green already? I have seen those kinds of bodies and you have, too. How on earth do you think you are ever going to get rid of that?

Well, believe me, in some cases, you just aren’t

going to get rid of it. We are going to talk about some formulations where we use a large amount of co-injection chemicals to release the formaldehyde slower, but sometimes the jaundice is just so bad that you are going to have to rely on cosmetology, and we have had many authors over the decades write articles on cosmetology precisely because it is not always possible to achieve the desired outcome with chemicals alone. I wrote an article a while ago on the subject of achieving a desired cosmetic finish with the arterial injection and, although this can be achieved with a jaundice case, we need to be realistic with our expectations.

One interesting thing that I have seen change over the last 30 years is the process of preinjecting. It seemed that almost every embalmer was taught to pre-inject a gallon or so with a bit of Rectifiant and Metaflow, or Permaflow V-2, an older nonplasdoform but good product, or, in the last few years Proflow, our ultimate pre/ co-injectio chemical. Most of that overall preinjection solution was water, and by the time even half of that was injected, the body was well along being profused. I have noticed this habit diminish. But there is a chemical situation occurring in jaundice that benefits from a preinjection, and in all honesty, I would only ever pre-inject if the body is jaundiced, and I will explain why.

In the situation of a jaundiced body, I think of a pre-injection as sending in the security team to ready the field and set up some protection, so that when the main stars come in, everything is ready to go and everything will go smoothly.

The pre-injection I would use on a jaundiced body, regardless of how intense the yellow stain is, would be two bottles of Rectifiant, two bottles of Proflow, and four to six ounces of Icterine dye. This is just a little more than a half gallon. Depending on the size of the person, I might double that. This is on a non-autopsied body. An autopsied jaundiced body is another article all together.

There is no benefit to be derived from diluting this pre-injection chemical with water. If you want to be creative in keeping with the “warm water” theory, put those bottles of water corrective and pre/co-injection chemicals into a sink of hot water as you would with a baby’s bottle. This is particularly helpful if the body has been in refrigeration, and even if the person FuneralTimes | 45

wasn’t, you will derive an enhanced result from this solution being warm.

You have a choice to make depending on how much confidence you have, and depending on the natural complexion category of the person you are embalming. You now have to choose to either do your best to control the change from yellow to “normal,” or to step up the procedure and “counterstain” the yellow. In order to do this, you will add much more Icterine dye to your pre-injection solution, and overtake the yellow completely. You will really notice this in the face and hands, which, of course, are the viewing features of the body. It might be a bit of an unrealistic expectation to hope to completely over-power the yellow on the entire body. There will be “hot” spots that receive more dye than other parts of the body, and that is fine, just as long as you are achieving the right amount of dye in the right spots, perhaps with 46 | FuneralTimes

additional massage and manipulation.

These chemicals in the pre-injection have no fixation capability and, while we all know that time can be valuable, it is fine in this case to allow these chemicals to react with the tissues, keeping the vein closed and the superior part of the carotid artery tied off. Set the features, and allow these products some time to do their job.

During this first step, you may encounter some blotching. This is fine. Only the addition of more dye and a forthright approach to over-powering the yellow will work.

After 20 minutes or so of allowing these chemicals to work, prepare the primary preservative injection. Again, depending on the size of the person and whether or not there are any other issues such as edema, mix up a solution of your choice with Metasyn. Your selection of Metasyn will depend on your preference for how much firming you want.

I would choose Metasyn Accelerated as my default chemical because to me it is just about right. Add three bottles of Rectifiant, three bottles of Proflow, and at least two bottles of Metasyn Accelerated, all warmed in the sink of water if you have time. Top up your tank to two gallons with warm water. Importantly, add as much Icterine tint as you choose, depending on your level of confidence. I have used upwards of six ounces. Add up to one to three bottles of Restorative if the body is emaciated.

Before I go any further, it is the appropriate time to speak briefly about the injection method and your embalming machine settings.

I recommend that if your equipment provides for it, use pulsation, please. Pulsated pressure at a minimum of 40 psi and, as a maximum, what you are comfortable with. For me, the ideal is 80 psi. It is important if not crucial to keep your rate of flow between 12 and 16 ounces per minute if you have a measuring gauge such as on the Dodge Embalming Machine. If you have an automatic pressure style machine, you’ll just have to trust in the equipment’s capability to set the pressure, and just keep an eye on your rate of flow. Into the head at the end of the procedure, reduce the pressure to no more than 40 psi, and the rate of flow just to a mere trickle as there is not much necessity for more than a few ounces, and, of course, pulsation is crucial.

This injection is based on using a right common carotid injection, not a restricted cervical as some might do. In this case you should strive to achieve as much collateral circulation into the face as possible to overcome the yellow discoloration, and, to remind you, the superior portion of the carotid artery should be pinched off to retain as much chemical into the head as possible and not risk losing it out of the top of the artery.

By the time you have injected half of this solution, and provided that circulation and distribution are working out effectively, you should be experiencing the complete conversion of the complexion in the face and hands to a darkly tinted red/reddish-brown/ tanned/pink complexion.

Choose a cavity chemical such as Metafix which was specifically formulated for jaundiced bodies, or perhaps Freedom Cav which has no formaldehyde in it. Using either of these cavity chemicals, and by keeping the head and

hands elevated, you should not encounter the gravitational effect into the face. I mentioned earlier that the head should be elevated. Not doing this is one of the most common causes of not maintaining the initially achieved results after embalming.

The cosmetic color wheel is part of the prism concept, but we know that if you want pink, you can add white or cream to red and arrive at pink. Using that as a focal point, you should be able to apply an appropriate shade of cosmetic to this counterstained complexion and arrive at a suitable outcome without a full mask or opaque application.

There really isn’t any color of cosmetic that will blend with yellow or green to give you “natural.” The objective with using all of the dye was to give you a “base” that only needs to be lightened to the desired complexion shade.

This theory should work relatively well on all Caucasian and/or South Asian complexions, and on dark and black complexions as well, believe it or not. It will merely be a decision on what foundation cosmetics you need to use.

Preservation is the primary goal, with a desired cosmetic outcome. I cannot emphasize enough that no cosmetic we or anyone else has can take care of decomposition. The idea of using weak solutions merely for the sake of preventing color conversion is just a bad choice.

I know that may not be a popular comment in some circles. Components within the bile counter-acts preservation, so all you need to know is what controlled chemicals you can use so that you achieve a balance of all positive outcomes. I hope you will try this method and feel less intimidated the next time you have one of these cases.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list for the complementary Dodge Magazine which is printed quarterly or would like to discuss any of the products mentioned in this article, please contact us: Shepherds Funeral Supplies, Unit 2A Royal Canal Business Park, Athlone Road, Co. Longford. Ph. 00353 43 3349702/00353 87 2486668

FuneralTimes | 47

Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke

It’s the little things that matter most at Christmas Wrapping gifts, going out Christmas shopping, or decorating the tree are just some of the little things many of us couldn’t imagine our festive season without.

But sadly, that’s the reality for many people living with a chest, heart or stroke illness.

Almost 1 in 5 people here in Northern Ireland are living with these conditions. Mary Lockhart from Armagh is one of them. She suffered three strokes in December 2011.

Mary says, “When I first got home from the hospital, I couldn’t walk, or work on my farm anymore.”

Mary took part in Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke’s PREP Programme (Post Rehab Exercise Programme). Mary says, “Thankfully I did - if it hadn’t been for PREP, I might still be in a wheelchair. I would recommend the programme to anyone who has experienced a stroke. If you take the advice and information on board, you can make big improvements”.

“I can still live a very active life thanks to PREP. I’m back to being able to train my sheepdogs which I love. I can drive, and I even went to the Balmoral Show this year. But it’s the little things like not being able to concentrate the way I used to, and having to learn to adapt and pace myself; after a day out, I know I need to rest

48 | FuneralTimes

to be able to face tomorrow, and that’s how I live now.”

Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke have been working with people of all ages and delivering our locally based services since 1946. 75 years later we are still here leading the fight against chest, heart and stroke conditions and side by side with the people of Northern Ireland.

We understand the huge impact that living with a chest, heart or stroke illness can have and we are there to support people diagnosed every day who need our support. We provide a wide range of professional support services for people at risk of, and living with chest, heart and stroke conditions, working with people of all ages throughout Northern Ireland, along with their family and/or carers.

To find out how you can support people affected by a chest, heart or stroke condition this Christmas, go to www.nichs.org. uk or call on 028 9026 6743 to make a donation.

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Liza from Treasured Keepsakes Would like to thank you all for your support throughout 2021 and wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2022.

50 | FuneralTimes

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Seasons Greetings from all at Funeral Partners Wishing you all the best for 2022

NAFD News NAFD launches bold new Five-Year Strategy A

brand-new Five-Year strategy for the NAFD, called Focusing on the Future, was launched at the end of October which sets out bold and innovative plans for the Association to ensure it is well-equipped to support members through the myriad of issues facing the profession.

The sector remains in the middle of a period of significant change, following extensive scrutiny from policy makers and the media, the introduction of regulation, a pandemic and a significant evolution of consumer expectations of funeral services.

However, the reputation of the NAFD has developed significantly in the last three years and this has put it in a much stronger position to be able to play the leadership role needed of the Association at this critical time.

The Association has built vital partnerships across the end of life, bereavement and funerals sector to enable productive joint working; it has reshaped the NAFD suite of qualifications for the modern era; it has a higher media profile and strong relationships with key media; a broader range of political contacts and, through the pandemic, it has built close working relationships with key Government departments – earning the reputation of being a trusted advisor.

The new strategy seeks to ensure the NAFD can build on these strengths and take bold and decisive action to secure a vibrant future for its members.

Launched after extensive consultation with members and external stakeholders, Focusing on the Future is based around the principle that it is far better for the NAFD to proactively shape the future of the funerals sector, than to simply wait to be subject to it.

There are four key aims within the Strategy, which are to deliver unrivalled support to members, build partnerships and lead a national conversation about funerals and bereavement, enrich the sector through knowledge and education and shape the policy and trading environment for funeral firms to help them to thrive.

And, at the heart of the Strategy, is the NAFD’s new Mission Statement, which is “to be an inclusive and progressive advocate for the funeral profession and bereaved people in all four nations of the United Kingdom.”

Commending Focusing on the Future to the membership, NAFD President Kate Edwards said: “For the NAFD, recent experiences have provoked intense discussion within the NAFD Executive about the nature, role and value of membership organisations in the modern world – as well as the fast-evolving external environment to which we, and our members, continue rapidly to adapt.

“We cannot be defined by what has gone before – even if those events are as seismic as a pandemic and the introduction of regulation.

We must now carve out a future in which NAFD members have everything they need to be able to lead the funeral sector and one in which the Association continues to reshape itself, in a post pandemic, post-Brexit, post CMA world, to deliver those needs for members every step of the way.”

FuneralTimes | 53

New Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration accessible to all The new NAFD Funeral Arranging and Administration Certificate (FAACert) is designed for employees working as funeral arrangers and administrators. Delivered mostly through online and distance learning, the course also includes a final assessment by a qualified NAFD examiner. Moving the Certificate online makes it more accessible to a wider audience, from across the length and breadth of the UK, and enables the learner to study at their own pace and in their own time.

As part of the NAFD’s new Education Framework, which is designed to support career progression within the funeral profession, the entry criteria for the FAACert is a minimum of nine months’ experience working as a funeral arranger. Candidates must be currently employed in the funeral sector and must also hold a valid Maths and English qualification at Grade D/3 or above.

The course syllabus covers topics such as the impact of bereavement, sensitive communication, Health and Safety in the Workplace, the role of the Coroner/Procurator

Fiscal, arranging burials and cremations, funerals for children – and much more.

Karen Van-Richardson, the NAFD’s Education Development Manager, explained more about the new qualification.

“The FAACert provides an important foundation for funeral arrangers and those aspiring to become funeral directors. It covers all of the processes related to funeral arranging and associated administrative procedures, and demands that students apply this knowledge to solve routine problems and provide sensitive support to bereaved people. It also supports students in not only working well as part of a team, under supervision, but also in developing the skills they need to act effectively with autonomy too as they progress through their career.”

The cost of the FAACert course is £795, for a two-year registration period, and is payable in advance before the student gets access to the course content and support. It is expected that most students will complete the course within a period of between six to twelve months.

Find out more at nafdeducation.org.uk

NAFD leads campaign on limousine licensing in Northern Ireland The NAFD is leading a campaign to exempt funeral limousines from Taxi regulations in Northern Ireland, which are both costly and prohibitive.

Funeral limousines were included in the Taxis Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and, as such, require a Class C taxi licence, which means that funeral directors must abide by many of the same “hire and reward” regulations that might be relevant to other classed taxis but not so for 54 | FuneralTimes

private vehicles used for such a specific purpose as a funeral.

While the anomaly of classifying funeral limousines as taxis has been discussed for some time, issues caused by it have really come to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic when limousines were banned for use under the Department of Health Guidance during the pandemic, yet taxis were not.

With limousine drivers out of work for over a year, there is now also a shortage of

suitably-qualified PSV drivers available to drive for funeral directors, further exacerbating the issue.

The Association has written to Nichola Mallon, the Minister for Infrastructure, and the relevant Parliamentary Committee, as part of a new campaign seeking change. The NAFD believes that politicians must act now to support funerals firms that have played such an important role in society over the last 20 months.

The NAFD wins 2021 Trade Association of the Year The National Association of Funeral Directors was awarded UK Association of the Year at the 2021 Association Excellence Awards, in recognition of the focused and comprehensive support provided to members across the end of 2019 and whole of 2020.

Jon Levett, NAFD Chief Executive said: “It is always a privilege to support our members in the important work they do to care for deceased and bereaved people, but our work has perhaps never been more important than across the last couple of years and our purpose never clearer or more focused.

“The NAFD’s small team, together with some very dedicated volunteers from the membership, worked tirelessly - sometimes seven days a week - to provide support during the pandemic, campaign for clear guidance from Government and ensure the sector’s contribution to the national effort

was recognised, as well as providing support to members on the introduction of CMA regulation to the funeral sector and maintaining vital services like NAFD qualifications, standards and compliance activity, events and practical business support.

“I am very proud of the entire team for this achievement, particularly given how strong the competing submissions were, and would also like to thank the member volunteers for their support too. This award is a fitting and valued recognition of the entire NAFD team’s collective efforts to support members during a very difficult time.”

FuneralTimes | 55

Former senior Ombudsman appointed Director of Regulation for new funeral standards organisation

J

ohn Withington, a former Senior Ombudsman with experience in leading dispute resolution, engaging with business and representative groups and creating policy around fairness for consumers, has been appointed as the new Director of Regulation for the Independent Funeral Standards Organisation (IFSO).

Mr Withington brings substantial experience in senior leadership roles in the legal and financial sectors to the role and a strong record of success in regulation, strategic John Withington planning, transformation and operational design and delivery. He most recently spent seven years as a Senior Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service, leading the resolution of consumer insurance disputes and working with insurers and representative groups to drive up standards of service to consumers but also has experience in the offender management sector and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Reflecting on his appointment, John said: “My background is largely in regulation and, specifically, in improving standards of professional services, but I have personal experience, too, that has drawn me to this role. After the death of my father, we couldn’t recover his ashes as the company we’d used for the funeral closed their doors and disappeared.

Like many, I think, I’d assumed that the funeral services sector was regulated, but soon discovered there was little we could do. The company hadn’t been a member of a trade association either.

“I think that there’s an inherent trust that we feel towards funeral firms, who we rely on for the most intimate and personal of services.

That’s a great start but, of course, can also mean that users can be less engaged than they should be at a time of potential vulnerability.

“All of my previous roles have involved me

56 | FuneralTimes

in raising the standards of services delivered to people in some of the most challenging times of their lives and working closely with service providers, and their representative bodies, to identify opportunities to improve the users’ experiences. I will be looking to design and deliver the most effective, balanced and proportionate model for guidance and support of an industry, but with the power to intervene when circumstances necessitate it. The best form of regulation is self-regulation and I want to lead an organisation that seeks to facilitate rather than intervene.

“While putting in place an appropriate and effective regulatory structure for IFSO’s work with member organisations will be our starting point, there’ll also be a lot of work to be done with others - not least with government - to shape the future months and years. I hope that we can forge a path for effective support of the industry which will become an exemplar of good practice and allow us to play a key role in the ongoing challenge of future successful regulation of the funeral sector.”

Independent Chair of IFSO, the Rt. Hon David Heath CBE, added: “IFSO is very fortunate to have secured the appointment of a Director of Regulation with the experience and quality of John Withington. He brings to the role his knowledge of regulation at a high level, a capacity to clearly understand and articulate the interests of the customer and the general public, and the ability to communicate why having high and consistent standards for funeral directors across the country is so important.

“I very much look forward to working with him, as we move forward to making IFSO an organisation in which both people working in the sector and those outside can have confidence.”

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Remembering our loved ones November is a month of remembrance.

Some of us mark it formally with Church services and public gatherings. Others note the month quietly with a visit to a grave or some meaningful place filled with memories.

As Christmas approaches, sadly some of us remember a loved one who was with us last winter but who will be absent as the festive season comes around again.

As we remember, we also think of how we are in this moment. This year has carried the same challenges as 2020 but we were still dealing with 2020 when this year arrived and we were tired, drained and for many of us, it’s been a tough year. Those of us who work in funeral services have as our reason for being here the care of those who have died and those who love them.

That should be our mission statement, pure and simple: we will look after your end-of-life plans and we will help those you have left behind to see them through, with dignity, care and compassion.

The thing is though, we also have to look after ourselves. In our crematorium, we work with funeral directors from far and wide: Northern Ireland, the North-West, West, East

and Midlands of Ireland and on occasion from further still. We meet you all, we chat to you all, some of you have become well known to us and hopefully you know that we will help you in whatever way we can. But we hear you as well. We hear how difficult these times have been for you. Not just dealing with the everchanging restrictions but with the worries, fears, frustrations and sadness of those you have helped. We don’t just ‘deal’ with these people as clients; we, in a way, minister to them. And as this year draws to a close, and we find ourselves in a more reflective frame of mind, we must be more conscious of each other’s needs. How has this year been for you and those who work with you, your partners and the members of your team? How are they as we approach the year’s end? Has this year been particularly tough for them? Have we been tuned in to each other?

When we are meeting people at a very vulnerable time in their lives, it helps to be conscious of our own vulnerabilities. Dealing with death, with heightened emotions and delicate situations can wear us down, can expose our own fragilities. When a work place daily operates in such an atmosphere, it is all the more important to care for all who live their working days in that place. Acknowledging the sometimes long and difficult hours, appreciating the care offered and the compassion shown, being thankful for the gifts each person brings to each unique situation, all of this is part of the reflection we should bring to our work. Our role, when carried out well, should be unobtrusive.

The way we take care of ourselves and each other in this role should be obvious. It will allow us to continue to minister to all who come to us into the new year and beyond.

FuneralTimes | 59

List of PEAI Officers and Appointed Representatives for 2021-2022 Chairperson - Professional Embalmers Association of Ireland Pauline Lynch MPEAI, MEAE Mobile: 087 7677088 Email: paulinelyn@gmail.com

Secretary - Professional Embalmers Association of Ireland Gráinne Teefy MPEAI Email: secretary@professionalembalmers.ie.

Treasurer - Professional Embalmers Association of Ireland Michael Grealish MPEAI, MEAE Mobile: 087-8184283 Email: grealishmichael@gmail.com

www.professionalembalmers.ie www.professionalembalmers.ie secretary@professionalembalmers.ie

The benefits of our members’ undertakings

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ou can be assured that all our members are continuously enhancing their skills and stay ahead of industry trends and techniques with our educational programmes. As a result of availing of our members service the expertise is offered to consistently bring a better level of service to clients.

The PIEA has an established Code of Professional Conduct which must be adhered by all of its members while practicing embalming.

All members are provided with Professional Identification cards and embalming documentation required to accompany repatriation cases.

With you in mind please view our list of members available nationwide listed by county for your convenience www.professionalembalmers.ie All members must meet certain criteria before being accepted into the Association.

PEAI AGM Hi, Great to see you all at our AGM on 6th November 2021, I would like to thank everyone that attended!

It was the first AGM we had face-to-face since Covid 19 and we followed all the government guidelines and protocols. This was a great meeting and included a lot of strong topics that needed to be discussed.

Everyone actively took part and all issues that needed to be were resolved.

New members were welcomed and Membership presentation to Elizabetk Oakes presented with their certificates, along with new students, which shows the growing strength of our association.

Looking forward to seeing you all at our next meeting!

Please keep safe and remember we are here to advise members at any time and support each other.

Pauline Lynch

(Chairperson) FuneralTimes | 61

Jennifer Muldowney is an event planner for memorials in the United States of America and Ireland and is currently partnered with the prestigious Frank E. Campbell - The Funeral Chapel in NYC as their in-house event planner.

Jennifer is also notable as author of Say Farewell Your Way, Tedx speaker of ‘Grief as Unique as your Heartbeat’ and host of ‘The Glam Reaper Podcast’.

Check out Muldowney Memorials (.com) to learn more.

By Jennifer Muldowney

NFDA 2021 Nashville Tennesee Y

eee HAW we are back baby! SO great to see my funeral family in person once again. I went to the National Funeral Directors Association’s Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee in October.

The 2022 NFDA Convention drew 5,052 total attendees. The Expo Hall featured 323 exhibiting companies. And although the exhibition definitely felt small this year, it made up for it in smiles and attitudes! I was one of very few “international” attendees as Mr. Biden did not lift the travel ban in time for the expo but the few international attendees that were there, we, as always, made ourselves known! I don’t think words can express how truly grateful I was to be back in person with my people.

Working in the funeral industry (more on that later), we often exhaust ourselves both physically, mentally and spiritually to aide others in their time of need. We are often the forgotten group when it comes to …well anything really!

COVID appreciation, for the most part, did not include funeral folk, Climate change high level discussions doesn’t involve the funeral community and technology developments in marketing, services and communications took a long time to reach our trades’ ears and eyes.

So, for me, getting together at these exhibitions and conventions on a yearly basis, is super important.

We are kindred spirits, even if sometimes there is (healthy and unhealthy!) competition internally. Getting together in person forces discussions, opposing views and perspectives and opens our minds to what others have success and failure with. Sometimes it coincides with our own experiences and sometimes 62 | FuneralTimes

not. A family in every sense of the word. A funeral family.

One dinner while at the convention led to the discussion of how we are collectively known.

I referred to the funeral industry and my ‘brother’ did not appreciate that. I have discussed this idea many times on my podcast - The Glam Reaper. Are we a community, an industry, a trade, business, sector, group or none of the above? And if one of these words frustrates you, why? I would ask to start some internal dialogue to find out why a word or description of what you do irks you?

I personally use these interchangeably, so I am curious to hear others thoughts on the subject.

Reach out and tell me!

Until then I sign off in gratitude of being physically back with my crazy but always fun funeral family.

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"ol;om; _o bv |_;u; |o _;Ѵr o u =-lbѴb;v v;; |_; r-vvbom-|; -m7 hmo Ѵ;7];-0Ѵ; v rrou|;u o u;-ѴѴ -u;ĺ ); bѴѴ ;m1o u-]; -m7 ] b7; o bm r7-ঞm] -m7 u;m; bm] o u ; r;uঞv; -m7 o |vo u1; v;u b1;v _;u; m;;7;7 |o 1olrѴ;|;Ѵ r- _ol-]; |o - Ѵb=; Ѵov| |_-| bѴѴ ;m]-]; -ѴѴ C ; o= |_; _ l-m v;mv;vĺ +o m;;7 |o ];| -ѴѴ o= |_ov; ru;1bo v 7;|-bѴv ub]_| |_; Cuv| -m7 omѴ ঞl; =ou o u =-lbѴb;vĺ +o -u; - r-u| o= - 1oll mb| _o 1-u;v =ou |_;bu 1oll mb| Ľv Ѵo ;7 om;v _;m |_; r-vvķ o hmo o u =-lbѴ ŝv 0;v| -m7 ; 1-m _;Ѵr o |o 0ubm] |_;l |_; ;u 0;v|ĺ

Services include: Memorial Planning ;loub-Ѵ v|-@ ;7 1-ঞom -m7 |u-bmbm] ;Ѵ;0u-m| oL1b-ঞom ;Ѵ;0u-m| ;7 1-ঞom -m7 |u-bmbm] "|-@ v-Ѵ;v |u-bmbm] om -Ѵ ;Ŋ-77;7 o@;ubm]v o7;umb -ঞom 1omv Ѵ|-m1 !;0u-m7bm] 1omv Ѵ|-m1 ";u b1;ņruo7 1| 0u-m7 -l0-vv-7ouv_br ! ş l-uh;ঞm] Ŋ 7b]b|-ѴѴ -m7 0; om7 Ƒ 1oll mb1-ঞom v|u-|;]

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Willowfield Private Funeral Home set new standards with a Coleman Milne hearse

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ffering a comprehensive service from their prominent premises at Woodstock Road, Belfast, Elaine Barr and her son Michael, owners of Willowfield Private Funeral Home, have established a fine reputation over the years for supporting local families through their time of loss. The independent business is conducted with an emphasis on delivering the very best standards of care. Recently they entrusted Coleman Milne to supply a brandnew Mercedes hearse.

Capturing traditional elegance and personalised with illuminated signage, this E213 Classic hearse features a spacious deck, finished in eye-catching Vogue Grey, LED ambient lighting and integral coverboards for supreme practicality. Self-levelling suspension and cruise control enhance ride stability and dignity. For

the driver, Bluetooth, satellite navigation and reversing cameras ease the pressures of the working day.

Elaine Barr commented: “We are proud to hold such a privileged position in our community and we continually invest in the business to provide excellence to our clients. This reliable and luxurious hearse has surpassed all our expectations and we were reassured throughout by the outstanding service provided by Coleman Milne.”

Coleman Milne’s Tony Kerr, Elaine Barr CertFP; MSBP (Hons), LMBIFD and Michael Barr MSBP (Hons) 64 | FuneralTimes

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Create the independent future you want.

While SAIF represents you on the issues that matter.

We know how much you value your independence.

The funeral industry may have changed but our passion for supporting our members has remained the same. We represent you on the issues that matter, from improving understanding of funeral pricing to influencing the legislation which affects your future.

Let us take care of the big picture so you can focus locally on what you do best.

For over 25 years SAIF has been promoting and protecting the interests and values of independent funeral directors. Supporting our members is at the heart of everything we do, listening, responding and engaging to secure your independent future.

Join SAIF now: visit saif.org.uk or call us on 0345 230 6777 or 01279 726 777

Saif News Saif News SAIF AGM BANQUET WEEKEND 2022 We are delighted that the SAIF AGM Banquet Weekend will be in March 2022 (17th March to 20th March 2022) at the Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club in Edinburgh and on behalf of the National President, The National Executive Committee and the SAIF Business Centre, we cannot wait to see you.

B

ooking to attend the weekend will be available in due course however as a taster, we start the weekend off on Thursday 17th March with a Golf Tournament. In the evening there is the Scottish AGM where there will be the inauguration of the new SAIF Scotland President, followed by dinner at your own leisure, with a St Patrick’s theme.

On the Friday we have the Associates Lunch followed by an afternoon of activities, then dining with entertainment.

On the Saturday, we have the Annual General

Meeting followed by lunch and then time to experience some of the leisure facilities that the Dalmahoy has to offer. Saturday evening is the banquet where formal attire is required, which promises to be fun filled and for those night owls the customary supper of egg and bacon rolls.

On the Sunday morning we bid farewell to the current National President, Mark Porteous and welcome the 1st Vice President, Jo Parker to take the reins of National President.

Accommodation If you wish to book your accommodation which needs to be paid at the time of booking, please contact the Dalmahoy reservations on 0131 333 1845 option 1 quoting SAIFMARCH22.

For the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night the cost below includes dinner as well as bed and breakfast. Please note after the 24th February 2022 rooms will be released to the general public.

Wednesday 16th March 2022 Single Occupancy Dinner, Bed & Breakfast @ £112.00 per room Double Occupancy Dinner, Bed & Breakfast @ £147.00 per room Thursday 17th March 2022 Single Occupancy Dinner, Bed & Breakfast @ £112.00 per room Double Occupancy Dinner, Bed & Breakfast @ £147.00 per room Friday 18th March 2022 Single Occupancy Dinner, Bed & Breakfast @ £112.00 per room Double Occupancy Dinner, Bed & Breakfast @ £147.00 per room Saturday 14th March Single Occupancy Bed & Breakfast @ £87.00 per room Double Occupancy Bed & Breakfast @ £97.00 per room FuneralTimes | 67

Saif News Saif News Holiday Opening Hours Over the Christmas period the SAIF Business Centre opening times will be: Friday 24th December Wednesday 29th December Thursday 30th December Friday 31st December

9.00 – 16.00 10.00 – 14.00 10.00 – 14.00 10.00 – 14.00

Normal hours from Monday 3rd January 2022

From all at SAIF Business Centre we wish all our SAIF members and readers, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Pierce Coachbuilders Ambulance conversion

Ambulance conversion recently done by Pierce Quality Coachbuilders 68 | FuneralTimes

W.G. Miller Funeral Directors, Islington, London have been purchasing Mercedes based Funeral vehicles exclusively from Duffy Coachbodies since the early 70’s. In 1986 W.G. Miller took delivery of the first six door Mercedes limousine manufactured by Duffy Coachbodies. Prior to that the norm was four door limousines with occasional centre seats. The new Mercedes limousine complete with roof flower rails pictured awaiting delivery is the latest addition to the W.G. Miller fleet. Duffy Coachbodies would like to thank Millers for their continued support and loyalty over the last 50 years.

Duffy Mercedes Fleet for Little and Caine.

Photographed are two new hearses and three new limousines outside Duffy Coachbodies factory in Dundalk, prior to delivery to Little and Caine independent family funeral directors based in Barrow-in-Furness, Dalton, Grange and Ulverston areas. The hearses and limousines are fitted with panoramic glass roofs and are quite unique being painted in Mercedes cavansite blue metallic paint. Mr. Paul Cain selected Duffy vehicles owing to the stylish design, build quality and attention to detail. Duffy Coachbodies would like to thank Little and Caine for their business and wish them every success in the future.

FuneralTimes | 69

The fork in the road

By Dr Bill Webster Yogi Berra, the baseball player and philosopher, conclusion that no-one is given a “good life”. I do believe that we are all given the gift of life, famously said, “When you come to a fork in the but it is what we do with the life we have been road, take it.” given that determines at the end of it whether it I wonder if you find yourselves at a fork in the will be regarded as a good life, or “not so great”. road. How many changes have been generated Nadine Stair was 85 years old when she by the pandemic and its aftermath, in business reflected on what she might do if she had her as well as in our personal lives; many have life to live over. She writes: seen changes through the death of a loved I would take fewer things seriously. I would one; others have seen differences in their take more chances. I would climb more circumstances or lifestyle. mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat Yogi Berra also said, “The future ain’t what more ice cream and fewer it used to be.” That used to beans. You see I’m one of be funny, but no longer. Many Suddenly, sadly those people who lived people have lost their hopes and dreams about the future, their often when it is sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. I plans and their expectations of too late, it dawns would never go anywhere how life was going to be. Their without a thermometer, a hot future “ain’t what it used to be.” on people how water bottle, a raincoat and a I wonder if you find yourself at precious their time parachute. If I had to do it again one of these unavoidable forks in the road that life seems to is and how much I would travel lighter. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. incessantly throw at us. Change more they really I would pick more daisies. I is rarely welcome, and never an would stop to smell the roses.” easy place to be. want to live it.

Have you noticed how people In such a situation, the cliché, don’t have as many regrets “What are you doing for the rest about things they HAVE done as about things of your life?” only rubs salt in the wound. For they regret NOT having done. if people were honest, what they would LIKE How sad it is to see people trying to frantically to be doing for the rest of their life, and what cram all the living that they can into the short they CAN or HAVE TO do might be dramatically time they realise is left to them. All the things different. Many would like to continue doing they wanted to do, the places they wanted to exactly what they HAVE been doing right into see, the words that have been left unsaid. All the future, but their circumstances or situations the things that they figured they had lots of have changed, and they find themselves time to do, put off till later, left for a “better struggling to come to terms with a “rest of your time,” or “one of these days”. life” that they did not expect, would not have Beware! These “maybe another time” moments chosen or even contemplated.

ARE the rest of your life. Suddenly, sadly often Life is never perfect. I have come to the

‘

’

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when it is too late, it dawns on people how precious their time is and how much more they really want to live it. As Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Oh to reach the point of death and realise one has never really lived at all.”

Scottish physician A. J. Cronin was forced by illness to take a leave of absence from his medical practice. He decided in his convalescence to write a novel. But when only half done, he became disheartened and threw his manuscript into the garbage bin.

Totally discouraged, Cronin was walking the Scottish Highlands and a saw a man digging in a marsh trying to drain it for use as a pasture. As they chatted, the man said, “My father dug at this quagmire and never produced a field. But we both know that it’s only by digging you can build a pasture. So I keep digging.”

Inspired by the man’s endurance, Cronin went

home, picked his manuscript out of the waste basket, and finished it. That novel, “Hatter’s Castle”, sold three million copies, and eventually, Cronin left his medical practice and became a world famous writer.

At times, you and I may feel trapped by circumstances that demand patience and persistence. Are we willing to keep digging away at whatever is “bogging you down” so you that eventually you may become outstanding in your field?

David Livingston, when asked where he wanted to go to be a missionary, stated: “I am willing to go anywhere provided it be FORWARD” Now that’s an attitude that guarantees progress no matter what direction you take. It’s never too late to make the most of life. But choose carefully which fork in the road you take, for this IS the rest of your life.

Comprehensive Grief Support Resources

The Centre for the

Grief Journey After Dr. Bill Webster lost his son 2 years ago, he recommitted himself to assisting those suffering the loss of a loved one.

His newly designed website contains a wealth of timely articles, numerous videos , live online sessions and ongoing support programs to help people in your care and community navigate the grief journey.

Visit www.griefjourney.com to start your journey.

FuneralTimes | 71

www.coachbuilders.ie sales@coachbuilders.ie Tel: +353 87 269 0044 Ballyfinane, Firies, Killarney, Co. Kerry

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FuneralTimes | 73

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A cup of tea and a chat about death

By Mattie Lennon

for medical personnel. It is It used to be said of the a wonderful and powerful forestry workers in west experience for healers who Wicklow that when in the confront death every day. There wood they were always should be more of these.” discussing women and when at In an article Dr. Mendoza says, a dance they would be talking “We started having more open about cutting timber. But conversations about death and where is an appropriate place what happens afterwards in the to discuss a topic? Where 1960’s and 1970’s. should one talk about Death She points out that people for instance? In a Death Café began talking about death again of course.

I have just finished a wonderful and an interest developed to Dr Marilyn Mendoza, book titled Openhearted by know more about the dying process and how to help the 81 year-old Irish author Ann dying and their loved ones. This renewed Ingle. When Peter Ingle, whom she loved dearly, interest has led to the establishment of the died in the most tragic manner imaginable, Death Positive Movement all about bringing after years of mental health issues, Ann’s life death out of the darkness and making it went in several different directions; all of them something that people can share and talk about. positive, including signing up for a Vipassana It doesn’t mean that people want to die, but course at seventy years that they want to dispel some of the fears and of age. She tells us that taboos surrounding death.

Vipassana means, “To see Dr. Mendoza says, “ It is actually a way for things as they really are.” people to have more control over what She goes on to say that happens to them at the end of life. Death Cafes the experience, “...led me are currently said to be in 65 countries. They to believe that I already were brought to the U.S. in 2012 by Lizzy Miles. know what it’s like to be These free groups are not therapy groups but dead.” are opportunities for people to get together to In the next paragraph talk about death in a comfortable, confidential, she touched on her and non-judgemental setting. experience in a “Death Cake is always a part of the meetings but in Café.” This prompted me addition to tea, coffee, water or soft drinks to find out more about might also be served. The groups I have been the subject. It was always said that involved in are always well attended with some I had an enquiring mind. (Usually expressed as, becoming so large that a new venue had to be “That’s an inquisitive hoor that fella.”) found to accommodate everyone, ultimately Anyway I contacted Dr Marilyn Mendoza, PhD, a clinical instructor in the Psychiatry needing to break off into two groups. It is Department of Tulane University Medical remarkable to see so many people wanting to Centre, who told me, “You might be interested talk about such a taboo topic”. to know that Tulane Medical School here Death Cafes are also found in Ireland.”; in New Orleans, LA, offers a Death Cafe https://deathcafe.com/profile/20407/ FuneralTimes | 75

Coleman Milne Steps Up the Pace Towards an Electrified Future D

uring the industrial revolution the internal combustion engine paved the way for mass mobility and the steadily rising exchange of people and goods worldwide and has powered hearses for over 100 years. Despite its astonishing efficiency, it appears this engine technology could be on its last lap and the funeral automotive sector is fast approaching a time of upheaval and extraordinary change.

The Earth is warming, and urgent action is required by all nations to bring climate change under control. In a drive to cut global emissions, global governments declared at Cop26: “Automotive manufacturers will be required to reach 100% zero emission new car and van sales in leading markets by 2035 or earlier.” Mercedes, Ford, and General Motors have immediately committed to this date and Coleman Milne is ahead of the game in securing a suitable and workable solution.

As all funeral vehicles are converted from standard road cars that need significant modifications to achieve the size, presence, aesthetics, and weight carrying capacity required for a hearse or limousine, careful selection of the correct base vehicle to build upon is essential.

Coleman Milne is, without doubt, the industry

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forerunner in sustainable fleet manufacture.

Already developed is the Mercedes plug-in hybrid hearse, which has been built, tested, is on the road and a proven success.

This reduced emission vehicle has everything, and more required of a classic funeral fleet in terms of size, capacity, and stature, with the added benefit of operation in a completely silent and much more respectful way. Couple this with dynamic Mercedes technology and a unique user experience and we are proud to state with certainty that this vehicle is the top of class right now in every standard.

The plug-in hybrid hearse and limousine combination will probably be the last in the line of fossil fuel dependent funeral fleets. The emerging technology will provide a steppingstone to all future carbon neutral offerings and will set the benchmark for electric vehicle operation and useability.

CASSIDY

CHAUFFEUR DRIVE

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For more information contact James Minnis & Son Funeral Directors, Banbridge T:028 4062 5985

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For Sale HYUNDAI I40 FIRST RESPONSE HEARSE

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FORD MONDEO HEARSE 2016 (Quinn Built) Immaculate Condition One Owner From New 2 Litre Diesel Engine M.O.T. July 2022 11,600 Miles Full Service History

Asking Price: £35,000 stg For more details contact William T: 07866 112296 80 | FuneralTimes

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FuneralTimes | 81

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82 | FuneralTimes

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Complete with fittings, full size with cover board for a Ford Galaxy only 6 months old. POA For more information contact JJ McArdle Funeral Directors T: 07516 617766

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