Could an eight-year-old EU directive put paid to the wake and affect postmortems and medical research? Lorna Siggins reports
East Galway carpenter Kieran Muldoon worked in New York for most of his life, and spent much time on the Aran islands when he retired to the Irish west coast. "You'll have to bring me across the bay when I go, lads," the widower used to tell some of the island fishermen he befriended.
So when Muldoon died aged 84 in Galway last May, the Aranmen remembered their promise. After a wake in hospital and funeral, the coffin was taken on the deck of the Naomh Beanan to Kinvara, and then by tractor and trailer bedecked in Galway colours to Doorus cemetery.
All arrangements depended on the weather, his nephew, also Kieran Muldoon, recalls. "We couldn't confirm anything till we got the forecast. The skipper and crew wouldn't take a penny for it, although they missed a good day's fishing," he recalls.
Had an EU directive restricting use of formaldehyde for embalming been in place, Muldoon's wish could not have been honoured. Irish funeral directors and embalmers are meeting the European Commission and the Department of Agriculture on the issue this week. The European Commission's Irish representation denies the biocides directive is "sounding a death knell for the Irish tradition of open caskets at wakes and funerals".
The wake tradition dates back centuries in Ireland although keening and dancing, tobacco-filled pipes, mirrors turned to the wall, stopped clocks and plates of snuff are the exception, rather than the norm.
"The wake isn't for everyone, but the opportunity to view the body - whether at home, or in a mortuary or funeral home setting - is an essential part of grieving," says Dr Helen Greally, clinical psychologist and spokeswoman for the Psychological Society of Ireland's special interest group on dying and bereavement.
"This is because grieving is a very active process, and the involvement of the bereaved from the time of death of a loved one gives them some element of control," she says.
"We know from families of missing people that the presence of a body - where a death may have occurred - is so important."
During research she undertook in the 1990s, bereaved people were interviewed on four occasions. Significantly, there was a marked difference in recovery among those who had held a wake at home, and those who opted for a funeral home.
"This was nothing to do with the stereotypical image of the wake as an occasion for drinking. The value of the wake is that it gives people time to talk about the dead person. And if someone dies abroad, viewing becomes even more important to relatives and friends," Greally says.
"Clearly, this couldn't take place without embalming the body."
The European Commission's Irish representation has described as "alarmist" claims that funeral traditions are at risk, but Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley says that there is every reason to worry, from his reading of the EU biocides directive.
The directive was introduced in 1998 to protect humans, animals and the environment from chemical preparations such as pesticides, drinking water disinfectants and preservatives.
The commission says that some dangerous biocides are set to be banned on September 1st, but formaldehyde and other embalming fluids can remain on the market until "at least 2010". However, they are among the list of substances due to be evaluated after 2008, and may be withdrawn and replaced with safer substances if found to be dangerous. The commission also says that the Government here can apply for a derogation.
The Irish Association of Funeral Directors and the British Institute of Embalmers (BIE), which accredits Irish embalmers, believe this "evaluation" is an effective ban.
Adrian Haler, past president of the BIE, argues that the expense of evaluation - estimated by him at £6 million - will prove uneconomic for a relatively small industry manufacturing formaldehyde.
Any restriction will also have implications for medical research, postmortems and repatriation of bodies, Haler adds.
Gus Nicholls, spokesman for the Irish Association of Funeral Directors, agrees. "It has been argued that embalming is a recent practice, and is not essential for viewing - but a body that has not been embalmed does begin to decompose very quickly," Nicholls says.
He also denies that funerals are drawn out to suit funeral directors, pointing out that burial now takes longer for several reasons, including restricted GP availability - "agency" doctors cannot sign death certificates - and reduced clergy numbers.