Stormont crisis: Father’s anger at organ donation uncertainty

Mairtin Mac Gabhann, whose son Daithi was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and has been on a waiting list for most of his life, said it is “heartbreaking” for the campaign to have been thrown into disarray.

A bill that would move Northern Ireland’s rules on organ donation towards an assumption of consent – a so-called opt-out rather than opt-in system – is scheduled for its final stage in the Assembly on Tuesday.

While legislative changes brought about following the last collapse of devolution in Northern Ireland could mean the Assembly remains even without a first and deputy first minister, allowing the bill to proceed and the law to be changed, the uncertainty has not been welcomed by Mr Mac Gabhann.

He told the News Letter: “So although it’s looking like it may still go through, the uncertainty is not good.

“We’re angry today that it’s got to this stage.”

In June, Mr Mac Gabhann met at Stormont with the first and deputy first ministers.

Yesterday he said: “Paul Givan played football with my son on the grounds of Stormont Castle and everything was all good, everyone had smiling faces. Now he’s resigning. We’re not happy with that.

“That happiness, that sense of victory, has been replaced with total worry now.”

He added: “I’ve put everything into this for the past three years. My own personal life has taken a hit, my professional life has taken a hit. When you’ve campaigned so hard for it to be at risk of being derailed is heartbreaking.”