A change in law inspired by the plight of a six-year-old heart transplant patient has become a touchstone issue in political debate surrounding post-Brexit Northern Ireland.
Belfast schoolboy Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who has been waiting on a new heart for five years, became the name and face of his parents’ successful campaign to increase the number of donors through a change in law.
However, current government stalemate over Brexit trading arrangements between the UK and Northern Ireland—which has left the province without an executive—means this law cannot be enacted.
The Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022—known as ‘Dáithí’s Law’—was passed in March 2022….