Family’s distress after they find metal and bone fragments in father’s remains

The late Johnny Fox and his wife, Gertie, are recognisable to anyone who has visited Malin Head, as a ‘Bench of Hope’ dedicated to the couple was unveiled there in 2022.

Johnny and Gertie, from Dublin were the founding committee members of Darkness into Light.

In 1979, Johnny was the first person to complete a solo run from Malin Head to Mizen Head. Since then, the family has felt a connection to Malin Head and decided it was a fitting place to erect the bench, which is accompanied by a poem titled ‘Share Your Light,’ written by Valerie Fitzpatrick. The couple visited Malin Head in 2022 for the unveiling.

Johnny, an admired coach in Tallaght Athletics Club, sadly passed away in April. His son, Sean, spoke to the Journal this week about how he felt that his father, who ‘treated everyone with dignity,’ wasn’t afforded the same treatment following his cremation at Newlands Cross Cemetery and Crematorium in Dublin.

Sean was speaking out to not only outline the distress of his family, but to highlight how there is a lack of regulatory oversight relating to the funeral industry in Ireland, both north and south. He is calling for regulators to be put in place.

Sean told how his beloved father passed away on April 14 and there was a ‘big turnout’ for his funeral on April 19.

Johnny had asked for some of his remains to be scattered on the mountains where he used to run. His daughters had also purchased some keepsakes in which to keep some of his ashes. Just days after Sean collected his father’s remains from the crematorium, he opened the box to begin the process of scattering them.

He was ‘taken aback’ when he saw them.

“I’ve seen remains before – I don’t like calling them ashes, as they’re remains. They’re normally very fine, dusty and powdery and these weren’t. There were quite big bits there. I had a little tool to try and place some of the remains in the keepsakes, but I wasn’t able to do it. I was trying to find some light, fine pieces, but couldn’t.”

The tool that Sean was using then ‘hit something’ and he ‘almost got sick’ when he found a screw.

An emotional Sean told how he had been wearing gloves, as he wanted to be ‘completely respectful,’ to his father, but after seeing staples and other metal he had to ‘put my hands in and run them either side of the box, so that I could get the metal out.’

“I never once in my life disrespected my dad, but having to put my hands into his remains and remove those things, I feel I disrespected him.”

Sean, who also found bone fragments, said his family felt like their father’s remains had been ‘contaminated’ and disrespected.

Sean said he had been told by representatives of the crematorium that there had been an issue previously with one of the machines used for cremation. He added how he was also told that the remains were placed in the box by a person at the end of the cremation process and questioned why the pieces of metal weren’t spotted at this stage.

He said a regulator on both sides of the border is needed.

“I have nowhere to turn. No regulatory body is going to do an investigation. They said they’d changed their processes and it won’t happen again. But that’s not good enough.

“I would be seeking an independent, external investigation, but this can’t happen, as there is no-one there to do that. This is what happens when you have self-regulation…. nobody independent is standing there telling them that it’s not good enough.”

Sean said that while he and his family are grieving and in a lot of pain, they hope that by speaking out they will prevent others from having to undergo the same thing.

Sean has called for a meeting with Taoiseach Simon Harris and said he has spoken to some funeral homes who have told him they, too, want a regulator.

“My dad didn’t care where you came from, what you did for a living – he treated everyone the same way and his approach would be that we need to do this in Ireland – as an all-island approach.”

Sean said that he knows the process of appointing a regulator will take time and urged the departments of health and environment to install a temporary regulator in the meantime.

The Dublin Cemeteries Trust, which runs Newlands Cross Crematorium told the Journal: “Dublin Cemeteries Trust deeply regrets the stress and upset this situation caused the Fox family during their time of grief. Over the course of a number of meetings and items of correspondence, we have unreservedly apologised to the family, expressed our heartfelt condolences and offered a donation to their family charity. Additionally, we instructed the Funeral Directors to waive the cremation costs for the family.

“We have thoroughly reviewed our processes and safeguards to ensure that this does not happen again. This is a very unfortunate and highly unusual incident. We are committed to following best practices at all times. Protecting the dignity of the deceased is of utmost importance to us.”