The family of a Belfast man whose body lay unidentified in a Dublin morgue for more than a year is haunted by the thought that they were living their lives while he was “lying there in a refrigerator”. James ‘Jim’ O’Neill, 43, was found dead in Dublin’s Phoenix Park in November 2023, but his family were not informed of his death until December 2024, despite the fact that there were several items of identification in his possession.
Jim’s father, Paul O’Neill, has said the family believes there was a “systemic failure” by the authorities involved. The O’Neill family met with investigators from Fiosrú, the office of the police ombudsman in the Republic of Ireland, on Monday as they began an investigation into the case.
Speaking to BBC News NI, Paul said the family, and Jim’s two children in particular, have experienced “intense sadness, sleepless nights, constant questions, even guilt”. He said, “We were living our lives thinking Jim’s on his travels or some other adventure, but meanwhile he was lying there in a refrigerator in a morgue and that’s very difficult for us to deal with, it haunts us.”
One item of identification – a CV with the name James O’Neill – was found near his body, but Paul said it was dismissed as “false ID”. The family hopes the investigation will prevent similar incidents in the future and help them find out “how [it] was allowed to happen”.
“We don’t think this was just a mistake by one or two people,” he said. “To us this goes right across the board, this is systemic failure, that’s the way we see this.”
Paul said it was not unusual for his son to be out of contact for long periods of time, as “Jim didn’t use phones because he didn’t believe in phones – he stopped using them a few years back”. However, he said the family regularly saw Jim, particularly at birthdays, with the last time being on 15 October 2023, about a month before he was found dead.
The family’s solicitor, Pádraig Ó Muirigh, said the case was “very tragic but also very preventable” and that there were “serious shortcomings” in the Garda (Irish police) investigation. He said there were also concerns about how the family were treated.
In a statement, the Garda said that as the matter is being investigated by Fiosrú, it was not in a position to comment. Fiosrú confirmed it met the O’Neill family on Monday and said it had no further comment as the investigation was ongoing.
Paul said while the family wants answers for themselves, there was also a wider issue. “This was our son Jim, but this could have been anybody’s son, this could have been anyone at all,” he said. “Did it happen before? We don’t know. Could it happen again? Well, hopefully lessons will be learned as a result of our experience.”