Transplant Law Becomes Touchstone in N Ireland Post-Brexit Debate

A new law on organ donation, aimed at cutting waiting times, cannot be enacted in the province amid the current political deadlock

An undated photo of six-year-old Dáithí Mac Gabhann. Last year the Belfast schoolboy helped change Northern Ireland legislation on organ donation. However, the new law cannot be put in place due to an ongoing political impasse over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Twitter/Donate4Daithi

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.