A Garda investigation was under way last night into the deaths of a young couple and their two daughters whose bodies were found three days after concerns were expressed for their safety, write Conor Lally, Crime Correspondent, in Monageer, Carl O'Brien& Niall O'Connor.
The victims were named last night as Adrian and Kiara Dunne and their daughters Shania, aged three, and Leanne aged five. They were found dead by gardaí just before 2pm yesterday at the family home at Moine Rua, Monageer, near Enniscorthy. Gardaí said they were not seeking anyone else in connection with the four deaths.
Concerns for the family's safety were raised on Friday after Mr Dunne contacted an undertaker to discuss a burial plot for himself, his wife and his two daughters.
When gardaí were contacted with the information, they asked Fr Richard Redmond, who knew the family well, to call to the Dunne family home. He spoke to the family on Friday evening for around two hours. He still had some concerns about the family at the end of that meeting but subsequent efforts by Monageer parish priest, Fr William Cosgrave, to contact the family at the weekend were unsuccessful.
Gardaí believe that Mr Dunne's wife and two daughters were smothered in the living room of the home. Mr Dunne was found hanged.
Mr Dunne's brothers, Sebastian and Larry, speaking last night outside their dead brother's home, expressed their disbelief at what had happened.
"He loved those children more than anything else, he brought them everywhere," Sebastian said. "I don't believe he did it. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered."
He believed his brother and sister-in-law were expecting another baby and were planning to take their two girls to Liverpool in the near future to see a soccer game.
The dead man, aged 30, was originally from Clonroche, Co Wexford. His wife, aged 32, was from Donegal. They had been living in their local authority house in Monageer for around one year.
Three hearses left the Dunne house at 9.50 last night carrying the four bodies. A large group of locals walked alongside the hearse in an impromptu guard of honour.
Gardaí informed the Health Service Executive on Saturday afternoon of fears for the Dunne family's safety.
Garda spokesman Supt Kevin Donohoe said: "We contacted the HSE official . . . That official undertook to contact another official."
Asked if they were told by the HSE that no social worker was available at the weekend, Supt Donohoe said: "We're well aware there isn't an extensive out of hours service with the HSE."
He added: "In hindsight things might have been done differently. . . hindsight is a great thing."
Health board officials did not call to the Dunne family home until yesterday at lunchtime.
The HSE confirmed in a statement that its officials had been contacted on Saturday afternoon about the family. The statement continued: "The childcare manager reminded the gardaí of the out-of-hours services: that is Caredoc for medical concerns and Section 12 of the Childcare Act 1991 for children at risk - which allows the gardaí to remove a child to a place of safety, which in Wexford would be Wexford General Hospital."
While gardaí had concerns for the family's safety from Friday afternoon they did not call to their home or try to establish any direct contact with them over the weekend. Instead, gardaí in Wexford asked two priests from the area to call to the Dunne's and speak with them.
Supt Kevin Donohoe of the Garda Press Office yesterday said there had been no "omissions" by gardaí, whom he insisted should not be made a "scapegoat".
When asked why, after the safety concerns were raised, gardaí did not act to remove the children from the home he said: "That wasn't the level of information that we had."
Last night, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children called for "an independent child protection investigation into the circumstances surrounding this tragedy".
". . . The society believes that it is important to ascertain: If this family were known to or involved with the local child protection services . . . if members of the community had sought help for the family from the child protection or family support services and if so whether the family had received this help. Were there out-of-hours available and if so were they contacted?"