The loss of Sharon Grace and her girls broke hearts and bred anger, writes Caroline O’Doherty

FIVE years ago today — it was a Saturday — a depressed and rejected 28-year-old Sharon Grace, and her daughters, four-year-old Abby and three-year-old Mikahla, left this world because Sharon could neither cope with life nor get the kind of help from the State that might have got her through the terrible dark hours that led to three needless deaths.

GARDAÍ have sought a meeting with Minister for Children Barry Andrews to discuss their ongoing concerns about “not being trained or resourced to act as virtual social workers” to children who require out-of-hours emergency foster care placements.

THE shock, outrage and deep anger that greeted Mr Justice Seán Ryan and the Child Abuse Commission’s (CAC) report was natural and absolutely justified.

The inquests into the deaths of the Dunne family in Co. Wexford two years ago, are due to get underway today.

The inquests into the deaths of the Dunne family in Monageer, Co Wexford, are due to take place next week.

THE option of giving unedited copies of the Monageer tragedy to an Oireachtas committee is being considered, Health Minister Mary Harney has said.

THE Government was accused of covering up the events surrounding the Monageer deaths after parts of a report into the murder-suicide were blacked out.

An edited report into the horrific deaths of the Dunne family in Co Wexford should be read out under the legal protection of the Dáil, it was claimed today.

Children’s groups say the entire child protection system needs to be overhauled in light of the Dunne family tragedy in Monageer.

THE text message from Adrian Dunne’s mobile phone the morning he wiped out his family was almost tender in its simplicity.

GARDAÍ were first notified of concerns about the Dunne family on April 18, at least three days before they died, but no member of the force called to the door until April 23.

ALL agencies involved in providing community services must redouble their efforts to ensure individuals and families in need are supported, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has urged following the publication of the report on the deaths of the Dunne family in Wexford two years ago.

MORE than two years after the dreadful tragedy at Monageer, where Adrian Dunne murdered his wife Ciara and their two children Shania and Leanne before taking his own life, it is difficult to understand or even accept that it could have happened despite all the glaring warning signs.

A report into the deaths of the Dunne family in Co Wexford has found that the tragedy would not have been avoided even if gardaí or social services had called to the family home.

The long-awaited report into the deaths of the Dunne family in Monageer, Co Wexford, is due to be published later today.

The small Co. Wexford community of Monageer is today marking the second anniversary of the deaths of the Dunne family in April 2007.

MEDICAL experts have warned that a serious shortage of psychologists could lead to a repeat of incidents like the Monageer tragedy where Adrian Dunne murdered his wife and two children before taking his own life.

A report into the deaths of the Dunne family in Monageer, Co Wexford, last year is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

A long-delayed inquiry into the tragic deaths of a family of four in their Co Wexford home was today received by two Government ministers.

Health Minister Mary Harney is expected to receive an official report today into the death of the Dunne family in Co Wexford last year.

The inquiry report into the Leas Cross nursing home scandal has been extended until the end of the year.

BARNARDOS has hit out at plans by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to shelve proposals for an extended out-of-hours social care service because of government funding cuts.

THIS was supposed to have been a story consigned to the past, a shameful one that would never recur.

ONE week before the Flood family were lowered into their graves, they were swimming together at a hotel pool outside Wexford town.

RELATIVES on both sides of Saturday’s murder-suicide in Clonroche have united to help deal with the loss of the Flood family.

EIGHT years after Stephen Byrne drove the car containing his two sons and himself off Duncannon pier, three years after Sharon Grace drowned herself and her two daughters on a lonely stretch of Wexford coastline, and one year after the Dunne family were found dead in their house in Monageer, last weekend’s events in Clonroche have once again stunned the south-east.

IRISH society is having to face a growing litany of parents who murder their own children before deciding to escape this life by suicide themselves.

“THIS community has had more than its fair share of tragedy, so people really don’t know what to do any more.”

Two young children died in a fire, apparently started by their father after he murdered their mother, it emerged tonight.

A family of four found dead in the home in Wexford have been remembered at local mass services this morning.

The death of a family of four in a house which was gutted by fire was tonight being treated as suspicious.

ONE year after a tragedy that rocked the nation and raised significant questions about how we treat the issues of mental health and child protection, the grieving families of Adrian, 29, Ciara, 26, Lean, 5, and Shania, 3, Dunne are no closer to knowing the truth about how their loved ones died.

CHILD rights campaigners have called for a 24-hour social work service as a matter of urgency on the third anniversary of the deaths of Sharon Grace and her two children in Wexford.

THE independent team carrying out an inquiry into the tragic deaths of the Dunne family in Monageer has advertised for anyone who could be of assistance to come forward.

Minister for Children, Brendan Smith has published the terms of reference of the independent inquiry into the deaths of the Dunne family in Co Wexford last year.

An independent inquiry into the deaths of the Dunne family in Co Wexford last year is due to get underway today.

LONG-DELAYED plans to introduce 24-hour emergency care for at-risk children won’t be affected by the current recruitment freeze, say HSE bosses.

CANDLELIGHT vigils will be held at venues across the country on September 10 to commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day.

IN RECENT times Ireland has been forced to come to terms with the disturbing, increasing and under-reported phenomenon that is murder-suicide after a string of high-profile killings.

An elderly couple and their son were found shot dead in the family home in a village, gardaí said tonight.

A WORKING group set up in the aftermath of the 2005 death of Sharon Grace and her two daughters, to look into the provision of out-of-hours social work care for at-risk families is expected to finish its report next month.

FINE GAEL has promised to increase spending on mental health services to over €250 million a year if returned to power.