Husband to relive details of how wife and children died

A DISTRAUGHT husband who lost his wife and children in a drowning tragedy is preparing for one of the toughest days of his life since their deaths.

Barry Grace, 39, will tomorrow relive the harrowing details of how his wife, Sharon Grace, drowned their daughters, Abby, three, and Mikahla, four, before taking her own life off Kaats Strand in Wexford in July of last year.

An inquest into the death of the 28-year-old mother and her two daughters is due to be held tomorrow.

“I’m just trying to get through it myself,” Mr Grace said yesterday.

At the time of their deaths, the taxi firm base operator said he was about to fight for better access for fathers denied access to their children.

He also vowed to fight for better mediation services for couples who find their relationship has irretrievably broken down, as well as speedier access hearings for couples who hit such a low.

“As far as I know, nothing has been done since,” Mr Grace said.

The couple had been apart for about four months and there were unresolved issues about access to the children.

Mr Grace then stopped paying maintenance directly to his wife, suggesting he open a separate bank account for his girls, and for 12-year-old Amy, Mrs Grace’s daughter from a previous relationship.

Mrs Grace had been visited by a social worker in the days before she and her children died. It had upset her gravely. She called to Wexford’s Ely hospital the evening they drowned but found no social worker on duty to help her.

Days after the funeral, Mrs Grace’s distraught father, Eddie Reddy, said: “My Sharon was looking for someone, looking for help, but she couldn’t get it. We will never, ever forget that, for the rest of our lives.

“The image of her wandering around, looking for someone from which she could get help will be with us for the rest of our lives.

“If someone had just even brought her in, sat her down, given her a cup of tea, chatted with her, it might have changed her mind. But there was nobody on and nobody there to help. Someone, somewhere has to answer for that.”

The Health Services Executive has since extended the clinical nurse specialist service at Wexford General Hospital from 5pm daily to 1am every day in an attempt to reach out to those who do contemplate taking their lives.