'One of the worst incidents': Tallaght community unites after deaths of three siblings
Tina Cawley, an aunt of 8-year-old twins Chelsea and Christie Cawley kisses a photograph of the twins at the scene. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
The principal of St Aidan’s Community School in Tallaght where Lisa Cash was a student has said that a plan is in place to offer students at the three local schools a full range of supports in the wake of the weekend tragedy.
Twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley and their sister Lisa Cash, who was minding them at the time, died after an incident in their home in Rossfield Avenue in Brookfield, Tallaght, at 12.30am on Sunday morning.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris says the investigation into the violent deaths of three siblings in Tallaght in Dublin is "one of the worst incidents" he has ever come across.
Speaking of the local community, Mr Harris said: "We have put in place appropriate support for them.
"But we have also acknowledged very much the trauma visited upon their local community in terms of shock this incident and the subsequent grief, and that can't be underestimated either."
Principal Kevin Shortall said that the local schools would provide support for everybody in the community.
“We just have to be there to wrap around support, not just for students, but for the community as well.”
People were in shock, this was a very difficult morning so it was important for people to be together and mind each other.
There were strong bonds between the schools and the community, he said.
Many of the staff at the school were from the area so there was a sense of urgency and responsibility “to see what we can do,” Mr Shortall told RTÉ radio’s .
He described Lisa Cash, who did her Leaving Cert in 2021, as a quiet, beautiful, diligent, hard-working student.
She had been a great support for her friends and had worked hard for her Leaving Cert during the difficult time of Covid-19.
“She is remembered as one of the most honest, genuine young people, full of integrity and no fuss, no drama around her. Got about her business and was hugely, highly regarded and very warmly remembered by so many staff members here in the school.
“I couldn’t get over the things that people were saying about her. Just a lovely, lovely person, hugely highly regarded and will be terribly, badly missed. And a lovely big sister to her brothers and sisters as well.
“I believe she was babysitting at the time, and that would have been something that she was just so good at. She was the kind of person you could trust. That’s the person Lisa was.
Mr Shortall pointed out that children would be passing the scene of the tragedy on their way to school this morning, so it was important for the school to help them process.
"There was going to be worry and trauma in the community, the schools had to be ready for that today.
"Schools were places where young people go to be helped."
He said that people were “in shock”, and that the close-knit Brookfield community would “reach out and mind each other” at this difficult time.
“We are all just meeting each other and shaking our heads and giving each other hugs and things like that. It’s a very difficult morning.”
The school attended by eight-year-old twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley has requested the support of the National Education Psychological Service to help pupils and staff following their deaths.
In a statement, Tomás Hayes, principal of St Aidan’s SNS in Tallaght said: “We are deeply saddened by the event that occurred over the weekend. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the deceased.
“As a school, our priority will be to take every step to ensure that the needs of our students and their families are met, at this challenging time.
“We will be providing support to pupils and school staff to help them deal with this tragedy and have requested the support of the National Education Psychological Service in this respect.”
Post-mortems will be carried out today on the twins today while the post-mortem on Lisa Cash was completed last night.
Tallaght parish priest Fr Bill O’Shaughnessy has described the killings as “an unnatural event”.
It was very difficult to make sense of it or put logic on it, he told RTÉ radio’s .
Fr O’Shaughnessy said that the church had opened to provide support to the community, where people could light a candle or say a prayer. He said he had been preparing for 10.30am mass on Sunday morning when word of the tragedy had come through. The shock had been very evident on people’s faces.
Words could not adequately explain what had happened, he added. “All we can hope to do is offer a shoulder to people.”
It would be difficult to explain to school children that their classmates were gone.
Fr O’Shaughnessy said he had spoken to a neighbour who could not talk, she had completely broken down and all he could do was give her a hug in support.
The mother of the children would need all the support of the community in the coming days, he added.
Tallaght local area representative, Cllr Teresa Costello described Sunday as “one of the darkest days” ever seen in the area.
It was hard to make sense of what had happened, she said.
“I can’t imagine what it is like in school today – the empty chairs.”
The scene at Rossfield Avenue had been horrible, she added.
The community would provide the support that was needed, from the local authority to the An Cosán centre which had offered the services of its counsellors.
“There is so much to process. It is like a nightmare, not reality.”
It was a horrible time for Ireland, not just for Tallaght.
“It is such a dark day. There is a cloud over Tallaght. It is senseless. All we can do is support each other, to be the community we are.”
Cllr Costello said it had been “heart-wrenching” to see the people of the area in such pain.
“Those children had so many milestones ahead of them. If adults cannot make sense of this, how can children?”
Foreign Affairs minister Simon Coveney said that the story “has stunned a lot of people”.
“Like so many other people, I was just so shocked to read about what happened to two beautiful children and a young teenage girl.
“For the community in Tallaght, for the school communities and obviously for the family members and friends of the deceased, this is really an incredibly shocking, tragic time.
“Our thoughts are with them and I think I speak for an awful lot of people when I say that.”
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
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