Drew Harris: Tallaght killings 'one of the worst incidents' in my four decades of policing

Locals in Tallaght described the shock and sadness being felt across the community, calling the killings of Lisa Cash and her younger twin siblings, Christy and Chelsea Cawley, a “dark cloud” hanging over their community. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has described the violent deaths of a teen and two eight-year-olds in the early hours of Sunday morning  as “one of the worst incidents” he has dealt with in his career.

Emergency services were called to the scene in Tallaght in the early hours of Sunday where Lisa Cash (18) was pronounced dead along with her twin brother and sister Chelsea and Christy (8). It’s understood they’d suffered stab wounds. A 14-year-old boy also received injuries in the incident and was taken to Tallaght Hospital for treatment.

Gardaí used non-lethal weapons to subdue a man in his 20s at the scene. He was arrested and remains in garda custody tonight.  It’s understood the man was known to the victims. He is also known to gardaí and has been investigated for a number of alleged offences in recent years.

The victims' mother, a woman in her 40s, was released from hospital on Sunday and is currently being supported by her family. There was still a heavy garda presence on Rossfield Avenue today as the area around the home remained cordoned off.

Gardaí were conducting door-to-door inquiries in the area, as detectives were still looking to establish a motive for the incident. Post-mortems on the bodies of the deceased by State pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collins are due to conclude today.

Garda commissioner Drew Harris described the attack as “one of the worst incidents” he’s come across in his near four decades’ experience in policing. Mr Harris also appealed for anyone that may have information that could help gardaí with their inquiries to come forward.

He said responding gardaí had attended the scene quickly, and officers had demonstrated great courage and fortitude during the incident.

“We’d also acknowledge very much the trauma visited upon their local community,” he said.

'Dark cloud'

Locals in Tallaght described the shock and sadness being felt across the community, calling it a “dark cloud” hanging over them following the events in the early hours of Sunday.

The local St Aidan’s Church, just a few minutes’ walk from the home, continued to invite in locals to say a prayer and light a candle for Lisa, Chelsea and Christy. Local parish priest Father Bill O’Shaughnessy said words couldn’t do justice to the scale of the tragedy.

“It really is offering a shoulder to cry on and to say a prayer for those young people whose lives have been robbed of them, their dreams and their potential robbed from them,” he said.

I was just inside the church there and I spoke to one of the neighbours who witnessed the immediate aftermath of what happened there, and she’s just two doors away. And she wasn’t able to talk. She just broke down.

Pupils at the St Aidan’s Senior National School, which Christy and Chelsea attended, were offered support as they arrived for class with the principal having requested the assistance of the National Education Psychological Service.

Minister for Further Education Simon Harris said what had happened in Tallaght has “numbed the nation”.

"Our thoughts go out to absolutely everybody in the community. I think the whole nation holds all of them in our thoughts."