Familicide review an ‘important first step’
The family of the late Clodagh Hawe and her three young boys have welcomed the long-awaited publication of an independent study examining international best practice in the conduct of domestic homicide reviews in Ireland.
The near 500-page report was published last week by the Department of Justice and seeks to deliver on commitments made by the government on measures to address matters relating to the unlawful deaths of family members.
The surviving family of Clodagh and her three sons - Liam (13), Niall (11), Ryan (6) - made submissions in the context of the terrible murder/suicide that occurred at their home near Ballyjamesduff in August 2016 at the hands of dad and former Castlerahan vice-principal Alan Hawe.
In early 2019, Mary Coll and daughter Jacqueline Connolly met with then Minister for Justice Charles Flanagan to express their concerns.
Months later, in May 2019, the late Norah Gibbons was appointed to chair a group to conduct what would become the ‘Study on Familicide & Domestic and Family Violence Death Reviews’.
Ms Gibbons sadly passed away in April 2020, and Maura Butler, chair of the Association for Criminal Justice and Research, oversaw the completion of the study.
Speaking to The Anglo-Celt this week, Jacqueline Connolly said they were “happy” with the publication of the report, but she states it is only the “first step”.
“It’s an important first step. But they now have to start moving on this,” remarks Jacqueline, who further welcomes the establishment of a consultative group, with family members of victims, on key actions to be implemented.
A cross-functional, interdepartmental group will also be convened to support the implementation of recommendations in ‘Zero Tolerance’, the third National Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV) Strategy.
One of the key goals is the creation of an interagency critical incident protocol for situations when an incident ‘overwhelms a local community’s capacity to support children or young people and their carers affected by events and where more than one organisation is required for support’.
The protocol will not replace the county emergency plan or any participating organisation’s own critical incident response, but rather provide an overarching guidance for frontline operational teams (FLOT), Tusla, HSE, on issues such as dealing with media and review.
“It means everyone is working from the same page and there’s a pathway and a process whereby, if something like this happens again, each stakeholder has its own set of duties to complete,” Jacqueline says.
Supports
She’s anxious that what happened to her would not be endured by others.
Jacqueline was working in Clontarf when news first broke, and driving home when news bulletins on the radio first began reporting such a tragedy had occurred.
“That hit hard with me. There was no one there to say to mam ‘do we need to call other family members?’ She, or Edie [the Hawe family’s neighbour] had to arrange for me to be communicated with. What should have happened was the gardaí should’ve been with me within half an hour, not two hours later, or for me to be driving down the road, my phone hopping with news alerts and learning about what had taken place on the radio. That should never have happened. By the time the news broke, I should’ve already been with mam.”
Jacqueline and mum Mary are hopeful lessons can be learned.
Clodagh’s family are also eager to see the country’s laws on succession urgently amended, and a time limit placed on cases involving probate.
Transferred money from account before deaths
It’s understood Mr Hawe transferred money from the joint account he shared with Clodagh into his own account before killing his family and then himself.
As it stands, under current law, Mr Hawe’s family inherit the money and the family’s estate.
Clodagh’s surviving family say they have incurred substantial legal costs, over €100,000, in challenging the law in the courts.
Separately Clodagh’s mum Mary spent close to €20,000 on legal representation during the inquest that took place in December 2017. That hearing found that Clodagh and her boys were ‘unlawfully’ killed by Mr Hawe.
Mum Mary says there were “no supports” from any professional body for her and her family. Mary describes the additional cost and burden on bereaved families as “unjust”.
Any amendment to succession laws, Clodagh’s family hope, would be named after the popular Oristown primary school teacher.
Jacqueline says relevant supports for families in future must be linked.
“It all has to intertwine. It can’t just be talking. It has to mean something at the end of the day. We need everyone to be on the same page.”
Mary also believes more power should be granted to families in making decisions such as they did in exhuming the body of Alan Hawe from its resting place beside Clodagh and her boys at St Mary’s Church.
In May 2017, his body was removed and later cremated in Dublin.
“The delays,” says Mary. “It only adds to the hurt, and the difficulty in moving things on. We’re seven years on and still dealing with this, still living through it.”
Through their experience engaging with the group tasked with authoring this new report, The Colls have met other families bereaved through incidents of murder-suicide.
Una Butler, for example, has been campaigning to make it mandatory for partners to be involved in the mental health treatment their partner receives in relationships where there are children. Her views were not included in the study.
Una launched her campaign after husband John killed daughter Ella (2) and Zoe (6) at their home in Ballycotton, Cork, in November 2010, before taking his own life, and believes he could have been stopped had she been more involved in his treatment.
“Everyone has their own main goals and outcomes they want to see happen,” says Jacqueline. “I’d hope the family consultation forum will provide [Ms Butler] with the platform to have that changed.”
Speaking on the publication last week, and ahead of bringing the report’s contents to government, Minister for Justice Simon Harris acknowledged: “None of us can begin to understand the appalling impact of something like this unless you’ve lived through it.
“That’s why we are so grateful to the families for engaging in the process and for giving of themselves and their time,” said Minister Harris following publication. “It took tremendous bravery and selflessness to use their own experiences of unimaginable pain to make our systems better, and we are indebted to them.”
He added that he is committed to enacting “suitable recommendations” now as a priority.
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS
Know where to turn: Get to know what mental health supports and services are available. Speak with a GP about what might be available locally. Many services are open 24/7 and you can make contact in different ways, for example:
• on the phone – Samaritans, visit www.samaritans.ie or Freephone 116 123
• by text message – Text50808, text HELLO to 50808
• online – visit www.mymind.org or www.turn2me.ie
• face-to-face – Pieta, visit www.pieta.ie or Freephone 1800 247 247.
You can also call the HSE YourMentalHealth Information Line, anytime day or night, for information on what other services and supports are available near you – Freephone 1800 111 888 or visit www.yourmentalhealth.ie