The father of murdered child Santina Cauley says his heart goes out to his extended relatives affected by the horrific Tallaght tragedy.
Michael Cauley, whose two-year-old was murdered in a case which shocked the nation in Co Cork, was stunned to hear about the deaths of eight-year-old twins Chelsea and Christy Cawley and their sister Lisa Cash, 18, in South Dublin this week.
Michael has learned that his father is a cousin of the three slain children’s father – and says he knows only too well the grief the family must be feeling at this time.
He added: “My father told me that those children’s father would be his first cousin.
“So they’d be distant relatives of mine. I’ve never met the family but it’s just horrendous.
“My heart and my deepest sympathies go out to their mother.
“Even just the name alone is bringing it back for me. That poor mother – God knows what she is going through right now.”
His comments come as the distraught family of Chelsea, Christy and Lisa make preparations for their funeral tomorrow – while their brother Andy Cash, 24, is on remand in custody – charged with their murders.
And Michael, whose daughter was murdered by his ex-partner Karen Harrington in her Co Cork apartment in July 2019, says he can understand the level of grief the children’s mother Margaret “Twink” McDonagh must be going through – and said he is willing to offer any support if asked.
He added: “I can relate to her pain. She must be all over the place. The only advice I can really give her is to try to always remember your children as the beautiful kids they were, and how everyone spoke good about them, how they shared their toys and how they were loveable kids.
“There’s going to be good days and bad days ahead. It’s a hard battle to go through.
“The loss of a child is totally different to the loss of an adult. A child is the most valuable thing in the world for a parent and for that to be taken away from you is worse than anything.
“She is going to get bad days, don’t get me wrong, but the help is there, there’s plenty of it there.
“People can never understand but they will try to give her ways of learning how to live with it.
“That’s kind of what it’s like; you’re teaching someone but these people are also teaching you about something you don’t understand but you’re trying to make sense of.
“I think the support that I’m getting – sometimes it’s not enough.
“Her pain I’d say is something else right now with it being raw and with trying to figure out what exactly happened.
“I would have no problem at all offering any help or support and any time she needs it, but I’d say at the moment she definitely needs time with her own support and family at the moment.”
During the harrowing murder trial earlier this year, the court heard that tragic Santina died from a traumatic brain injury and a severe spinal injury after suffering a fractured skull and fractures to her arm, leg and ribs while in the care of Harrington.
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