Devastated Andrew McGinley among parents critical of…

Devastated Andrew McGinley among parents critical of new homicide study that includes murder-suicide

Devastated parents, whose children were killed by their spouses, have criticised a new study about domestic homicides like murder-suicide cases.

The report commissioned by the Department of Justice has recommended the setting up of a national database to record violent family deaths, including murder-suicides. The recommendations must be signed into law – otherwise they are “not worth the paper they’re written on”, according to devastated dad Andrew McGinley.

Una Butler, whose husband John murdered their daughters Zoe, 6, and Ella, 2, in Cork in 2010 and then took his own life, said she is “disgusted” that the Justice Dept report does not make recommendations around mental health and family inclusion. Andrew’s children – Conor, 9, Darragh, 7, and Carla, 3 – were all suffocated to death in Dublin in January 2020 by his wife and their mum Deirdre Morley.

She was later found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. He said: “Una and I have similar views about family inclusion, which the HSE calls Open Dialogue to involve mental health patients’ families.

“But the problem is that some psychiatrists do not engage with it. Families should be allowed to help but there is no recommendation about this in the new report. Some recommendations are not worth the paper they’re written on if they are not included in legislation like the Mental Health Act.

“Family inclusion would definitely have been appropriate in our tragedy and in Una’s. I want Open Dialogue to be included for every [familicide] case in the country.

“Families in the report talk about not having counselling immediately. There was no critical reaction response for me. There also needs to be support for the community. I know some of my children’s friends still need counselling.”

Andrew’s charity As Darragh Did is staging a fundraising cycle on June 11 and is donating a garden from the Bloom festival to the Newcastle community that supported Andrew. More information can be seen on Conor’s YouTube channel Conor’s Clips and Carla’s snowmanforcarla.ie colouring competition is available on asdarraghdid.ie website.

Help is available from Samaritans on 116 123, Aware on 1800 804848, Pieta House on 1800 247247, Teen-Line Ireland on 1800 833634 and Childline on 1800 666666.

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