The distraught mother of the three children killed in Tallaght keeps saying “please get my kids back”, a close family friend has revealed.
Tragic twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley, eight, and their older sister Lisa Cash, 18, died during a horrific incident at their home.
Speaking as the family begin making funeral preparations, Ned Collins told how the devastated mother of the children is in a state of “denial” over the tragedy.
READ MORE: Tallaght deaths: Funeral details released for tragic siblings
He said: “We’re numb. We’re very numb. I dropped down to the house this morning and the mother and the family are there and they’re not able to speak.
“The mother is just telling us ‘please go and get my kids, go get my kids’.
“She’s in denial. And of course she’s in denial. She’s just holding a photograph of her kids in her hands and just praying and saying ‘please get my kids back, get my kids back’.”
Mr Collins, whose wife is a cousin of the children’s mother Margaret McDonagh, says he has been a close family friend for over 26 years. He is also a godfather to an older sibling of the deceased kids.
The devastated friend told how the entire family is struggling to cope with the loss of the children.
He continued: “It’s very rough now I have to say. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
“My wife and the mother of the kids are cousins. They are also best friends.
“We’ve been close friends for the last 26 years. I still consider myself to be family. We might not be blood related but I’m family.
“It’s just a black cloud over Dublin, over the world at the moment. You don’t hear about that in this country.
“We’re just trying to cope now, be strong and do everything we can for the family.
“Everyone is just pulling together on this one.”
Mr Collins also told how another of the children’s siblings has returned from abroad while a 14-year-old brother, who was injured during the incident on Sunday, has now left hospital.
He said: “The daughter was over in Australia but she’s home now and the young lad that jumped out the window, he’s out of hospital now.
“He fractured his leg or something like that. He’s a lucky little boy to be alive himself.”
He said the 14-year-old has been struggling to come to terms with the loss
of his sisters and brother.
Mr Collins added: “There’s no talk out of him. He’s not talking.
“There’s no words. There’s no answers to this one and there’s no winners here.”
Mr Collins is among those trying to raise funds to help the family during this tragic time.
He has placed a phone number up on his personal Facebook page, which he says anyone can use to send money through the Revolut app.
A separate fundraiser for the family is also available through the website GoFundMe, which last night had already raised over €40,000.
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