Bodies of family found in Co Wexford house

The bodies of four people, including two young children, have been found in a house in Co Wexford.

The discovery was made in a house at Moine Rua, Monageer, near Enniscorthy, at 2pm, according to a statement released by the Garda Press Office.

The man and woman, aged in their 20s, and two girls aged two and four are believed to be from the same family.

A Garda spokeswoman said the scene had been sealed off and the State Pathologist's office informed.

The Health Service Executive confirmed this evening that community services had been contacted by gardaí in relation to a family in the area in recent days.

In a statement, the HSE South said the childcare manager of Wexford Community Services was contacted last Saturday afternoon by gardaí.

"The childcare manager reminded the gardaí of the out-of-hours services: that is Caredoc for medical concerns and Section 12 of the Childcare Act 1991 for children at risk - which allows the gardai to remove a child to a place of safety, which in Wexford would be Wexford General Hospital," the statement concluded.

A local priest confirmed there had been concerns about the family, which were sufficient for him to call to the house in recent days.

Although he declined to go into details, the priest said he spoke with the family for about two hours last Friday and left at about 10.30pm.

The priest said the gardaí had been contacted in relation to the family.

Speaking on RTÉ's Six Onenews, Supt Kevin Donohoe of the Garda press office agreed it was now "obvious" the family had been one at risk.

"On Friday we became aware of some information that caused us some concerns in relation to the family and we spoke to a priest and asked him to come out and have a chat with them. He did that...on Friday evening," Supt Donohoe said.

"On Saturday, the local superintendent Peter Finn decided that he should contact the HSE. He did that, he contacted the HSE official and passed on the information that we had in respect of the family.

"They undertook to have a look at the case and, indeed, that official said he would speak to another official in respect of it.

"And this morning, Monday, we spoke again to the HSE and arranged to meet them out here at the family home. When gardaí arrived, they had a quick look at the house, didn't like what they saw and eventually effected a forcible entry through the rear door and made the tragic discovery of four bodies inside."

Asked whether it was the case that there was no social worker available to visit the family at the weekend, Supt Donohoe said: "That's a matter for the HSE. We are well aware that there isn't an extensive out-of-hours service with the HSE."

He said Garda patrols had passed through the estate on Sunday but they had not called to the house.

Monageer is a small village with a population of between 700 to 800 and is about five miles outside of Enniscorthy.

The village is a close-knit community built around little more than a pub, community centre and a church.

People who gathered close to the scene of the tragic discovery, described the family as "quiet" and as having "kept to themselves", since they moved to the area a year ago.