Background:Gardaí say there was no indication the Dunnes were planning to end their own lives in the near future.
The young couple found dead in their Wexford home with their daughters on Monday had made extensive arrangements for their funerals including choosing a priest and ordering coffins.
Adrian and Ciara Dunne brought their two daughters Shania (3) and Leanne (5) with them when they visited an undertaker in New Ross last Friday to discuss the arrangements.
However, as full details of the apparent suicide-murder deaths of the Dunne family emerged yesterday, senior gardaí were insisting there was no indication the couple were about to end their lives and those of their daughters.
Reliable sources close to the investigation said the couple gave no indication to undertaker Frances Cooney that they were expecting their own burials to take place in the immediate future. "They weren't planning a funeral for this week or next," said the senior Garda source.
"They were making arrangements for events that would happen one day in the future. There was no suggestion that they were going to do anything immediately. It was hypothetical, in case an accident happened."
A priest asked by gardaí to visit the family last Friday evening raised with the Dunnes their meeting with the New Ross undertaker earlier that day.
According to Garda sources, Fr Richard Redmond put it to Adrian and Ciara Dunne that their conversation with the undertaker was unusual and that it suggested they believed their family would die soon.
"Ciara Dunne assured him that they were not going to do anything silly and said the funeral arrangements were being put in place for way down the road," said the source.
Gardaí said Fr Redmond was asked to visit the Dunnes because he had known the extended family for a long period through his work around Clonroche, where the family is from. He officiated at the funeral of Mr Dunne's father, who died one year ago exactly, and his brother James, who took his own life last month, as well as at a number of family christenings. Gardaí are now satisfied that Ciara Dunne drove her husband, who was blind, and the two children to Cooney's undertakers in New Ross last Friday. Gardaí say her willingness to do this and the fact she joined her husband in asking questions about a family funeral raises questions as to what she knew of her husband's intentions that the whole family should die.
The Dunnes bought a burial plot in a cemetery in Boulavogue, Co Wexford.
They also discussed a number of "burial options" with the undertaker. These centred on how the children would be buried with the parents if all four died before the children were aged six. They requested a different burial plan in the event they all died when the children were aged older than six years.
They also ordered four coffins, two white according to Mr Dunne's family, headstones, and said they wanted their children buried in Liverpool soccer jerseys if they died as youngsters. They also wanted them to wear jeans with the logo of Dora The Explorer, a popular children's cartoon.
They told Mrs Cooney they were making the arrangements in case they were all killed in an accident. Mr Dunne (29) and his wife (24) said they wanted Fr Redmond to officiate at the funerals. Mr Dunne finalised his will last week.
Mrs Cooney was alarmed at the nature of the Dunnes' inquiries. She rang New Ross gardaí on Friday and relayed these fears. A detective on duty told her to call Fr Redmond as he knew the family well and would be best placed to assess if there were genuine problems.
She did this and Fr Redmond visited the Dunnes for two hours on Friday evening. It was during this meeting that, according to Garda sources, Fr Redmond was assured by Ciara Dunne that nobody had any plans to end their own lives or those of other family members. The detective who spoke to Mrs Cooney on Friday contacted his superior officer, Supt Peter Finn, on Saturday morning and explained the nature of Mrs Cooney's concerns. Supt Finn decided to ring the HSE at that stage.
The HSE has said it reminded gardaí that members of the force had the power under the Childcare Act to take the two young girls from the family home if they had real fears for their safety.
However, Garda sources said the relevant provisions allow for children to be taken from their homes only if they are in immediate danger. They said there was no indication this was the case.