Portrait of an isolated family

LEAD-UP TO TRAGEDY:THE INQUIRY team started its investigation from the day Leanne Dunne was born on May 6th, 2002.

From that time, the Dunne family lived at seven different addresses, two in Co Donegal and five in Co Wexford. Leanne and Shania suffered from congenital cataracts and nystagmus (involuntary eye movement). Their father Adrian had similar sight impairment and was registered blind. Leanne and, to a less extent, Shania were frequently in hospital.

Adrian and Ciara Dunne married in December 2005. They spent most of their time with their children and were rarely seen apart, according to the report.

The report says the family was isolated, particularly from wider family and friends. In Monageer, the children were rarely seen playing with any other children in their neighbourhood.

Adrian Dunne was the dominant personality in the family, it says. “He made all family arrangements, ie appointments and cancellations. He invariably answered the door; he controlled the purse-strings of the family.”

Chapter 5 of the report details the circumstances leading up to the deaths of the family. On April 4th, 2007, Mr Dunne rang a funeral undertaker in New Ross to make his own funeral arrangements. He also said his wife wanted to know if a child could be buried with each parent.

The following day, Adrian and Ciara Dunne visited a solicitor’s office in Enniscorthy to make their wills. They also visited a discount store in Wexford and asked about a teddy; Ciara said she was looking for something to put in a child’s coffin.

On April 20th, the family visited the undertakers and gave detailed instructions for their funerals. The undertaker contacted the Garda, who advised her to ring the curate in Clonroche, who knew the family. The curate went to visit the family in Monageer. Ciara Dunne told him she would never harm the children and Adrian Dunne said they were only making arrangements in case something like a car accident happened. The curate left. He was the last person to see the family alive.

The report details a series of contacts between gardaí, a childcare manager and a social worker over the succeeding days. The parish priest in Monageer made two unsuccessful visits to the Dunne family home on Saturday April 21st and Monday April 23rd.

On April 23rd gardaí forcibly entered the Dunne house. They found Adrian Dunne hanging from a rafter, while Ciara Dunne had been strangled with a ligature. The children had been smothered.