A report into the deaths of a family of four in Monageer, Co Wexford, in 2007 has failed to find any single definite motive behind their deaths.
The inquiry team said in its edited report published this afternoon that it believes a number of family, financial and personality-related factors contributed to the decision by Adrian (29) and Ciara Dunne (24) to end their lives and those of their children, five-year-old Leanne and three-year-old Shania.
It calls for the provision of a national out-of-hours social work service to ensure an appropriate response to serious child protection and welfare concerns.
The report says that even if the gardai or social services had called to the Dunne family home during the weekend they died, it is unlikely the tragedy could have been averted, given Adrian and Ciara Dunne’s capacity to provide a plausible explanation for their “bizarre” funeral plans.
It says Adrian Dunne was the “driving force” behind the planning and execution of the deaths of Ciara Dunne and their two children, and there was no third party involvement.
Adrian Dunne died by hanging on the weekend of April 20th-23rd 2007. His wife Ciara died by ligature strangulation. Leanne and Shania died by smothering. The report says it was clear that the pair were planning the deaths of the family.
It says Adrian Dunne frequently misinformed service providers by furnishing misleading information, including information about appointments.
“He also tended to fabricate stories about family trips abroad and the deaths of an entire family in a car accident which the inquiry team know to be untrue. Ciara Dunne colluded with such stories on occasion.”
Among the factors the report suggests may have contributed to the deaths are the death of Adrian Dunne’s father in April 2006 and the death by hanging of his brother James in March 2007, less than a month before the Monageer tragedy.
Other factors were Adrian Dunne’s “controlling and dominant influence” within the family; Ciara Dunne’s “docile, childlike nature”, which made her compliant and subservient to her husband’s wishes; Adrian Dunne’s ability in isolating his wife from her family; their mounting debts; and the option of a move to Liverpool no longer seeming feasible.
The report says gardai, when they discovered the bodies of the Dunne family, should have taken immediate steps to notify their wider families of the tragic deaths.
It calls for the provision of a national out-of-hours social work service. Before they died, the Dunne family had visited an undertaker to arrange how the couple and their children would be buried three days before they died.
An edited version of the report was published today by Minister for Children Barry Andrews. It reveals how State agencies handled the case after concerns about the welfare of the family were flagged.
It outlines how agencies liaised with one another in the days leading up to their deaths, and whether social services were able to offer a response.
The inquiry, set up in June 2007, began its work in January 2008 following the completion of a Garda report into the incident.
The inquiry team also makes recommendations to Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney and Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern as to how such an event may be avoided in future.
Mr Andrews received the report last October, although extracts of it have been circulated to relevant bodies and family members over recent months for legal reasons.
The deaths promoted calls from child welfare groups for the establishment of a 24-hour emergency social work service to help deal with crisis cases.
At present, child protection services outside Dublin are only available during office hours.
In the past month, the Government announced plans to establish an emergency foster care service, which would help bring an end to children in crisis situations being placed in inappropriate settings such as Garda stations and acute hospitals.
Speaking this morning, Des Kavanagh, general secretary of the Psychiatric Nurses' Association, said there had been a "number of positives and negatives" since the tragedy.
"Within the resources available, the Wexford mental health services have responded by putting in place mental health liaison nurses into the A&E services in Wexford General Hospital . . . they have also put in place a suicide-screening nurse who is available to work with GPs, and that is covering one half of the county and is intended to be extended to the full county," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland .
In national terms, he said the provision of a mental health specialist "who is supposed to be available 24 hours a day" was "hugely important".
"We believe it ought to be done on a guaranteed service basis, but unfortunately the particular resources available mean it is available only on a voluntary basis," Mr Kavanagh said, adding this situation was "a bit chaotic" and "unacceptable".
He said his organisation wanted to be sure its members could deliver a service - such as a bed or psychiatrist - following a recommendation but that "we are trying to create the illusion of a service without guaranteeing a service."
He urged the HSE and John Moloney, minister of state with responsibility for mental health, to work with his association to guarantee a "responsive and caring services to people in crisis".