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JACQUELINE CONNOLLY, THE sister of Clodagh Hawe, has made an emotional public appeal to Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly for the 2019 serious crime review into the murder of her sister to be published, in full.
In August 2016, Alan Hawe, a vice-principal, killed himself after murdering his 39-year-old wife Clodagh and their sons, Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six, at their home near Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.
Connolly has said a review of the Clodagh Hawe case should be published to provide a greater awareness of the behaviours of “family annihilators”.
Connolly won an award at the An Post Book Awards last night in the Non-Fiction Book of the Year category for her book, ‘Deadly Silence: A Sister’s Battle to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of Clodagh and Her Sons by Alan Hawe’.
She told attendees at the awards ceremony in the Convention Centre last night that while it was not easy to share her experience, she did so to move on the conversation around domestic violence, coercive control and “its very worst manifestation – family annihilation”.
Speaking about the serious crime review into the murder investigation, she said:
“There are findings in that in-depth review, which took place over four years, which need to be in the public domain. Yet even our own family has never been furnished with the actual report, only appraised of its contents. The 800-page report itself is sitting gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.”
Connolly said she wanted to use her platform last night to speak publicly to the new Garda Commissioner about the review:
Tonight, I take this opportunity to publicly ask the Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly for its release.
“No family should ever have to go through what we’ve been through. This award is in memory of my beautiful sister Clodagh, my nephews, Liam, Niall and Ryan, my brother Tadhg and my late husband Richie and to all of the survivors and victims of domestic violence.”
In her emotional speech, she told the crowd that it meant a huge amount to her to win the book award, stating:
“In the face of profound loss, in some ways, there is no moving on. There are places you cannot get beyond, truths that can’t be suppressed, horrors that can’t be outrun.
“But driving me forward has always been the quest for truth – to understand what happened in the lead up to those awful events so that we can move the conversation on, and by doing so help reshape policy that can change things for the better.”
Connolly and her mother previously made a request to the former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to release the serious crime review into the murders.
In March, the family met with the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, who told the family he would ask the Commissioner to release the review and ask the Attorney General about a second inquest.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said earlier this year that it his understanding that the gardaí have never published a serious crime review in full, but he committed to work with the justice minister and the Garda Commissioner on the matter to see if it can be published.
The Journal asked the gardaí to respond to Connolly’s public appeal for the review to be released.
In a statement, the gardaí referred back to statement made by former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in 2019 where he said the family had conducted themselves in a dignified manner.
Commissioner Harris said he provided the family with information on the criminal investigation undertaken “while also respecting the data protection rights and confidentiality of those individuals who had given statements to An Garda Síochána in the course of the investigation”.
The gardaí went on to state that in January 2024, a presentation on the findings of the review conducted by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team was presented to all interested stakeholders, including the family.
“In general, reviews conducted by the Garda Serious Crime Team are not published for operational reasons.
“In general, findings and recommendations from reviews by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team are incorporated into senior investigative training.
“In this particular case, if there is any change in our position of publishing the report by the Serious Crime Review Team, it would be first communicated to the family,” concluded the statement.
The State’s policing oversight body has said that gardaí must learn from questions raised about the investigation into the murder suicide of the Cavan family.
The Journal has also sought a comment from the Department of Justice.
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