It Occurs To Me: Deadly silence

 

Watching Garda Commissioner Drew Harris at his last official outing in Templemore, I was reminded of aspects of his mixed legacy at the top, which has not been without controversy. 

When he was appointed, I was surprised by the negativity of some current and retired members — many in senior positions — and I just put it down to an old southern bias against a Northern Prod getting the big job. 

However, having read Deadly Silence by Jacqueline Connolly about the slaughter of her sister Clodagh and three sons by Alan Hawe, I can see where Harris’s iciness may not have endeared himself to many gardaí.

Jacqueline writes: “I was not naive enough to expect an effusive welcome at Garda Headquarters. I was well aware that the meeting would never have taken place had it not been for the furore sparked by Claire Byrne Live and the intervention of the Minister for Justice. But the moment the senior garda officers sat opposite us, I sensed the familiar polite-but-frosty atmosphere from previous meetings with the guards. Mr Harris was an icicle in the room, his bearing rigid and his demeanour remote.

Clodagh Hawe and her three sons, Liam, Niall and Ryan

“Oh, my God, I thought. This is going to be the same as our meeting in Cavan Garda Station in January. I remember thinking, He doesn’t give a shit what we’re saying to him. He’s just running down the clock. Not many like to be in the eye of a media storm, and I imagined the garda commissioner wouldn’t want to be in a whirlwind of controversy during his honeymoon phase in his new job. I also knew public sentiment was on our side since our interview on Claire Byrne Live. ‘Well, there’s a lot of media waiting outside,’ I said. ‘What do you want us to tell them?’”

                                  Heads in the sand

That swung everything… and some time later, Harris announced a new investigation into the savage murders of Clodagh Hawe and her family. It is very telling at the end of the book in the acknowledgements, Harris does not merit a mention but Jacqueline writes: “To the head of the Serious Crime Review, Detective Garda Des McTiernan, the National Interview Advisor at An Garda Síochána, Inspector Brian Quirke and Detective Garda Michelle Wallace: Thank you for your exhaustive work and professionalism… you treated us with respect at every turn and ensured that every avenue of enquiry was exhausted.”

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She also gives a special mention to then Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan: “You were the first to afford us the opportunity to speak and be listened to. I will never forget your warmth and kindness at our first meeting.”

Jacqueline reveals that the family was given sight of the completed review of the murders — some 800 pages — but the family was not furnished with a copy.

She believes it should be published in order to help prevent any similar tragedy from occurring in the future.

“I am appealing to you to release the findings in an appropriate way so that the timelines, behaviours, and patterns of family annihilators are given to the public, for those in abusive and controlling relationships, and to aid domestic violence services in expanding and advancing their policies,” she wrote to Commissioner Harris.

“This, in turn, will align with the prevention and protection pillars of the Government’s third national strategy on domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence.”

After the interview with Claire Byrne Live, Jacqueline was shocked to see a Facebook page entitled #istandwithcastlerahans… Castlerahan National School, where Alan Hawe had been vice-principal. After the programme, RTÉ received letters of complaint from people in Castlerahan who felt publicity of a murder-suicide was not good for the image of the area. One post called on readers to “fight fire with fire and show our support for Castlerahan NS on social media”. 

It attacked Jacqueline’s family and accused them of castigating the school and community. Jacqueline was horrified: “Did these people know that four people had been murdered? Did they realise that some people in the school had failed to provide statements to the investigation into the murders?”

Although the post was eventually taken down, it smacks of the worst excesses of The Valley of the Squinting Windows.

Another person in authority who is heavily criticised by Jacqueline is the late Fr Felim Kelly. He “… lauded Alan Hawe as a great family man before and during the funeral, and we were determined that he wouldn’t do it again at the month’s mind.”

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In his eulogy, he had declared: “It is not for us to seek answers,” and later added:

“The poor man couldn’t have been in his right mind. Sure, wasn’t he a great father and husband all those years?”

Jacqueline’s response was devastating: “He was, Father, right up until the moment he murdered them all… Alan Hawe is a murderer… I want you to say that what he did was evil, and if you don’t we’ll walk out of that church.”

His response was chilling: “I will not be blackmailed into blackening Alan’s name!”

Subsequently, after a number of inquest delays, the coroner rang to say she’d received calls from Fr Kelly and the local TD asking for the date to be changed again. Jacqueline was livid… the same TD had never contacted his mother to offer any assistance or advice. She rang him and let him have it: “You want this inquest postponed because you think an inquiry looks bad at Christmas? No way was she allowing this to happen.”

                                 The most extreme form  

In the introduction, we are warned: “This book contains descriptions of domestic violence, murder and other distressing events. Some passages may be difficult to read. Reader discretion is advised.”

It is shocking, not only the brutality of the murders — but the indifference of many in positions of authority. What is heartening and profoundly moving is how Jacqueline, her mum Mary, her ‘hero’ uncle Gerry and auntie Carmel never gave up and fought a fight that cost them emotionally and financially. At the end of the book, you want to stand and cheer, but that is always mitigated by the stark truth throughout: Alan Hawe accessed pornography, was a coercive narcissistic controller who used an axe and knives to slaughter Clodagh and their three sons, Liam (13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6), on August 29, 2016.

Margaret Martin, director of Women’s Aid, summed it up for many when she said at the time: “It is very clear he was a murderer, that is fairly conclusive. Does committing suicide mitigate you killing other people before that act? If he went into a school and killed staff and students before killing himself what would we say? We have to stop the denial here. The first reaction to something like this is denial, an immediate blinkering. 

“Yet what are the facts in this case? There were four people who were killed and then he took his own life. That is the ultimate level of control: to decide who lives or dies. It is the most extreme form of domestic abuse.”

                                  Gaza: the silent letters

In the queue for bread,

The UEUE is silent,

Like UE in fatigue,

The B in bomb,

The B in limb,

The B in crumbs,

The B in numb,

The B in womb

And the B in tomb.

In Gaza, the world is silent.

In the queue for death,

The A is silent,

Like the T in listen,

The K in kneel,

The K in knell,

The A in breathe,

And the W in wreath.

In Gaza, the world is silent.

The U is silent in guilt,

But not in Netanyahu,

No silent letters in hunger,

None in starvation,

None in famine,

And none in genocide.

In Gaza, the world is silent.