Gardaí must learn from shortfalls in Hawe case investigation, head of policing body says

The Journal

18-05-2025

THE HEAD OF the State's policing oversight body has said that gardaí must learn from questions raised about the investigation into the murder suicide of a Cavan family.
Dr Elaine Byrne made the comments as part of an interview with
The Journal
this week about her role with the
Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA)
which she chairs. The body has replaced the Policing Authority and Garda Inspectorate.
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.
Now Clodagh's sister Jacqueline Connolly has said a review of the Clodagh Hawe case should be published to provide a greater awareness of the behaviours of 'family annihilators'.
She has written a memoir called Deadly Silence to raise awareness of what happened. She claimed that the deaths were not initially investigated thoroughly by gardaí and she wants this approach changed.
She has said that there was not adequate collection of CCTV and digital evidence as well as follow up interviews with 20 key witnesses.
Byrne said that the PCSA has been focused intensely on a review of homicide investigations – which has been ongoing for a period of time.
'The Commissioner did initiate a homicide review where it showed that there were lapses in the investigation of a number of homicides.
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'But that is a constant focus for us, and it's on our agenda, and we will be asking the Commissioner [Drew Harris] more questions,' she said.
Dr Elaine Byrne of the Policing and Community Safety Authority.
Niall O'Connor / The Journal
Niall O'Connor / The Journal / The Journal
Byrne paid tribute to Connolly for documenting what happened to the Hawe family.
'I think that Clodagh's sister Jaqueline, she's done a public service in allowing the public inside that very tragic event, moment by moment, and I think society will learn something from it, and the guards must learn something from it as well.
'I have read everything, all those extracts of her book, and it is something that we will be bringing those issues that she's outlined are issues broadly match our concerns in general, around the homicide review that the Commissioner initiated, and one that we will have a constant focus on,' she added.
Jacqueline Connolly, whose has written about the murder of her sister and her family by her husband Alan Hawe.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Last week, in an interview on RTE radio, Connolly said that a second investigation carried out by the serious crime review team, authorised by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in 2019, highlighted what was missed in the first investigation.
This included CCTV that had not been examined, digital evidence that was overlooked, and 20 key witnesses who needed to be re-interviewed using different techniques.
Connolly said she has been told gardaí in training will be advised to gather evidence in murder-suicides as though it is a case that will be prosecuted, but she said she wants that rolled out to all rural garda stations because officers were not prepared to 'find Clodagh and the boys like that'.
She called on Harris to release the findings of the serious crime review, for which Connolly has seen a summary, because she said it was important that the recommendations are seen by domestic violence institutions.
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