Mental health: Irish father of three children killed by their mother calls for law reform

The grieving father of three children killed by his wife has said their loss hits him every day “like a sledgehammer”.

Speaking to Sky News on the second anniversary of the tragedy, Andrew McGinley said he is now calling for legal reform in the Republic of Ireland to ensure families of people with mental illness can be included in their treatment.

On January 24, 2020, Andrew’s children Conor, nine, Darragh, seven, and Carla, three, were suffocated at the family home in Newcastle, Co Dublin by their mother Deirdre Morley.

In May 2021 she was found not guilty of her murders due to insanity and was committed to Dublin Central Mental Hospital.

Two years ago, Mr. McGinley returned home from work when the emergency services arrived.

“I just got here and the first responders were there, the medics and the firefighters,” he said.

“That’s when I thought ‘where are the kids?’ I discovered the bodies in the house when I walked in. You just think ‘how is this happening to you, how is this happening to your family?’

“You read about it elsewhere. You’re just looking for answers and two years later I’m still looking for answers. I know exactly how the children died. Now I just need to know why.”

Deirdre Morley had been receiving psychiatric care before the deaths, but Andrew said she had not realized the full extent of her illness.

Shortly before the children were killed, she said: “Deirdre was talking about going back to work and she was talking about recovery, being almost completely recovered.”

‘Left me with more questions’

Now the grieving father wants legislative reform so that families of the mentally ill can be included in his treatment.

“With every piece of information that came out at trial, there was a lot that I was hearing for the first time,” he said. “It just left me with a lot more questions.

“If I was included all the time, I wouldn’t have those questions, I’d already know the answers. I just think it’s vital that the support circle of people receiving treatment is included, where appropriate.”

Asked if he had forgiven his wife, McGinley said: “I cannot forgive how the children died. At the trial, it was passed through the Garda files what Conor’s last words were, and they haunt me. “.

“I understand that she was sick. The Dee that I knew and loved was a loving and caring mother, she was a nurse. I accept that she was sick, but it’s hard to process.”

‘You never recover, you manage’

Mr. McGinley has now fulfilled his eldest son Conor’s wishes for a YouTube channel by creating Conor’s Clips, where he uploads videos of his children to nearly 8,000 subscribers.

“It was something he [Conor] he had asked me about it before Christmas 2020,” McGinley said. “He started writing down ideas of what he wanted to do, and it was going to be little comedy clips and all five of us were going to be involved.”

“It helped me get through it. It helped me manage a little bit. People talk about recovery. You never recover, you get by and you get by.”

“It scares me to think that if I didn’t have the Conor Clips, what would I be doing. Because every morning the alarm clock goes off and it hits you like a sledgehammer, which happened.

“But then the next thing I think about is what can I do for the kids and what can I do with the Conor Clips. That’s what helps me.”

Mr McGinley also set up a charity for his second son, called As Darragh Did, which celebrated the second anniversary by allocating €16,000 to good causes and a snowman-themed coloring contest called Snowman for Carla.

He says these legacy projects are a way to keep his children’s memories alive and help them cope with day-to-day trauma.

“It’s to remember them,” he said. “It’s to remember Conor, Darragh and Carla. To keep promises.”