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Celebrated crime writer to appear at Waterford library

Celebrated crime writer to appear at Waterford library

Irish Independent13 hours ago

Ms Carter will join Waterford City and County Librarian, Mary Conway, for the fifth Writers at Waterford Libraries event of 2025 in Lismore Library on June 18 at 3pm to discuss her latest book, There Came a Tapping and writing life.
The successful author grew up in Ballyfin in Co Laois, studied law at Trinity College Dublin, and worked as a solicitor on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal, where she ran the most northerly solicitor's practice in the country.
Having practised law for 20 years, more recently as a barrister, Ms Carter now writes full time.
Her first book, Death at Whitewater Church, a winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, was followed by Treacherous Strand, The Well of Ice, Murder at Greysbridge, and The Body Falls.
She has been the recipient of two Arts Council of Ireland Literature Bursary Awards and a Dublin City Council Bursary Award.
Her short story The Lamb was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2019. The Inishowen Mysteries series is in development for television, while her first standalone thriller There Came a Tapping was published earlier this year in March 2025.
This event is free to attend, however booking is essential.
To book your seat for the event contact Lismore Library on 058 21377.

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Celebrated crime writer to appear at Waterford library
Celebrated crime writer to appear at Waterford library

Irish Independent

time13 hours ago

  • Irish Independent

Celebrated crime writer to appear at Waterford library

Ms Carter will join Waterford City and County Librarian, Mary Conway, for the fifth Writers at Waterford Libraries event of 2025 in Lismore Library on June 18 at 3pm to discuss her latest book, There Came a Tapping and writing life. The successful author grew up in Ballyfin in Co Laois, studied law at Trinity College Dublin, and worked as a solicitor on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal, where she ran the most northerly solicitor's practice in the country. Having practised law for 20 years, more recently as a barrister, Ms Carter now writes full time. Her first book, Death at Whitewater Church, a winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, was followed by Treacherous Strand, The Well of Ice, Murder at Greysbridge, and The Body Falls. She has been the recipient of two Arts Council of Ireland Literature Bursary Awards and a Dublin City Council Bursary Award. Her short story The Lamb was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2019. The Inishowen Mysteries series is in development for television, while her first standalone thriller There Came a Tapping was published earlier this year in March 2025. This event is free to attend, however booking is essential. To book your seat for the event contact Lismore Library on 058 21377.

Abuse survivors 'retraumatised' by family law system
Abuse survivors 'retraumatised' by family law system

RTÉ News​

time3 days ago

  • RTÉ News​

Abuse survivors 'retraumatised' by family law system

The Irish family law system causes "secondary victimisation" and "increased vulnerability" to both child and adult survivors of domestic abuse and violence, according to new research. The report showed that the family law system is "completely inadequate" when it is not attuned to the tactics and impacts of domestic abuse post-separation, Chief Executive of Women's Aid Sarah Benson said. The research, commissioned by Women's Aid, examined how adult and child survivors of domestic violence and abuse access and navigate the family law system. It comprised a research team from both Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork and involved court observations, surveys, interviews and focus groups with children, aged-out minors, adults, domestic violence practitioners, health, social care and legal professionals and judges. The researchers spoke to both adult and child victim survivors of their experience of guardianship, custody and access proceedings in Ireland. Adults who took part in the research described their experiences as "relentless, overwhelmingly negative and retraumatising," the report found. Children and young people reported that the family law system failed to listen or respect their independent views. 'Urgent need' for wholistic response - Women's Aid Women's Aid said the research "reveals the urgent need" for the law system to develop a wholistic response to domestic violence and abuse (DVA). The national charity said that the system is not sufficiently informed or aware of DVA and this undermines rights and comprises the safety of victim-survivors. Although individual workers such as legal practitioners and judges within the courts system were mentioned positively by victim survivors, respondents felts that the system as a whole was a negative and traumatic experience. Two-thirds of adult victim survivors reported that judges failed to take their experiences of domestic violence and abuse into account when making decisions about guardianship, custody, and access involving the perpetrator. "We have witnessed how complex, disjointed and arbitrary the system is." Other issues brought up in the report included lack of access to legal representation, lack of time to consult and prepare for cases, significant financial burdens, and a generally overwhelmed system. Ms Benson said the family law system often assumes that when a couple separates, if domestic violence or abuse was taking place, it has now ended. However, Ms Benson said sometimes the abuse takes other forms, for example, economic abuse or using children to denigrate the non-abusing parent. "Participants in the research spoke of having to adhere to court ordered access to avoid being charged with violating a court order, requiring them to regularly engage with their abuser," Ms Benson said. "This frequently provided court-sanctioned opportunities for further abuse to occur," she added. Some participants in the research said their experience of the family justice system was even worse than the abuse. Ms Benson said this was a "shocking situation, but sadly, not a surprising one". "Women's Aid are in the family law courts daily with women who must navigate an unforgiving system while still being subjected to devastating abuse from their partners or ex-partners. "We have witnessed how complex, disjointed and arbitrary the system is," she said. Ms Benson added: "We are really concerned about the lack of comprehensive training and understanding of domestic violence and the impact of abuse on victim-survivors at every level of the family law system. "This was especially evident in the reported experiences of court-appointed assessors. "In many instances when women raised legitimate safety concerns for their children, they were often inappropriately accused of engaging in the highly contested concept of 'parental alienation' while the possibility of DVA as a reasonable concern was not meaningfully considered." Women's Aid is calling on the Government to reform the family law system as part of the family justice strategy in a way that is informed by domestic violence and abuse. This would include compulsory domestic abuse training for all professionals in the system and improved access to legal representation. In a statement to RTÉ News, the Department of Justice said that tackling domestic violence and supporting victims of crime are "central priorities" for the minister. The department said the family justice strategy 2022-2025 and the Family Courts Act 2024 aim to make family courts work better for those engaged with it.

Navigating Irish family law system is 'worse than the abuse', Women's Aid warns
Navigating Irish family law system is 'worse than the abuse', Women's Aid warns

Irish Examiner

time3 days ago

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Navigating Irish family law system is 'worse than the abuse', Women's Aid warns

Some adult victim-survivors of domestic abuse have described navigating Ireland's family law system as 'even worse than the abuse', prompting fresh calls for urgent reforms. The description is contained in groundbreaking new research which has found a system that causes 'secondary victimisation', with adult and child victim-survivors of domestic abuse being retraumatised during guardianship, custody, and access proceedings. The research, commissioned by Women's Aid and carried out by Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork, is the first national account of its kind. It found that while the prevalence of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) in all family law cases is disproportionately high, the Irish system, and the professionals working in it, including barristers and judges, is not sufficiently DVA informed or responsive, with many lacking a fundamental understanding of the dynamics and impacts of domestic abuse. This systemic blind spot leaves victims feeling disbelieved, silenced, and at risk from further abuse, Women's Aid said. 'This research is very difficult but required reading for anyone who plays any part in the family justice system,' Women's Aid CEO Sarah Benson said. It tells us that sadly even where there are some examples of informed and understanding practices among some key individuals, this is completely inadequate when the system itself is not attuned and responsive to the tactics and impacts of domestic abuse post-separation. Women's Aid has now urged the government to fundamentally reform the family law system as part of the Family Justice Strategy, with compulsory domestic abuse training for all professionals, including judges, comprehensive screening and risk assessment protocols, radical reform of the 'expert reports' system, improved access to legal representation and the development of clear mechanisms to improve coordination, communication, and cooperation across all civil family law proceedings and with the criminal courts. The research also found that: Two-thirds of adult victim-survivors reported that judges fail to take their experiences of DVA into account when making decisions about guardianship, custody, and access involving the perpetrator; Children and young people feel the system fails to listen to or respect their independent views; There is a continued lack of recognition that exposure to DVA constitutes child abuse and grounds for risk assessment; Adult survivors were put into the impossible position of having to adhere to court ordered custody and access arrangements that placed their children in harm's way or face penalties. Furthermore, it founds a lack of access to legal representation, time to consult and prepare for cases, huge financial burdens, and a system generally overwhelmed by volume and pressure of cases compounds an already high-stakes situation. Read More Gardaí initiate 12 prosecutions for stalking in 19 months since it became an offence

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