For Valerie by David French: A very personal study of femicide that is ‘dedicated to the silenced women'
Author
:
David French
ISBN-13
:
978-1804583296
Publisher
:
Gill Books
Guideline Price
:
€18.99
Valerie French
, a mother of three very young boys, was 'savagely slaughtered' by her husband, the Central Criminal Court in Dublin was told last year.
In a victim impact statement read in court, her brother David also said that her murder in June 2019 'was violent and prolonged, with multiple assaults and several major injuries ... She died in terror for her own life and the lives of her children.' He added that the fatal stroke suffered by their mother, also named Valerie, five months later, was 'a direct consequence' of Valerie's murder.
James Kilroy, originally from Oldcastle, Co Meath, inflicted 57 wounds on Valerie when he murdered her outside their home near Islandeady, close to Westport, Co Mayo. She was the third Irish woman whose partner was charged with murder in the first half of 2019, a year in which 14 children lost their mother through domestic homicide. She was one of more than 274 women killed violently by a man in Ireland over the past 30 years, an average of more than nine a year.
[
People convicted of killing their spouse face losing guardianship rights
Opens in new window
]
Kilroy, who is serving a life sentence for Valerie's murder, retains legal guardianship of the three boys that he abandoned when he fled on the night of the murder. He also has full ownership of their former home, whose mortgage Valerie's salary paid and which is mortgage-free under a life assurance policy, David French writes.
READ MORE
As godfather to Valerie's sons, he attended all of the preliminary court and inquest hearings and every day of the trials. He wants Irish laws changed to ensure that men who kill their partners are automatically prevented from having a say in the children's lives.
His distressing and important book is 'dedicated to the silenced women'. It distils much of David French's extensive reading about femicide and domestic abuse in Ireland and abroad. It will not ease the shock and horror of the family and friends of the next women to be murdered by a male partner, but it will give them valuable advice and it will show them that they are not alone in their suffering and loss.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘He had a wonderful knowledge': tributes paid to Irish Rail worker found dead in his home
Tributes have been paid to Irish Rail worker Ian Walsh (49) who was found dead after being stabbed in his home in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary , over the weekend. Mr Walsh worked as a signal man at Kent Station in Cork, having previously worked in catering with Irish Rail on its Waterford service and as an instructor at the Irish Rail Training School at Inchicore. On Tuesday the company paid tribute to Mr Walsh, who was well known among staff and train enthusiasts for his work in helping to record Ireland's rail heritage, particularly in the south and southeast. 'All of us in Iarnród Éireann are shocked and saddened at Ian's passing. Ian was a well-known and popular colleague across the company, both in his working life in roles from catering to signalling, and for his passion for railway and transport tourism and heritage,' it said. READ MORE 'Our thoughts are with his family, and his friends in the railway and beyond, at this difficult time.' Rail heritage group Táilte Tours also paid tribute to Mr Walsh, saying he had been a huge supporter of the group and of Ireland's rich railway heritage for many years. 'Ian ran five rail tours of his own over the course of the mid to late 2000s and was very much a pioneer in 'outside the box' tours in Ireland, starting them from locations such as Waterford and Limerick, in an era when tours were generally based in Dublin or Belfast,' it said. 'He was more than happy to pass his experience and expertise on when we started operations a few years ago; for those of you who enjoyed the 'surprise' rare track moves on our Cork-based railtours, you can thank Ian, who went far beyond the extra mile to ensure our operations went off without a hitch. 'He had a wonderful knowledge of the Iarnród Éireann system and its people, and had also developed a passion for Bus Éireann operations, diligently recording the last runs on several rural routes in the southeast as they disappeared, quickly becoming a friend to bus drivers in the Cork and Waterford areas.' Meanwhile, the Garda investigation into Mr Walsh's death is ongoing with Garda technical experts continuing to examine his two-storey house in Ravenswood where gardaí found him unresponsive in a downstairs room at about 3.30am on Monday. Gardaí say their investigation will be informed by the results of a postmortem that is due to be carried out by State pathologist Dr Yvonne McCartney at University Hospital Waterford. An incident room has been set up at Clonmel Garda station. Gardaí believe Mr Walsh was fatally assaulted sometime over the bank holiday weekend and have appealed to anyone who was in the Cregg Road area of Carrick-on-Suir between 8pm on Friday, August 1st, and 3.30am on Monday, August 4th, to contact them. Additionally, anyone who may have camera footage, including from dashcams, and was travelling in the area at the time has been urged to make it available at Clonmel Garda station on (052) 617 7640, via the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or at any other station.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Donohoe delayed approving sale of State's final shares in AIB
Minister for Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe asked for a three-week postponement on the final sale of the State's stake in AIB so he could consult government about the bank's exit from 'crisis relationships'. Senior officials had sought permission to carry out a 'clean-up share disposal' on May 23rd to finally end state ownership in the bank after the financial crash. However, the Minister looked for extra time as officials said the sale would 'inevitably refocus the discussion around the topic of remuneration' and the salary cap for bankers. In a note on the submission, Mr Donohoe wrote: 'I am absolutely committed to the return of AIB to private ownership. However, I want to exit from crisis relationships with [the] bank at same time. READ MORE 'I will need to engage with government on this and will not have this complete by end of this week. Ask department to consider execution of same plan but in second half of June.' [ How AIB went from boom to bust and back again Opens in new window ] In mid-June, officials submitted a second submission on the sale saying it would 'trigger an opportunity re: salary cap.' It said the State was looking to offload nearly 44 million shares and hoped to bring in around €310 million through the sale. The submission said: 'The implication of this trade is that it will trigger an expectation to begin unwinding the crisis-era remuneration restrictions that remain in place (in particular the removal of the salary cap).' Officials wrote that AIB was one of the best performing banks in Europe and that strong momentum had continued since the last time the State sold some of its shareholding. It said the final sale would represent a 'natural point' to normalise the relationship between AIB and the State. The submission also cautioned that if pay restrictions from AIB were removed, it should also apply to PTSB . 'Absent of that happening, it would put PTSB at a severe disadvantage,' said the document. 'Such a scenario is not in taxpayers' interests.' In a note, Mr Donohoe wrote: 'I agreed to this process via phone yesterday. This is to indicate that approval was given and to conclude official documentation.' A separate presentation on the State's post-crash investment in banks said the taxpayer had invested €29.4 billion in AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB. From that, around €28.7 billion had been recovered although this was over an extended period of a decade and a half. The presentation said as well as implications for the salary cap, other restrictions on how AIB operates would change. One slide said: 'These restrictions include monthly meetings with senior management, access to board papers, [and] various reporting/consent/consultation requirements. 'Since the State's exit from BOI ( Bank of Ireland ), that bank is no longer subject to these conditions. We recommend putting AIB on an equal footing with BOI in this context.' On pay caps, another slide said all restrictions were eliminated for Bank of Ireland apart from bonus payments exceeding €20,000 per year. 'While restrictions around variable pay up to €20,000 and fringe benefits were also removed for AIB and PTSB, both banks continue to abide by the total compensation cap of €500,000 per annum that is currently in place,' it said. This additional restriction relative to Bank of Ireland was 'anti-competitive and unsustainable'.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Couple fails to stop demolition of Co Meath home built in ‘wilful' breach of planning laws almost 20 years ago
A couple have lost a last ditch legal bid at preventing the demolition of their large Co Meath home built in 'wilful breach' of planning laws almost 20 years ago. There was 'no merit' to the appeals by Chris Murray and his wife Rose, Mr Justice Senan Allen said, when giving the three judge Court of Appeal 's judgment dismissing them. The appeals concerned an action that, while initiated in September 2022, was 'the latest battle' in a 20-year war about the fate of the unauthorised development at Faughan Hill, Bohermeen, Navan . It was, he believed, obvious to Meath County Council from the outset that the action and appeal were 'artifices calculated to postpone the evil day'. READ MORE After Mr Murray's 2006 application for permission to build a house on the lands was refused, the couple, 'undaunted, and in wilful breach of the planning laws', built a house anyway of about 588 sq m (6,220 sq ft), twice the size of the house for which permission was refused, the judge said. The council took proceedings in 2007 under the Planning Act and in 2017 the Supreme Court upheld High Court orders for the couple to remove any unauthorised development from their land. They were given one year to vacate the property. When that was not complied with, the council issued contempt proceedings in 2019 that settled in 2020 on terms involving the Murrays agreeing to vacate the property within two years to facilitate the council demolishing it. The council issued contempt proceedings in 2019 that settled in 2020 on terms involving the Murrays agreeing to vacate the property within two years to facilitate the council demolishing it Three days before they were to vacate, the Murrays issued a case against the council, claiming there was new evidence relating to land sterilisation agreements made by the previous owners of the land that invalidated the council's planning refusals. Last year the High Court granted a council application to strike out that case as frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process. In the Court of Appeal judgment on Tuesday, Mr Justice Allen said the couple built a 6,220 sq ft house without planning permission, 'well knew' they would need permission 'but hoped they would get away with it'. The Murrays claimed, as a result of actions, inactions and misrepresentations by the council, they had acquired a 'pig in a poke' title to the lands, he said. While a planning condition for a nearby residence stated an agreement sterilising (preventing) the lands from any other housing or non-agricultural development should be entered into – and the council relied on that in refusing permission to the Murrays – it was accepted no sterilisation agreement was ever entered. There was 'no justification' for contending the council misrepresented the case to the court, he said. The Murrays had not appealed the original permission refusal to An Bord Pleanála or sought to judicially review it, he said. They had had 'every opportunity' to make whatever case they thought they had; the courts had considered all they had to say but the Supreme Court had, in 2017, decided the house 'had to come down'. While they argued in this appeal that adequate account was not taken of their new evidence, there was no appeal against the High Court conclusion it would not have affected the original outcome. At the heart of their opposition to the council's enforcement procedures was a grievance with the refusal of their original planning application but, as a matter of law, that grievance was 'not justiciable'. Any infirmity in the original refusal could not conceivably have provided any justification for unauthorised construction of a house, still less one twice the size, he said. It was 'perverse' that the Murrays, having 'driven a coach and four' through the planning Act, were complaining the council failed 'to strictly comply with the prescribed procedures'. A 'so-called constitutional challenge' concerning the council's use of section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in its proceedings was unrelated to the new evidence, he said. The couple's fresh permission retention applications were not relevant to whether their proceedings raised a fair issue to be tried, he held. The couple had not identified any error in the decision under appeal, the court concluded.
