The family of a woman who was killed alongside her son have said they look forward to tighter gun control laws in the Republic of Ireland.
They were speaking after inquests into the deaths of Eileen O’Sullivan, her partner Mossie and their son Jamie.
The bodies of Eileen, 56, and Jamie, 24, were found inside a property near Lixnaw, County Kerry, in 2021.
Mossie, 63, was found at the boundary of the rear yard, close to a shotgun.
All three had shotgun wounds.
Following inquests in Listowel on Wednesday, coroner Helen Lucey returned verdicts of unlawful killing in the cases of Eileen and Jamie O’Sullivan, and suicide in the case of Mossie O’Sullivan.
She described the killings as an appalling occurrence that saw “an entire family wiped out”.
The inquest was attended by Eileen O’Sullivan’s sister, Mary, and a statement was read afterwards on behalf of the family, as reported by Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
In it the family described their “traumatic and devastating” experience and vowed to continue campaigning to ensure similar incidents do not happen again.
Their campaign has focused on changes to the licensing system for firearms – such as additional checks – mental health welfare checks supporting crisis intervention and rural community-based mental health support.
The family said they are now looking now forward to the Irish government taking steps to implement the findings of a newly released familicide review, external and firearms licensing reforms, “as we have been reassured this will be the case”.
“We are pleased that the inquest has now finally been concluded… no one has the right to take the life of another, under any circumstances.”
Source : BBC
