Gardaí pictured at Birhwood estate earlier today, where the deaths of two adults and two children are being investigated as murder. : Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie
Murder Investigation
Residents learned early this morning that a fire had claimed the lives of couple Philip and Kim English, and two of their children.
Emma Hickey reports from Waterford
IN THE QUIET estate of Birchwood in Waterford city, there was shock and upset outside the garda cordon that split the estate in two.
The cordon stretched across the green area in the estate. In the late afternoon, four young boys dressed in school sports uniforms laughed as they took running jumps over the wilting stream of tape.
The house in question was tucked around the corner. As the afternoon progressed, locals approached the far corner of the cordon, where numerous cameras were stationed, to peer around the corner.
Others sat outside their homes, shellshocked.
Residents learned early this morning that a fire had claimed the lives of couple Philip and Kim English, and two of their children.
Two other children were rushed first to University Hospital Limerick, and then onto Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin in Dublin. They are in a critical condition.
The fire had broken out in the early hours. The emergency services were alerted to the fire at 5.13am, and in the meantime, neighbours attempted to gain access to the house through the windows to assist the family inside.
The incident was designated as an arson attack and is being investigated as murder. It is understood that while gardaí have yet to confirm the fire was the result of a petrol bomb, accelerants were used.
Outside Waterford Garda Station, Chief Superintendent Anthony Pettit told the media that it is believed the house was intentionally targeted by a “person or persons unknown”.
It is understood the house was targeted on two occasions in recent times, the most recent of which involved a car being burned out.
One local woman, whose oldest son was a close friend of one of the deceased children, told The Journal the situation was “absolutely heartbreaking”. She had collected her son early from school and said he was devastated upon hearing the news.
She has known the family for years and said they had been resident in the estate for around 10 years. The family were described as well-known locally, but said to have generally liked to keep to themselves.
“It’s absolutely devastating, especially for a woman that just adored her kids. Her life revolved around her children,” she said.
“It shouldn’t happen anywhere. We should be able to be safe in our own homes. Why would people be coming in, knowing that there’s four little kids, and set fire to the house?”
Members of the media travelling to Waterford from Dublin in the early afternoon came across an ambulance escorted by gardaí making its way up the opposing lane.
Just down the road at Butler Community Centre, sandwiches, tea and coffee were on offer, and counsellors were available, for anyone who wanted some support.
A sign posted at the door told people that all scheduled events at the centre had been cancelled out of respect for the family.
Local Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane was among those present.
He told The Journal that it has been an upsetting and difficult time for relatives of the family, their many friends and those living in the area.
Cullinane was in touch with some members of the extended family today, although he has yet to hear from the immediate family.
“I’d imagine that they are just devastated and dealing with unimaginable grief. So I think they need the space to come to terms with what’s happened. I know many of the immediate family, and I knew the family involved very, very well,” the TD said.
“And like all the neighbours here, there is just utter devastation, because they were such a nice family. We’re talking about a family with children, and to wake up to the news this morning that there were fatalities and children involved and children going to hospital in Dublin with very serious injuries – it was just beyond belief.”
He said the grief on the road this morning has “turned very quickly to anger when this was elevated to a murder inquiry”.
“There’s just such a mix of emotions, but there’s also a sense that people want to be there for the family and for the wider community.”
The centre’s manager Amy Maguire told The Journal that the centre had chosen to set up a support area given the scale of the tragedy.
“It’s been quite slow this morning, as you can imagine, because a lot of the people that this is aimed towards are obviously in shock right now, and they don’t seem to want to leave their residence,” she said.
“I’ve left here today and gone to Birchwood and spoke to everybody in the neighbourhood just to say, look, the doors are open down here,” she said.
“There’s a whole family destroyed now, forever more. There are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful babies after being lost.
“There’s a mum and dad lost. There is extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins who are going to be traumatised. The people who tried to get the family out of the house they will never be the same again,” Maguire said.