Women’s Aid gives stark reminder of how many Irish women have been murdered by a partner

The horrendous murder of Clodagh Hawe and her three children at the hands of her husband, Alan, has shocked the nation to its core.

Gardaí are still trying to pinpoint a motive for the murder-suicide of the couple and their three kids - Liam (aged 13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) - in Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan at the weekend. It's an unfathomable crime: the murder of three innocent boys by a person who is meant to protect them. For that reason, this has served as the central hook for most of the media coverage since the story emerged on Monday morning. But in the midst of that coverage, some people are pointing out that the mother in the story has been omitted too often, and are talking about this online using the hashtag #HerNameWasClodagh. https://twitter.com/sineadredmond/status/770936977894019072 https://twitter.com/24IrishNews/status/770727354960195584 Blogger Linnea Dunne has written about this topic today, highlighting how some reporting has focused more on the "pillar of the community" character analyses of the murderer rather than on all of his victims, including "the murderer's wife". https://twitter.com/linneadunne/status/770907764902297600 https://twitter.com/fionamcp/status/770892469726740480 https://twitter.com/YourUnicornL/status/770958459609251841 With this topic so dominating the headlines right now, Women's Aid posted a bleak statistic on its Facebook page drawing attention to how many Irish women have been killed by a current of former partner.

"There is no greater violation of a woman’s human rights than the right to life itself," it reads. "Since Women’s Aid started to keep record in 1996, 1 in every 2 female homicide victims in Ireland has been murdered by a current or former intimate partner.* "This means that 87 women have had their lives stolen by those who were closest to them – their boyfriends, husbands and partners or those they had ended relationships with. 14 children were also murdered alongside their mothers. "Today we remember stolen lives - the 87 women and 14 children and their families and friends left to mourn them."

You can read the full post and the rundown of the women's names here. You can contact Women's Aid, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 1800 341 900 Cover image by Vicky Donnelly/Facebook