Family's hurt at 'scurrilous' allegations

Editorial Department • Published 12 Jan 2012 13:00

Dear Sir, - We are writing as a family united in hurt and anger at an article that appeared in your paper on Thursday December 22, 2011. The article was about a woman's anger at not being able to bring her abusive brothers to justice.

Let me begin by telling you that we are those brothers, we are those brothers' wives and partners, those brothers' sister and brothers, those brothers' children and grandchildren, those brothers' friends and we all categorically refute the scurrilous allegations made by this woman.

Much of the content of the article was correct. Our sister did move to England. She did return and is living in Enniskillen. She is a mother of three who lost her husband. What wasn't mentioned in the article is that it was us who went to London for the birth of her children. It was us who were godparents to her children. It was us she named some of her children after. It was us who helped her family make the move back to Enniskillen, her reason being that if anything happened to her husband, she would have the support of her family nearby. It was us she wanted by her side when she lost her husband and indeed spent many weekends in our homes. She made us promise that we would take care of her children should anything happen to her.

As much as we feel we have the right to be angry at our sister, we cannot help but feel anguish for her as we believe that something traumatic did happen to her. Indeed, her late husband had spoken to us as a family, voicing his concerns about what may have happened to her whilst she was living rough on the streets of London. Whatever did happen has blurred her sense of reality and what is right and wrong.

It is strange that these allegations did not come to light until after the death of her late husband. Around that time, a neighbour of our family "took her under her wing" or, as we now realise, had begun to prey on her vulnerability. This coincided with the time she began to fall out with her whole family. This neighbour had a long-standing grievance against our family. This began when a relation of hers was responsible for a serious assault on one of us, sometime after they had moved from Belfast to Derrylin. She has a reputation for being a trouble-maker who to this day, seems to think it's alright to shout unfounded allegations at us when we are with our children and young grandchildren. As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

When we first heard these allegations a number of years ago, we approached the relevant authorities dealing with her (our sister's) mental health issues and asked why, as professionals, they had not reported these to the police. We have contacted solicitors to try to stop both our sister and her so-called friend shouting these allegations in the street. Most importantly, we went to the police voluntarily and were interviewed about these allegations. The police were happy that there was absolutely no case to answer in this instance. I ask your readers if these are the actions of guilty men?

We have read your coverage of the David Parkinson case and the McDermott brothers atrocious acts of child abuse in Donagh. As fathers and grandfathers, we are physically sick to even be referred to in the same article. Our sister's allegations make a mockery of those brave children who are genuine victims of abuse.

Finally, we would like to clarify that having been in touch with the reporter who covered the story, we are happy that the Impartial Reporter did not mean to cause upset in printing the article. They have been gracious in allowing us the chance to tell our side and for that we are grateful.

Yours faithfully,

Names and Addresses supplied

Editor's Note: This letter was signed by 21 members of the family and extended family who were upset.

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This letter appeared in Impartial Reporter 12 Jan 12

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