‘War on drugs is lost’ says councillor after fatal arson attack in Waterford city
There was widespread condemnation of the arson attack at the October meeting of the Waterford Metropolitan District
A local councillor has said that “the war on drugs has been lost” after four people died in an arson attack in Waterford city this week.
Philip and Kim English, along with their children Callum and Jayden, died in the house fire which occurred in Birchwood in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Two other children remain in a critical condition in hospital in Dublin.
There was widespread condemnation of the incident at the October meeting of the Waterford Metropolitan District, which was held on Thursday in City Hall.
A number of councillors reflected on the events of the past few days and extended their deepest sympathies to those affected.
Social Democrats councillor Mary Roche expressed her shock and sadness at the attack on the family home in Birchwood.
Cllr Roche said: “Like other members here tonight, I find it completely incomprehensible to even take in what has happened on our patch.
“We have never seen anything like it and that’s the truth of it. My family comes from the John’s Park area and it’s a very resilient and settled community.
“They have and will continue to step up to support each other.”
She outlined the unfairness of innocent people losing their lives over drug intimidation.
“We attended, most of us, the prayer service in Sacred Heart [Church] last evening where hundreds of people came and afterwards we spoke in quiet huddled circles of the horrors that happened.
“A whole family was wiped out when they should have been looking forward to not just the next day but to their entire lives ahead of them.
“They had overcome a lot of challenges and that they could be just snuffed out on the altar of greed and violence and drugs is unacceptable.”
Cllr Roche called on everyone to call out drug intimidation wherever it rears its head.
“So those hushed tones have to be raised to a clamour where we demand, not just hope, that changes will now take place to ensure that our communities are safe.
“While nothing of this scale has happened in this city before, there have been parallel universes.
“We all know. We are in the public arena. People come to us with their issues so we know what has been going on, not just in Waterford, but in cities and towns and schools and every area all over Ireland.”
She called on all stakeholders to come together and work to end the violence caused by drugs.
“So we must demand now, as the elected representatives of the people of Waterford, that the gardaí, that the council, that the health board, that the Government, have to come to the table with a plan as to how we deal with this because in all honesty, the war on drugs has been lost.
“When this can happen in our communities, where children are burned to death in their own beds, with their and their father, practically an entire family and two young children are in beds in Crumlin Hospital, it is unacceptable.”
Cllr Roche extended her sympathies to the wider English family and described their state of shock.
“I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the large and very resilient families that are involved in this.
“I met some of them after the service yesterday and they are just in shock. They are dazed and how could they not be. It’s incomprehensible what has happened.”
She commended all members of the emergency services for their work and all those who helped in the response to the tragic incident.
“I want to, as well as thank the emergency services, the gardaí, the fire service, I also want to thank the medical staff at UHW who went above and beyond.
“I went out yesterday to the picket lines out at UHW and there were people crying on those picket lines recounting what had happened the day before, what they had seen and what they had witnessed.
“There was little talk of anything else so we have to speak up here on their behalf.”
Cllr Roche added that it is the job of her and her fellow councillors to stand up and demand action on the issue.
“That’s our job as elected representatives and we have to demand that steps are taken now to rein this in because whatever it is that we’re doing, it’s not working.
“There’s a whole underbelly out there that operates at will and we have heard the stories. We can’t deny them so we have to call them out.
“My deepest, deepest condolences to the families of all of the people, my deepest condolences to the community, my deepest condolences to the people who have experienced fires like this before.”
“On behalf of myself, my colleagues, my party, the people of Waterford, we have to say ‘enough’,” she concluded.
Gardaí are continuing their murder investigation into the incident.
A male, aged in his 20s, and a female, aged in her 30s, were arrested on Thursday afternoon and remain in custody.
An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to anyone who was in the vicinity of Birch Avenue, Birchwood, between 4:30am and 5:30am on Tuesday morning to contact investigating Gardaí.
The investigation team can be contacted at the incident room at Waterford Garda Station on 051 305300, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.