Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown to get domestic violence refuge after lengthy wait

Murdered south Co Dublin woman Seema Banu, her daughter Asfira Riza (11) and son Faizan Syed (six) were remembered on Monday night as Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said it had identified a site for a refuge for victims of domestic violence.

The Ballinteer-based woman and her children were murdered by her husband Sameer Syed at their home in October 2020. However, Syed died by suicide in the Midlands Prison last year shortly before he was due to go on trial.

Speaking after a report on the provision of a domestic refuge was presented to councillors, Cllr Daniel Dunne said he wanted to acknowledge that Ms Banu had been seeking help in the weeks and months before her death.

“This happened in our area,” he said. “I would have walked past the house and I would think that as we stand in silence in memory of people here so often, we should name, and remember this woman and family now.”

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The refuge, the exact location of which is not to be advertised to protect service users, comes some 17 years after it was first mooted at council level, outgoing Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Cathaoirleach Mary Hanafin told the meeting.

Council officials noted that the news came eight years after Ireland signed the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the Istanbul Convention.

Officials said victims of domestic violence had to leave the council’s administrative area to seek refuge. They said the local authority itself and Tusla had separately reviewed available supports and concluded that a refuge was needed.

[ Domestic violence reports up 4% this year so far, gardaí say ]

The council said it had identified a site in conjunction with Sonas, which provides frontline services to women and children experiencing domestic violence.

A number of speakers paid tribute to Ms Hanafin, who had given a commitment on her election as Cathaoirleach that she would progress the refuge. She said she was glad the women who worked on the project “had the sense not to ask publicly where this is”.

However, Cllr Melisa Halpin (PBP) told the meeting that while the selection of a site and commitment to provide a refuge were welcome, it was nearly a decade in detailed planning and Ireland was still not meeting the standards of the Istanbul Convention. She said a further 12 such refuges were needed.

Cllr Deirdre Donnelly (Ind) welcomed the development but said “this Government has failed women”.