Rose Callaly: Violence against women as serious an issue nearly two decades ago

The mother of Rachel Callaly, murdered by her husband Joe O'Reilly in 2004, has said she feels violence against women remains as serious an issue nearly two decades on.

"Unfortunately it seems to me that there are a lot more of this and really serious cases happening since Rachel died," Rose Callaly said. "I just feel it's very, very sad to think 17 years on that no lessons have been learned."

Monday marked the anniversary of her daughter’s death – one of five children in the north Dublin family whose lives were turned upside down by the events.

The murder, which took place at Rachel's home in the Naul, Co Dublin, as well as the subsequent investigation and trial, became one of the most high profile in the country's history, culminating in the conviction of O'Reilly at the Central Criminal Court almost three years later in July 2007.

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“Initially I thought I wouldn’t last. The first few years were very, very hard. But you do reach a level where you live with it. But it’s still eroding away at your … it ruins your life really,” Ms Callaly said on Tuesday’s Primetime.

“I don’t look forward anymore. That’s something you just lose. We always felt we had a great life which we had and we were very lucky and we had five beautiful children.”

Ms Callaly was reflecting on her daughter's death and its impact, but in the broader context of gender-based violence and murder in Ireland. Sarah Benson, the chief executive of Women's Aid, noted that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence remains a primary cause of women's deaths.

Ms Callaly said that while she was aware early on of O’Reilly’s propensity to lie, she did then believe he was a good husband.

“He was a very good actor, I will say, and you saw what he wanted you to see,” she said, but looking back offered a grim assessment of an ongoing threat to women today.

“We don’t know these people and there’s enough of them really to make the world a darker place. And it seems to be getting darker.”