Cruel death has left people frightened in their homes
THE twinkling Christmas lights of Limerick’s city centre stand in stark contrast across the River Shannon to the darkness that has enveloped the suburb of Thomondgate.
In this tight-knit, workingclass community, many locals have either taken down their Christmas lights or simply aren’t turning them on as a mark of respect to the kind-hearted pensioner who was brutally murdered in her own home.
The cruel death of Rosie Hanrahan (78) during a suspected botched burglary hasn’t just shocked a suburb where the population is largely middle-aged or elderly. It has left many genuinely frightened in their own homes.
Few are feeling festive as they come to grips with the knowledge that a killer, willing to take the life of an elderly widow, still remains at large in Limerick. For many, the brutal killing was a reminder of the dark days that Limerick thought it had left behind when its local gangland feud earned the city unwanted headlines worldwide.
In Thomondgate, the memories of other tragedies are also all too fresh and painful.
Limerick teen Chloe Kinsella was found by a stretch of the Shannon in October 2013, almost a week after she went missing, which was less than 100 metres from New Road, where Mrs Hanrahan’s home of 40 years is located. That tragedy left locals reeling.
The murder of Mrs Hanrahan, just over a week before Christmas, has had a similarly seismic impact on the communities of Thomondgate and Kileely.
Local TD Willie O’Dea, a friend of Mrs Hanrahan, said people were struggling to come to terms with the horror of the widow’s murder last Friday. He has been inundated with requests from elderly locals for advice and assistance about house alarms and emergency personal alert systems. Private security firms have already called to a number of properties in the area in the wake of Friday’s horror.
Incredibly, Ireland’s support grant scheme for such personal alarms was under-claimed last year.
“It is terrible, just terrible – you can see how people are shocked and frightened,” said Mr O’Dea.
Age Action Ireland’s Justin Moran said the fear was perfectly understandable.
“A strong community is the best support people who feel they are vulnerable can have. The best way to deter these vicious thugs that carried out the attack on Rose Hanrahan is to have an active, strong community that is looking out for each other and is working closely with gardaí.”
Mr Moran said the murder underlined the fact that while all the headlines over recent months might focus on rural crime, elderly people living in urban areas were also being targeted.