The heartbroken family of murder victim Clodagh Hawe has said they were not consulted in the making of the new Irish short film “Run”.
Mary Coll and Jacqueline Connolly, the mother and sister of Clodagh, said they found it “distressing” to see media reports about the murder “without any warning”.
“Run”, directed by Caroline Grace-Cassidy and Roisin Kearney, is a new 10-minute film exploring the issue of emotional abuse prompted by an RTE documentary about the murder of Clodagh and her three sons.
The 39-year-old school teacher was killed along with her children, Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, 6, by her husband Alan Hawe on August 29, 2016, at their home near Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan. Alan, 40, then took his own life.
The directors were inspired by the Claire Byrne special Her Name is Clodagh, which aired last February.
They wanted to explore the issue of coercive control, particularly in light of new domestic violence legislation introduced this year, which makes coercive control a criminal offence.
The film, which stars former Fair City actress Sarah Flood, was screened at the Kerry International Film festival on Friday, and has met with acclaim from the international festival community.
It has also been chosen for the New York festival run by Irish Screen America from October 25.
But Clodagh’s mother and sister have said they were not involved in the making of the film in any way – and reminded the makers of the film that they are “real people with real feelings”.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Mary Coll and Jacqueline Connolly said: “We wish to make it clear that we were not involved in any way in the making of ‘Run’ and we were not consulted about the use of Clodagh’s killing in the publicity for the film.
“While we wish the artistes involved in the film every success we remind them that we are real people with real feelings.”
The family added: “We find it distressing to have to relive what happened to Clodagh by reading about it in the media in this way without any warning. We hope that greater sensitivity will be shown in the future.”
Ms Grace-Cassidy, who praised the bravery of Clodagh’s family, yesterday (SAT) responded to the statement from Ms Coll and Ms Connolly.
She said “Run” is not associated in any way with any individual case.
The director said: “We are deeply saddened at any upset the reference to Clodagh Hawe’s death has had on her family. The film “Run” is in no way about Clodagh’s case.
“The strength shown by Clodagh’s family was inspirational.
“Run is an exploration of the first signs of coercive control. A short film that was made for one purpose, to highlight these signs so others may recognise the behaviour.”
Ms Grace-Cassidy added: “There is no financial reward only costs to us to make this film, that is because it is a story we strongly wanted to tell.”
