A local councillor in New Ross has described the death of Malikika Al Katib as a “nightmare” for the whole town.
In the early hours of Monday morning, the eight-year-old girl died in hospital after she was fatally assaulted.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Wexford Cllr John Dwyer said he will never forget hearing of her death.
“To say that we’re left numb when the news started to emerge in the early hours of yesterday morning, would be an understatement,” he said.
“It’s a relatively small town, New Ross, and most people know one another in the town and word started to filter through.
“I got a call very early yesterday morning from my daughter - who is a young mother herself - asking me if I had heard and was I aware of the circumstances.
“From that point forward, my phone never stopped ringing until I got a very distressing phone call from a young woman who is closely related to the child.
“I will never, as long as I live, forget that phone call - it was dreadful.”
Cllr Dwyer described New Ross as a safe place and that locals are shocked by Malikika’s death.
“Many, many people in New Ross will have known this child and will have known the mother, certainly, who is from the locality - she is a Kilkenny woman,” he said.
“There is a real sense of numbness and shock.
“New Ross is a relatively small; things like this don’t happen in towns like ours but unfortunately, yesterday the nightmare began for us and the whole family.”
Coping with griefMalikika’s school has said staff and students will be offered mental health supports to help them process the sudden death of their friend.
“That was wonderful to hear that those who are running the school have been so resourceful in terms of dealing with the aftermath of that,” Cllr Dwyer said.
“My grandson at one stage sat beside the young girl and I can imagine how those young children must be feeling and how their parents are attempting to deal with having to explain the horrific circumstances of how that poor child died.”
Two adults in their 30s have also been treated for injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening.
Main image shows a Garda van in New Ross. Image: Newstalk.
