{"id":287890,"date":"2025-07-24T12:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/287890\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T12:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:26:10","slug":"fermanagh-shooting-victims-named-locally-as-gaa-club-says-they-will-be-desperately-missed-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/287890\/","title":{"rendered":"Fermanagh shooting victims named locally as GAA club says they \u2018will be desperately missed\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mother and children who died in a shooting in their home in Co Fermanagh on Wednesday<\/a> were Vanessa Whyte (45) and her son and daughter, James and Sara Rutledge. <\/p>\n

Sara was 13 years old and James was 14, the Police Service of Northern Ireland<\/a> (PSNI) has said. <\/p>\n

Confirming the identities of the victims on Thursday, Det Chief Insp Neil McGuinness said \u201ctoday, our thoughts remain with those loved ones whose worlds have been torn apart. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur investigation is continuing, and I am keen to reiterate our appeal for anyone with information to get in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am particularly keen to hear from anyone who had spoken to Vanessa, Sara or James over the last few weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you are someone that Vanessa, Sara or James may have confided in, please come and speak to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, could prove crucial to our investigation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"VanessaVanessa Whyte (centre) with Sara Rutledge and James Rutledge. <\/p>\n

Ms Whyte and one of her children were pronounced dead by the emergency services when they arrived at the property on Drummeer Road near Maguiresbridge on Wednesday morning, and the third victim died later in hospital. <\/p>\n

A fourth individual, an adult male from the same household, was also injured and is in a serious condition in hospital. <\/p>\n

A murder investigation is under way, and the PSNI has said one line of inquiry was a triple murder and attempted suicide. <\/p>\n

Ms Whyte was originally from Co Clare and was a vet at the Department of Agriculture. <\/p>\n

According to Clare FM she was from Barefield, attended secondary school in Col\u00e1iste Muire in Ennis and moved to Fermanagh<\/a> several years ago.<\/p>\n

An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has been assisting the PSNI in liaising with family members in Clare.<\/p>\n

The family were members of St Mary\u2019s Maguiresbridge GFC and St Patrick\u2019s Lisbellaw hurling club, which said \u201call three were active and beloved members of our club and will be desperately missed\u201d. <\/p>\n

Both clubs offered their \u201cheartfelt condolences to the family and friends of all those impacted by the tragic incident\u201d and said they were \u201cworking with the GAA at county, provincial and national level, to implement the association\u2019s critical incident protocols. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Fermanagh village in shock after woman and two children killed in houseOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will also work closely with all appropriate services to ensure that those who require support at this difficult time can access it,\u201d the clubs said. <\/p>\n

A colleague of Ms Whyte\u2019s told the Irish News she loved hurling and \u201clived for her children, did her best for them and everything she did was for them\u201d. <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, local PSNI commander Robert McGowan said the investigation was at an early stage and \u201cno arrests will be made at the minute\u201d. <\/p>\n

He said there was a \u201climited domestic history involving the people concerned and that is certainly one line of inquiry detectives will take forward\u201d, but added there had been \u201cno previous issues, domestic or otherwise\u201d, at that address. <\/p>\n

Supt McGowan said an emergency phone call was made to police from inside the house on Wednesday morning, and the incident was \u201cstill ongoing\u201d when they arrived at about 7.50am. <\/p>\n

The police chief said the incident \u201cjust happened prior to police attending so … it [was] a very harrowing scene for all involved\u201d. <\/p>\n

A number of political representatives expressed their shock at the tragedy and sent their condolences to bereaved relatives and friends. <\/p>\n

First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill<\/a>, said she was \u201cabsolutely heartbroken\u201d but had \u201cno doubt that the people of Maguiresbridge will come together and support one another through this incredibly difficult time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly<\/a>, said it was \u201ctruly devastating\u201d to hear of \u201cthis terrible and violent event\u201d and her thoughts were with loved ones, family and friends, \u201cbut most of all for the tragedy of the lives cut off so cruelly\u201d.<\/p>\n

Northern Secretary Hilary Benn<\/a> expressed his condolences at the \u201ctragic and deeply distressing\u201d incident and asked people \u201cnot to speculate and to allow the PSNI to continue their investigation\u201d. <\/p>\n

The North\u2019s Minister for Health, Mike Nesbitt<\/a>, and Minister for Justice Naomi Long<\/a> also appealed for privacy for the family and friends of the victims and urged against online speculation. <\/p>\n

They praised the work of first responders and the emergency services and said those in need of support should reach out to the available services. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mother and children who died in a shooting in their home in Co Fermanagh on Wednesday were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[69499,54273,101906,12,1144,75955,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-287890","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-clare","10":"tag-fermanagh","11":"tag-gaa","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114908206409874015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}