Gun shock after family of four die in blaze

Apr 27 2008

TWO parents found dead with their children after a fire had suffered gunshot wounds, it was reported last night.

A shotgun was recovered from the house where Dermot Flood, 40, wife Lorraine, 38, and their kids Mark, seven, and five-year-old Julie were discovered.

Police said the fire was being treated as "suspicious" but refused to confirm if murder was suspected.

The blaze took hold just before dawn, gutting the house in Clonroche, Co.

Wexford, Ireland. The family members were found dead inside the burned-out shell of the house.

Dermot ran his father's business, Sean Flood Water Filtration. Lorraine, a cousin of Reading and Ireland footballer Kevin Doyle, was an aerobics instructor.

Denis Kennedy, a local Fine Gael councillor who knew the family, said: "The local community is devastated. This area has had more than its share of tragedies.

"It's very, very hard to comprehend.

They were very well known families who lived in the area all their lifetimes."

The tragedy happened just days after the first anniversary of an apparent murder-suicide in nearby Monageer.

Blind father-of-two Adrian Dunne, his wife Ciara, and their two children were found at their home on April 23 last year.