'I don't think it has sunk in yet' - Sister of tragic woman who died after hen party breaks silence
The sister of Ruth Maguire who tragically died three weeks ago during a hen party in Carlingford, Co Louth has spoken about the incident for the first time on TV.
Rachel Wilkinson appeared on Ireland AM this morning and spoke to Karen Koster about her late sister.
The alarm was raised when Ruth went missing on the hen night, sparking a major search before her body was found in the nearby lough.
Rachel, who is campaigning for safety barriers around water edges across the country, believes that had there been a hazard in place to let someone know not to walk any further, that her sister wouldn't have entered the water.
"I don't really get why Ruth would have walked across the water but had there been a barrier, I imagine she wouldn't have," she told Karen Koster.
She said that on the night of her sister's disappearance, people on the hen party night out began to realise she hadn't come back at around 12.30am.
"Her phone was off from about half 12 or before, we started ringing her phone about half 12 when we realised she hadn't come back.
"Someone said she mentioned she wanted to go home to Newcastle, which being Ruth and not really wanting to go on party nights you could see it could be something she could have done.
"The next morning when we realised she wasn't there, that's when the panic set in," she said.
The 30-year-old health assistant was due to marry her partner Jim in August and was buried in her wedding dress.
Rachel said that Jim has been so strong and that his "main focus is the kids".
"I think he's in shock, we're all in shock, so I don't think it has sunk in yet."
She said that the kids have been told that mammy is gone to heaven.
