Kathleen Chada says parents are 're-traumatised' by not being allowed to talk about murdered kids

Kathleen Chada spoke out this weekend as the Children Act was amended and a ban on identifying child victims of murder lifted.

Chada, who has spoken about her boys Eoghan and Ruairi in the past, welcomed the move, saying she felt “gagged” when the ban was introduced last year.

“I was able to do a couple of interviews, but I had to do them anonymously, and doing that just felt so wrong,” she told Newstalk.

“I know I can talk about Eoghan and Ruairí to my heart's content among family and friends and whoever will listen to me, but to be gagged effectively and have to censor myself in a way was just wrong. It affected me, it frustrated me in many ways.”

Kathleen’s sons were murdered by their father Sanjeev Chada in 2013.

She said that families who choose not to speak about their stories should be respected but that for her, it was a way of remembering her boys.

“I do it for a reason, I do it to show the world their beautiful faces because that's all I can do now," she said.

She added that families who have been unable to speak out have been re-traumatised. “That shouldn’t be underestimated, it is so frustrating and so difficult for them because they were ready to talk, they were ready to tell their story, they were ready to show the world their child, their children.”