The inquest into the deaths of a 28-year-old Wexford woman and her two young daughters has returned a verdict of drowning.
Sharon Grace, four-year-old Mikahla, and Abby, aged three, died in a tragic drowning off Kaats Strand in Wexford in April 2005.
The inquest heard that on 16 April last year the young mother and her daughters took a taxi from their home in Barntown to Wexford town.
They then went into Ely Hospital where Ms Grace asked the receptionist if there was a social worker on duty. She had been estranged from her husband Barry for a number of months.
The receptionist told Ms Grace that the social worker was only available Monday to Friday.
She then asked for an emergency number and the receptionist offered to ring Wexford General Hospital. Ms Grace declined the offer and left.
The following morning the three bodies were found close to shore on nearby Kaats Strand.
At today's inquest, the coroner Jimmy Murphy, asked the hospital receptionist if an emergency number was now available, almost 18 months after the tragedy, and the receptionist said no.
