The funeral of murder victim Karen Cummings is set to take place today.
The children’s nurse (40) was killed at her home in Banbridge, Co Down, on Saturday December 14.
It is understood the mother-of-two died from gunshot wounds. She had been found unconscious with a serious head injury in the Laurel Heights area of the town.
Two men appeared in court on Wednesday charged with her murder and were remanded in custody.
Crowds of people turned out for a vigil in her memory at Solitude Park in Banbridge on Thursday evening.
Banners bearing the names of the 25 women killed here since 2020 were held up during the event organised by Women’s Aid Armagh and Down.
A family notice said Ms Cummings’ funeral will take place on Monday afternoon.
Requiem Mass will be held in the Church of St Therese, Banbridge, with burial afterwards in St Patrick’s Cemetery.
Her family has requested donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Paediatric Fund at Daisy Hill Hospital, where Ms Cummings worked.
Candle-lit vigil held after murder of Karen Cummings
Last week, First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly said ministers had discussed the fact that seven women had been killed in Northern Ireland in 2024, and their strategy to end violence against women and girls.
“That’s not acceptable by anybody’s standards but it also highlights that we have a deep-rooted problem in society, that there’s a huge amount of work to do, and it’s not down to one body, one government department, one entity to fix this,” Ms O’Neill said.
She said preventative work is “vitally important”.
Ms Little Pengelly added that the Executive wants to send a “really clear message about the unacceptability of the levels of violence against women and girls and all violence overall”.
“We’re absolutely dismayed by the most recent murder, as First Minister said, that is the seventh this year. It is a challenge everywhere. The levels are particularly high in Northern Ireland. That is why we moved to publish this strategy along with the delivery plan,” she said.
“And of course, our thoughts are with the family and all of those families of those women who have been killed this year but we are determined going into next year to ramp this up in terms of our focus on this very, very tragic issue.”