Stormont’s First Minister has said police have questions to answer regarding their dealings with Mary Ward prior to her murder.
Michelle O’Neill expressed concerns about the case and said she was prepared to meet with Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to discuss the issue.
Ms Ward’s body was found by police at her home in Melrose Street in Belfast on October 1.
More: Foreign national arrested by gardai over murder of Mary Ward in Belfast
A 26-year-old man was arrested in Dublin on Wednesday on suspicion of her murder.
Ms Ward, 22, had previously reported being the victim of an assault on September 4 and a suspect was arrested and questioned in relation to that incident.
The PSNI has referred its response to that assault to the Police Ombudsman amid concerns as to whether all steps were taken to ensure the protection of Ms Ward after the incident.
Ms O’Neill was asked about the case as she spoke to reporters in Belfast on Wednesday.
She said: “I am very concerned, I think we all should be very concerned, the fact that this apparently was reported before she tragically lost her life.
“This is catastrophic that this is happening again in our society so collectively we know that we have a lot of work to do to end violence against women and girls.
“But in terms of the policing response, I think we need to get to the heart of that, what has gone wrong here, questions need to be answered and I am prepared to meet with the chief constable and to work with others in terms of establishing all the facts around this horrific case and another tragic loss of a female life.”
She added that her door is always open, in terms of whether she would meet with Ms Ward’s family.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly also voiced her concern around the death of Ms Ward.
“Clearly we have had a number of murders of women even over the last number of weeks and months, that’s why we launched just a few weeks ago our ending violence against women and girls framework and delivery plan, but we said at that time, this isn’t an issue that is going to be resolved overnight,” she said.
“My thoughts absolutely are with Mary’s family and her friends at this really difficult time.
“But of course this does emphasise why this needs a whole systems approach and a whole community approach to tackling the scourge of violence against women and girls, it is simply unacceptable.
“It happens much too frequently in the sense of any death of violence towards a woman is unacceptable and that’s why we are driving this strategy from the centre.”
