ASHLING MURPHY’s killing must lead to change in the treatment of women across Irish society, vigils in her memory have heard.
Since her death last Wednesday evening, Ashling’s name has been mentioned in every single house across the country. Her death has been described by some as a potential landmark moment in Irish history with a movement growing to stamp out gender-based violence. Ashling is the 244th woman since 1996 to have had a violent death in Ireland.
Project manager at the Clare Immigrant Support Centre, Orla Ní Éili admitted she often feels unsafe in the town of Ennis. “I see the texture of my partner’s life as opposed to mine like going out in the evening, he is a musician going up town on his own which I wouldn’t dream of doing, it’s not that I’d sit there wondering what might happen but it would never be part of my consciousness that this was available for me to do. Forty years ago, I can remember walking on Westmoreland Street in Dublin about ‘reclaim the night’, now we’re trying to reclaim the bloody day for God sake. We’ve got to step up and learn different ways of being”.
An action plan to end gender-based violence must be implemented, Orla stressed. “It has to stop. We’re all tired of it, we’re tired of knowing it exists, it is imperative that it be addressed, it’s pervasive, sneaky and colours our world, it affects how men sleep as well as women, we’ve got to talk about it and find ways to stop it, it has to stop. It is not good enough to keep on the women side of things, we’ve had all these things we’ve done over the years like joining the EU and having great progress for women out of the home, all of these things which have bought us to a place where all the women I know are run ragged doing everything but behind it all is this glaring inequality in how we can engage in our daily life”.
A member of the Clare Women’s Network, Orla added, “For me at my age in my sixties, I’m telling my daughter the things she needs to be aware of, when she’s getting off the bus in Dublin that she needs to be on the phone when she’s walking home, I’m really hoping that for her children she doesn’t have to be telling them that”.
Speaking in O’Regan Park, Newmarket-on-Fergus native Vivien Grogan maintained the Offaly woman would be remembered forever, “Countess Markievicz, Veronica Guerin, Mary Robinson are among those whose actions led to change for Irish women, Ashling Murphy’s name will be among them in years to come as the impact and significance of her killing will hopefully pave the way for change”.
More of a Garda presence is needed to help deter these acts of violence, Ennis’ Amanda Major believed. “It is important that us ladies don’t stop walking or going out for exercise, be conscious of the environment, if something doesn’t seem right don’t second doubt yourself just do a u-turn and stay away”.
Among the organisers for a vigil in Ennistymon was Senator Roisin Garvey (GP). “It is really important to see a lot of men here, the women are the victims but we won’t have solutions until the men take it on, it is their problem actually, it is not a women’s problem, women are the victims, we need good men to step up and start organising good events and call out their own gender, 99 percent of these acts of violence are coming from men, we’ve been fighting as women’s groups for years to have supports for violence but it is not improving, it is actually getting worse, it is time for the men to step up”.
Inagh native, Garvey pointed to Men’s Sheds as an example of the type of organisations that need to be created to get men to treat women better, “if it wasn’t for Men’s Sheds a lot of people would have no connection, there is a missing piece for men, they learn shoulder to shoulder and need people to do things with. We need to invest more in those types of opportunities”. She added, “the inter-generational thing is very important because some young men are brilliant at expressing themselves compared to the older generation who were never allowed have feelings about anything, thousands of men were not allowed speak about their own mental health, feelings or emotions, men brought home the bacon and women reared the children, that stereotype is not fit for purpose”.
Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) told Tuesday’s meeting of the Shannon Municipal District, “As a woman, I’ve to have keys in my hands when I’m going for a walk, the only thing I should need protection from is the weather. It’s a societal issue”. Cllr John Crowe (FG) stated, “This is a scandal, any man that would raise his hand to a woman isn’t a man”.
