Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The murder of Ashling Murphy has traumatised people across the length and breadth of the country. Our hearts go out to her and her family, and all the other women who have died over the years at the hands of men. We have discussed this for the past week or so and it has come to us all that it is about behaviour and attitude. We cannot legislate for attitude but we can legislate for some things. We can legislate for proper education in order that people know right from wrong from a very early age. We can legislate to tighten sentencing guidelines in respect of violence against women. We can legislate for domestic homicide and femicide reviews, similar to what we have in the North. We cannot leave these tragedies without learning from them and making sure we provide for them in the future.

We can also ensure that there is support in place for victims to prosecute in order that they have the courage to come forward and not be afraid. The past experiences of others have been so negative that many do not come forward. We must ensure aftercare, support and everything else is in place so they are able to do all that. There are holes in the system, such as in the context of 999 calls and the domestic refuges that are missing in so many places throughout the country. There are so many things we can do in this House to change things and make them better. We must do them. Many other things have also been mentioned, and everyone is aware that we need to change the attitudes and the behaviours of so many people around the country.

In the past week I have been thinking about something that happened to me about 30 years ago. I and another young man were going through a small town in rural Ireland and went into a chip shop. After we ordered the few chips, a group of young men came in the door. There were two young women behind the counter and these men made very inappropriate remarks towards the young women. There was an elderly man sitting there. This went on for a while and we were thinking it was a bit funny but the man got up and laid into them. He said, "Who the effing hell do you think you are abusing these two girls? This isn't right. Get out of here." He roared abuse at them and they went out the door. About ten minutes later one of them came in very sheepishly, collected his few things and left again. There are those who say that not every man is bad. Well, every man has the opportunity to be like that old man. I was not like that man that night, to my shame, and many of us in such circumstances would not be, but we have the opportunity to be. We have the opportunity to stand up and be counted when things like that happen. That is the big lesson society needs to take from this.

Turning to the motion, we have the opportunity to bring in legislation and regulations to make things better and to supply the resources in order to ensure that the funds are there to provide for all these situations. Women's refuges and people who are trying to help victims of domestic violence should not be spending their time trying to run fundraisers. This is a service for the community, the people and every citizen of this State, and the State has to provide it.

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