Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join Members of the House in expressing my deepest condolences to Ashling Murphy's family, her boyfriend Ryan, her friends, her work colleagues, her pupils and the members of her local and wider community in County Offaly. The entire country is behind the Murphy family as they face this unimaginable grief. I attended very poignant candle-lit vigils in Dungarvan and Portlaw last week. We, like many others around the country, stood in silence but our silence was deafening amid a collective understanding that this terrible incident has affected us all so deeply - a beautiful life lost. People are saddened and sickened by the loss of such a young and promising life, a girl who, by all accounts, gave so much to her friends, her family, her students and her community.

I am encouraged by the Taoiseach's words this afternoon and by the poignant statements made by the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, in recent days. The Minister has been working on a national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence that will be completed in early March. I am heartened that the Minister will, following the publication of that report, lead the policy area on these matters and be responsible for the provision of the services required. Oversight of the delivery of all aspects of the strategy and existing policies will be undertaken at the highest level of Cabinet and by the Department of An Taoiseach directly.

As a wider society we must not and cannot accept a situation in which fear, harassment and violence towards women is normalised to any degree. We cannot be bystanders. We must call out all misogyny, intimidation and violence against women by men when we witness it. Men can make a huge difference in this process through leading by example, showing our younger boys and men that such behaviours are no longer acceptable and need to be replaced by an enhanced level of respect for women. Women should not have to be fearful when going for a walk or a run. Women should not be in fear for their safety when walking home from work on dark winter evenings or from social outings at night with friends or family. If this is consistently the case and women are living in fear, it reflects very poorly on where we are right now as a society and a country and we must reflect deeply on this. It simply should not be the case that the women of this country do not feel safe in their own communities.

Given the outpouring of support and grief in the past week, it is clear we can no longer take such a presumption for granted any more. We have been shocked and frightened as a national community, terrified by the thought this could have been any of our own, any woman among us: a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a partner or a friend. We need to remind ourselves of these women in our lives, so close to our hearts, as we strive for the monumental shift in culture that is required within our society.

It is especially important to remember that more than 240 women have been violently killed in Ireland in the past 25 years. Everyone has a contribution to make to this movement, which needs to start from the ground up and requires a whole-of-society response. The men in our society need to be more active and understanding of the issues that face women each and every day. Having discussed this tragedy with many men in recent days, I believe there is an encouraging willingness, by and large, to be part of the solution and an instructive and collaborative way. This is a positive starting point, but we have an awful lot to do if we are to see the mass culture shift that is obviously required to better all facets of our society for women.

On a personal note, it is encouraging to see so many strong women of our Parliament speak so passionately about the issues in the House tonight and this afternoon, in tribute to Ashling Murphy. It is not easy to be a woman in politics at times, but I am certain that my female colleagues in both Houses will be more determined than ever to fight for the cultural and behavioural changes that are so desperately needed on behalf of Ashling and all women throughout the country.

I want to conclude with a text message that I received this morning at 8:56 a.m. when I was leaving my house to travel to Dublin. I know what it is not all men but it is all women. The message stated:

I'd say you're starting to sweat a little, no? Wait 'til we the people drag you out onto the street and you're crying out for help but there's nobody coming. Hahaha. You know what's coming too.

We have a long way to go.

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