Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

At the start of the year we were told that the shocking and tragic murder of Ashling Murphy would be a watershed. Yesterday, however, a mother of two, Lisa Thompson, was found murdered in her Ballymun home. Last month the country was shocked by the violent murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee in Sligo. Tom Niland was also attacked in his Sligo home last month. Those are just a few examples of the violent actions and murders happening in our society. The total number arrested for rape and assault in this State has doubled in the past ten years, yet only a small number of those cases have been tried in court. Ireland is becoming a harsher and more violent place, and it seems we have built in, accepted or tolerated some level of violence and murder in our society. It seems that outrage lasts as long as the media cycle. What steps is the Government taking to ensure we embed respect for life in society?

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