Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to Natasha O'Brien. She is an inspirational individual to millions of people across this country. She did not have to intervene to stop the homophobic abuse. Lots of people did not do so. Lots of people would just walk on, but she chose to do it. She was then subjected to a savage assault by someone who is supposed to be there to defend us, as a member of the Defence Forces. That injustice was then compounded by another massive injustice done by the so-called justice system, which refused to give a prison sentence to the man who did it. Then we had the patronising words of the judge saying she should be happy that he had pleaded guilty. It would have been completely understandable if at that point Natasha had said she had had enough, was not going to get any justice and would not speak out any more. Instead, she put herself on the front line repeatedly and spoke out about it in a way that is so impressive and can change the conversation on this issue.

We should not have a system where Natasha O'Brien, Bláthnaid Raleigh or anyone else feels the need to speak out. They should not have to put themselves in that position to fight for justice but, unfortunately, they do. We live in a deeply patriarchal, sexist society. Gender-based violence and murder are the extreme expression of that but not the only expression of it. The truth is that this patriarchy has deep roots in our society. Capitalism did not invent patriarchy. It took it up from feudalism but then moulded it to its own purposes by using the free labour of women predominantly in the home and the underpaid labour of women in the workplace. It is for this reason that we need a movement led by people like Natasha, Bláthnaid and many others to fight to uproot the sexist and patriarchal society we have.

The final point I will make is about the Defence Forces and the Garda. I do not think it is too much to ask that people who are convicted of assault or other violent crimes should not be in our Defence Forces or the Garda, in positions of power and authority. That is a very simple ask. It is bizarre that some people who set themselves up as defenders of the Defence Forces are saying they are offended by that call being made. It is not a slur on the vast majority of members of the Defence Forces or anyone in a position of authority who obviously have nothing whatsoever to do with this. It is targeted at those who are responsible.

This also extends to the Garda. I am aware of a currently serving garda who was convicted of an assault on 11 December 2019. He punched someone repeatedly in the face and continues to serve as a member of the Garda.

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