Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I send my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of, and everybody who loved, Ashling Murphy, and indeed to all the women who we have lost and whose lives have been stolen in this country and across the world. We know lives have been taken, lives have been destroyed and lives have been threatened continuously in this country. We speak about it in this Chamber quite often. I and other colleagues have been raising gender abuse, abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault continuously for months and years in this Chamber. I was told on the radio the other morning that women should start speaking up about it. I told the presenter that men and people should start listening and that changes have to start happening.

Senator Malcolm Byrne spoke about people changing their routes when running. A woman was assaulted on a route at home where I used to run. I have not run there since then because I am afraid. I look behind me constantly when I run. I look behind more now when I am running or out and about. It is not right. We are exhausted with it. It is just relentless. Every day of the week one can look at the headlines about girls being assaulted, and the sentencing in some cases is absolutely incomparable to the damage done to women.

This is a day of celebration for mná na hÉireann. I am very glad it is a Louth woman, St. Brigid, who was born in Faughart. Remember that this woman gouged out her eyes to make herself ugly because she did not want unwanted attention from men. On the day that we remember St. Brigid and revel in her strength and mightiness and how proud we are to have her as our patron saint, remember what she did to get rid of unwanted attention from men. I applaud her, although I do not agree with it. However, that is what she did in the fifth century. Go on, Brigid.