Ashling Murphy and Ireland’s femicide epidemic

Published

1 year ago

November 10, 2023

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She was just going for a run.

A phrase, and then a hashtag, that was forced into the Irish national lexicon in January 2022 with the murder of yet another bright young woman.

The savage killing in broad daylight of effervescent teacher Ashling Murphy, as she jogged along the Grand Canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly, led to a period of national soul-searching that echoed the fallout from Sarah Everard’s murder in the UK a year earlier. Ms Everard had just been walking home.

The parallels were clear. People took to the streets, social media was dominated for days by the story. Male violence against women “had to stop”, but no one seemed sure how to arrive at that outcome. Anger tinged with helplessness.

Hundreds of people attended a vigil in Camden, north London to pay tribute to Ms Murphy, who was killed just three months after Wayne Couzens was jailed for life for the rape, kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard.

Across Ireland, thousands turned out at rallies and vigils.

Traditional Irish music played softly at a tearful candlelit vigil in Tullamore. Ms Murphy had been a talented fiddle player.

Her father Ray played her favourite song When You Were Sweet Sixteen on the banjo.

“She was just the sweetest girl,” he said. “A little angel… a brilliant girl in every sense of the word.”

His little angel was stabbed 11 times in the neck in broad daylight in her hometown. Nobody will ever really know why.

Ms Murphy’s voicebox was severed. Her long blonde hair was soaked in her blood – twigs and brambles entangled within.

The Gardai, Ireland’s police service, vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in bringing the killer to justice.

Today’s conviction of 33-year-old Slovakian man Jozef Puska fulfils that vow and brings some closure to the homicide of Ms Murphy.

It will do little to make women across Ireland feel any safer.

“Male violence against women and girls needs to stop now,” declared Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill in the wake of Ms Murphy’s death.

That was a futile wish.

The women killed since Ms Murphy’s death

Some 18 women have been killed violently in Ireland since Ms Murphy’s death, according to the Femicide Watch run by the charity Women’s Aid.

They are not nameless statistics.

Sandra Boyd, Mary (Maura) Bergin, Ruth Lohse, Louise Mucknell, Lisa Thompson, Larisa Serban, Miriam Burns, Lisa Cash, Ioana Mihaela Pacala, Emma McCrory, Sharon Crean, Bruna Fonseca, Maud Coffey, Geila Ibram, Catherine Henry, Anna Mooney, Deepa Dinamani and Lorna Woodnutt Kearney.

All dead. All were killed violently.

It’s a grim irony that Lorna Kearney – the latest addition to the list – was also killed in Tullamore, like Ms Murphy.

That was in September. A teenage boy was charged with her murder last month.

Ireland’s ‘vanishing triangle’

It’s another widely-publicised irony that Ms Murphy was killed on a stretch of the Grand Canal which is named Fiona’s Way after another local woman, Fiona Pender, who went missing in 1996.

Six women have disappeared in five years from an area known as Ireland’s “vanishing triangle” – and none have ever been found.

It’s almost as if the femicides are piling up, overlapping each other in Venn diagrams of devastation and misery.

Every single woman can be prey

The angst at Ms Murphy’s death evolved into a national reckoning over the violence perpetrated against women, and became especially fiery on social media forums.

Amid the anger, a narrative pitted men against women.

“Not all men” was the retort from outraged social media users who have never had to clutch keys between their fingers or share a live location for a short walk home in the dark.

The simple truth is that of course not all men are evil predators. But every single woman can be prey.

And the almost intangible threat of violence influences daily decisions that women take, and can be reflected in the most mundane of ways.

Like many runners, Ms Murphy wore a Fitbit. It showed her exercise starting at 2.51pm that day along the canal.

By 3.21pm, the watch was showing “erratic, violent movements”.

At 3.31pm, the FitBit was no longer recording any heartbeat for Ms Murphy.

Femicide caught on Fitbit.

She was just going for a run. She didn’t even last an hour.

World

Joe Biden allows Kyiv to begin firing US rockets deep into Russia – as politician warns it ‘risks World War Three’

Published

6 hours ago

November 18, 2024

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Joe Biden allows Kyiv to begin firing US rockets deep into Russia - as politician warns it 'risks World War Three'

Joe Biden has authorised Ukraine to begin firing US-supplied rockets deep into Russia – as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to push for “further support” for Kyiv at the G20 summit.

Mr Biden’s policy shift means Kyiv will now be able to use Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) for long-range attacks, two American officials have told Sky News’ US partner network NBC News.

Ukraine plans to conduct its first such attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.

The US has eased restrictions on the use of ATACMS, which have a range of up to 190 miles, after Russia began deploying North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces in the conflict.

The development was condemned by Biden officials as a possible expansion of the war.

Follow latest: Ukraine war live updates

A Russian politician and the son of president-elect Donald Trump have both likened the move to risking a third world war.

Maria Butina told the Reuters news agency: “These guys, Biden’s administration, is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office.

“I have a great hope that Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War Three which is not in anybody’s interest.”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr wrote on X: “The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives… Imbeciles!”

The outgoing Biden administration’s move comes as there are concerns about the level of support the Trump White House may be willing to give Ukraine.

Mr Trump has previously vowed to limit US support for Ukraine and end its war with Russia.

In an evening address after Kyiv was given permission to fire deep into Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will.”

Back in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said if the US were to lift the ban on long-range missile use it would be seen as NATO’s “direct participation” in the war.

He added: “This, of course, will significantly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict.”

Meanwhile, the UK prime minister has said he has “no plans” to speak with the Russian president as world leaders gather for the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Mr Putin will not be attending the two-day summit which starts on Monday after saying in October that his presence would “disrupt the normal work of this forum”. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will be attending instead.

It will take place days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Mr Putin on what was the Russian leader’s first publicly announced conversation with the sitting head of a major Western power in nearly two years.

Asked if he had any plans to make a similar call, Sir Keir said: “It’s a matter for Chancellor Scholz who he speaks to. I have no plans to speak to Putin.”

Speaking to reporters while on his way to the summit, he added: “We are coming up to the 1,000th day of this conflict on Tuesday.

“That’s 1,000 days of Russian aggression, 1,000 days of huge impact and sacrifice in relation to the Ukrainian people and recently we’ve seen the addition of North Korean troops working with Russians which does have serious implications.

“I think on one hand it shows the desperation of Russia, but it’s got serious implications for European security […] and for Indo-Pacific security and that’s why I think we need to double down on shoring up our support for Ukraine and that’s top of my agenda for the G20.

“There’s got to be full support as long as it takes and that certainly is top of my agenda, shoring up that further support for Ukraine.”

The latest developments come after Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine on Sunday, with Mr Zelenskyy claiming Moscow had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones.

Two major strikes, which left a total of 18 people dead, hit a residential building in the northeastern city of Sumy as well as energy infrastructure across Ukraine, prompting emergency power cuts.

Hours later, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russia’s air defence units had destroyed a drone heading towards the city.

World

Biden allows Kyiv to begin firing US rockets deep into Russia – as Starmer calls on allies to ‘double down’ on support

Published

9 hours ago

November 18, 2024

admin

Joe Biden has authorised Ukraine to begin firing US-supplied rockets deep into Russia – as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to push for “further support” for Kyiv at the G20 summit.

Ukraine plans to conduct its first such attacks in the coming days, the sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.

The US has eased restrictions on the use of ATACMS, which have a range of up to 190 miles, after Russia began deploying North Korean ground troops to supplement its own forces in the conflict.

The development was condemned by Biden officials as a possible expansion of the war.

Follow latest: Ukraine war live updates

The son of president-elect Donald Trump has criticised the move to allow Ukraine to fire deep into Russia.

Donald Trump Jr wrote on the X social media platform: “The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives… Imbeciles!”