A TD has called the murder of a young teacher who was attacked while jogging as a “watershed moment”.
Ashling Murphy, 23, was violently assaulted along a canal in Cappincur, Tullamore, Co Offaly, at around 4pm yesterday.
The talented trad musician, who works at Durrow National School, was exercising along a well-known route when she was targeted.
Gardai believe the suspect — thought to be from outside the area — pounced in an unprovoked and random attack.
The man, aged in his 40s, was arrested after the incident.
FIONA’S WAY WALK
It’s understood the attack was witnessed by other walkers.
The assault happened on a stretch of the canal called Fiona’s Way walk, named in memory of a missing Offaly woman, Fiona Pender.
Pender was last seen when she was at her flat on Church Street in Tullamore, Co Offaly at around 6am on Friday, August 23, 1996.
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At the time she went missing Pender was seven months pregnant, there is a statue in Fiona’s memory along the Tullamore walkway where Ashling was attacked.
Minister Josepha Madigan called the tragic young woman’s death a “watershed moment”.
The Fine Gael TD gave her condolences to the Ashling’s family and said the “random nature” of the attack has frightened the public.
‘ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING’
She told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny: “This is a hugely shocking crime for the Murphy family and I want to extend my sympathies to her family and Durrow National School, to the children there and staff who I’m sure are deeply upset about her death, it’s absolutely devastating.
“This gratuitous violence for no particular reason we know of at present, it happened in broad daylight on a boardwalk that people use on a daily basis to jog and run.
“This is something that could have happened to anybody, I think every man and every woman in the country is absolutely stunned by this, it could have been any of us at any time.
“I think it’s the random nature of it that has just frightened us so much.”
Madigan, who previously spoke out as a survivor of sexual assault, said Ashling should have been safe.
PATROLLING AREAS
Madigan continued: “This has to be a watershed moment, I do think the gardai are doing the best they can, there are 14,500 guards, nearly €2billion investment going out there.
“But we need to look at maybe having them patrolling the areas more.
“I myself, on a personal level have been using the treadmill recently for other reasons and I was contemplating going back outside again, I might stay in the gym for a little while longer.
“We don’t want to see a society where we have to mandate self-defence classes to protect the female population of this country or mandate the carrying of an alarm and have we actually come to that.
“We need to look at the root causes, the sex education in schools, consent, respective communication about women and how we talk about them, violent porn, computer games, videos, other apps and devices, all of these things have to be looked at.”
Gardai are appealing for anyone with any information to contact Tullamore Garda Station on 057 932 7600, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
