Following this morning’s National Executive meeting of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), and on behalf of that whole Union and the profession that it represents, I am writing to express our horror and revulsion at the gratuitous, callous, daylight murder yesterday of our fellow-educator Ashling Murphy.  Any murder is one too many, and they have been disturbingly frequent in the recent past;  but that of Ashling has shocked all of Ireland, and rightly so.  

As everyone is aware, though it is only occasionally acknowledged, the maintenance of our communities and the development of our society depend from day to day on the dedicated, selfless service provided in all walks of life by often very young, predominantly female members of the workforce like Ashling.  It is all the more abhorrent that they should be precisely the cohort that is also the most threatened by horrible, gender-based violence.  In drawing attention to this, I wish to express IFUT’s deepest sympathy to Ashling’s family, friends, colleagues and young pupils, but also to note the profound respect that is due to herself.  Young professionals like Ashling not only do their jobs with skill, enthusiasm and sparkle;  they light up the world around them with their positive contributions to all the other areas of life that they touch, to the incalculable benefit of their fellow human beings.

Anthony Harvey
President
Irish Federation of University Teachers

13 January 2022