A vigil will be held in Cardiff today for Ashling Murphy, the primary school teacher who was strangled to death on a canal path while jogging last Wednesday afternoon near the town of Tullamore in Ireland. A man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The Cardiff vigil will be held today, Wednesday, in Grange Gardens, Grangetown at 6.00pm and will be followed by a group run.
Vigils and rallies have been held across Ireland and the world in memory of Ashling. Rosa the Socialist Feminist Movement have helped coordinate events in Ireland and many more are due to take place on Wednesday to mark a week since the killing. The group wrote on Facebook: “we will again stand together in solidarity with her loved ones and community, and all victims and survivors of misogynist violence and abuse, and call on the Dáil [Irish Parliament] for emergency action against violence against women and gender non-conforming people.”
The organisers for the Cardiff rally told voice.wales:
“First and foremost, this vigil is being held to honour the memory of Ashling Murphy – a young woman who had her precious life snatched away from her under horrific circumstances.
“We want to show her family that her life mattered, and that the community of Cardiff stands with them in their grief. We also wanted to show that the people of Cardiff will not stand by and let these heinous acts of violence against women continue. We stand together in the fight for a safer world for women and girls, and we also stand with the many communities that are affected by this crime.”
A small shrine has also been created in Cardiff’s Bute Park in memory of Ashling, where someone has framed a picture of her and many have laid flowers around the base of a tree near the Welsh College of Music and Drama entrance.
The Facebook event page for the Cardiff vigil can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1538234833244117
*Cover image. People hold a candlelit vigil for Sabina Nessa in Cardiff’s Grange Gardens in September 2021, after the primary school teacher was murdered by a man in London. Image by Tom Davies
