International Women's Day: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-04 ============================================================ Pauline Tully (SF), Cultural and Educational Panel Ar dtús, is mian liom Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona a ghuí ar gach bean in Éirinn agus ar fud an domhain. I wish all women here in the Seanad and in the Dáil, all the female staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas and women all over the country a very happy International Women's Day. Some of the previous speakers have highlighted many positives that have happened and many progressive developments that have occurred. Today, I highlight the continuing high incidence of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Unfortunately, while there might be increased awareness of the issue, not enough is happening to change the behaviour of people, particularly men. I know men can be subjected to domestic violence, but the majority of victims are women. The statistics on this are quite stark. We know that 35% of women in Ireland, which is more than one in three, have experienced psychological, physical and-or sexual abuse from an intimate partner. We know that between 1996 and November last, 277 women died in Ireland violently. Since 2020, 28 women have died in the North. In both cases, the majority of those were killed by a former or current partner, many of them in their own home and certainly by people they knew. I think only one of the 20 women killed in the North was killed by a woman; all the rest were killed by men or men are being charged in connection with their deaths. A sobering thought is that every day 140 women and girls are killed worldwide by an intimate partner or other members of the family. I come from one of the counties, Cavan, that still does not have a refuge space. There is no refuge for victims of domestic violence in Cavan and Monaghan. I am glad to say progress is being made. I was a bit concerned by an announcement made by the justice Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, a number of months back when he talked about a refuge for Cavan-Monaghan based in Monaghan. We really want to see a refuge in each county. While a site has been identified in Monaghan and progress is being made on a purpose-built unit, which will still take a couple of years, both Cavan and Monaghan county councils are working very hard to identify a place in each county. I would like an assurance that funding will be available through Cuan to provide a refuge in Cavan as well. Living in a Border county, I am very aware that an all-island approach should be taken to this issue. Very frequently, women in Cavan, who have been abused by a partner have reported this. While the perpetrator is wanted by the Garda, they will make a very quick exit out of the State across the Border. Suddenly, they cannot be touched by the Garda, yet they are near enough to come back and cause fear for that woman and cause harm if they so choose. I want to see greater co-operation and collaboration between the police forces, the PSNI and An Garda Síochána, on these issues but also on the provision of services and supports for women. There is a refuge in Fermanagh. If there are places in that refuge and there are women in Cavan and Monaghan who need it, why should they not get help in Fermanagh and vice versa ? We need to work together. I know there is good collaboration between Women's Aid here and the Women's Aid Federation in NI. We need to see them working across the board in providing the supports that women need. I could go on about the courts. The courts system needs to be reviewed in relation to how it deals with women and people who are subjected to domestic violence. Recently, along with my colleague Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh, I had the honour of co-hosting a very strong and resilient lady, Margaret Loftus, who went through not just the abuse from her ex-husband but the abuse of a system as she tried to get justice. She is a former member of An Garda Síochána and so is her former husband. She encountered misogyny and corruption within the force to try to block her getting justice. Thankfully, the current Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, stood up and made sure she got justice which is really welcome. However, we need to cut out misogyny in the Garda and in the Defence Forces where it happens. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-04/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-04