Dublin

[Ramblingnamechanger]

There is a thread on AIBU but I am surprised we are not talking about it here. There has been clearly a lot of individual and mob violence taking place. Women should be out on the streets in solidarity against male violence. Has anything been planned for 25 th November already? No racist/ nationalist signs should be there. Just about the male terrorism that is happening everywhere. Let’s name it.

I live in Dublin. Thís happened only the day/night before last.There were terrible attacks first on innocent children then on our city, emergency services, travel infrastructure, shops businesses etc.
We are still reeling in shock and trying to understand how it has come to this in what is generally a peaceful place. The idea of women marching today while the city is still being cleaned up is ridiculous.

Conor McDonough sees the big picture. Estelle Birdy's post is brilliant too. But I'm not tech enough to link it.

Wtaf are you on about? A man attacked a group of small children with a knife, stabbing 3 of them. Bystanders tried to protect the kids and stop him. One woman got badly stabbed. She and one of the children were critically injured. The man who committed the attacks is believed to be an islamic jihadist. As there have been a number of high profile murders in the country in the last two years by immigrant men, and a massive housing crisis, hundreds of people went out to protest against irresponsible immigration policies. Opportunistic rioters and looters joined in and serious criminal damages was done. Wtaf do you think random women are supposed to do about it?

I wasn't putting you down for knowing, I was asking a question. And questioning why I don't know about the 25th November? Because I don't... that doesn't make me a bad person! Maybe you could have just included it in your OP?

What happened in Dublin was multi-factored and thoroughly depressing. Beyond a private vigil for the victims of the horrendous stabbing, I would be advising that people keep off the streets for now - too many people are out to capitalise on and exploit genuine grievances.

I have felt really frustrated that the narrative around the man stabbing the woman and children has been seized as being about his nationality/ethnicity as opposed to calling it out for what it is which is male violence against women and children. As if Irish or white men have never attacked or murdered women and children before.

"believed" to be an Islamic jihadist by whom? The Gardai are still saying they don't believe it was a terrorist incident. What are you basing this on? Evidence please.

This, absolutely.

I'm a bit puzzled by some of the posts on here - all we know about the awful events 'in town' [as us Dubs call the 'city centre'] is that an adult human male attacked a woman and children, who are critically injured in hospital. We don't know anything else about him, his identity, his mental state, his motivation.
We also know that because it spread on social media that a 'non-national' had attacked an Irish woman and children (something that of course Irish men never ever do) a riot ensued. All eyewitness reports say it was overwhelmingly young adult human males who took part in the looting, arson and general violence.
So if that's not a cause to look at the social scourge of male violence, especially against women and children, whether on the 25th of November or any other day, I'm not sure what is..
And what's wrong with suggesting some gesture of solidarity? Obviously not a big gathering in our bruised and battered city centre, but there is a tradition of quiet gestures like flowers and candles to mark egregious cases of violence against women and children - we did it for Savita, Aisling for example, though hopefully in this case the woman and children will survive the attack. Why the dismissive reactions?

Believed by the people who went out to protest. But bearing in mind that the Gardai also said that the man who stabbed a Japanese tourist to death in the midlands while shouting Allah Akbar was not believed to be a terrorist incident, people aren't particularly motivated to believe the Gardai. It's the problem when authorities deliberately obfuscate situations. People disbelieve them even when they are being truthful.

The Egyptian man who stabbed Yosuke Sasaki (who lived and worked in Dundalk, he wasn't a tourist) to death in 2018 was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, because he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. So the Gardaí were not obfuscating, this was not in fact a terrorist attack.

I think there is a lot of cross purpose talking on this thread, as not only are some of us not from or close to Dublin, but we also dont all have the same history in relation to women's activism.

So setting aside the actual incident, the 25th November as been the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against women (which needless to say is more acceptable to say than the problem is male violence). And was important many many years before it was officially recognised by the UN, so to say because its a UN think its not worth bothering with is actually dismissing the many decades of work by women activists.

And it seems strange that so many dont know about it. Which isn't to say it is the best way to campaign, raise awareness or whatever, as that is open to debate, but its like women's history never gets remembered.

The suggestion of women taking an in principle stand against male violence is not seen as contensious in many other countries, so today women in France and Italy have been out on the streets protesting against male violence.

Lighting a few candles or leaving messages of support for the woman and children who were violently attacked at the spot where it happened, is just that. To acknowledge that a male violently attacked women and children.

Not to attempt some wholesale political analysis of political opportunists, the influence of social meda, and social unrest.

Are there no autonomous women's groups or feminist networks in Ireland?

@MarieDeGournay I don't think people are being dismissive in principle, but they're literally still sweeping broken glass off the streets today, and the Gardaí are under serious pressure. Calling for any sort of mass gathering at the moment, as in the OP, just seems really unhelpful.

What evidence do you that he has a islamic jihadist? The Gardai haven’t said this. And please do show us pictures of the peaceful Protest against irresponsible immigration policies? All I saw was rioters and looters , setting buses and the luas on fire and generally causing havoc and shouting things like get them out!

Yes of course there are women’s groups and feminist networks in Ireland. We could ask why young men are drawn to this far right ideology but I don’t think violence against women was at the root of the riots.
And we don’t know the story with the stabbing.
there was a solidarity March for Palestine cancelled today - it’s not the day to March on the streets.

Peace seems to be a contentious issue these days. I still believe that young males being violent on the streets, and males killing women and children are all important issues to look at , and we need to stand up and speak out. Big demos in Spain too today about all forms of violence to women.

With respect (and I do mean that as I know social media posts can are a blunt instrument) I don't think it's appropriate telling Dublin women what we should be doing at this time when you don't appear to know the detail of what actually happened at the Gaelscoil, or what transpired in the hours after. Quite a few Dubliners have explained that we don't see violence against women as the main issue here, and that gathering at this time is entirely inappropriate. We are not strangers to public expressions of grief or anger, we gathered in our hundreds when Savita Halapanavaar died, and in our thousands when Aisling Murphy was murdered. We really don't need that to be explained to us.

This week we watched our beloved city burn at the hands of thugs, on a day that unthinkable violence befell our most innocent citizens. That street is sacred in Irish history and it is abhorrent that thugs would use nationalism as an excuse to tear it apart beneath the statue of Daniel O'Connell. We are doing what we can - hundreds of thousands has been raised for the victims and the helpers - but right now women marching is absolutely not appropriate and would absolutely be seen as misappropriation of a tragedy.

OP why don’t you come over here with a few flowers and candles and show us how it’s done. We’d be delighted to see you.

Just remembered that Dublin was where the Let Women Speak event was cancelled due to threats to KJ of violence. What were the reasons for that….? No jobs ,housing , immigration?

@Ramblingnamechanger @ProudHag has given an excellent post capturing my feelings and emotions.

It is time to help the victims support the children and those who witnessed this attack. That is our priority.

Honestly I don't think too many of us have the head space due to the shock to analyse further at this time. There will be plenty of time later.

In my mind it would be disrespectful to the people in hospital and the women who attend the maternity hospital on site to dilute Garda resources for a march or demonstration. This may be a cultural difference but this is what I am hearing locally in Dublin.

The first Let Women Speak event was cancelled because Joe Biden announced a visit to Dublin at the same time and the Gardaí couldn't provide sufficient support. When it eventually did go ahead it was very well attended and went off without issue.

It's so lovely when neocolonialists instruct us Irish in correct behavior. Without their input we have no idea. Silly old us, imagining we know how our own country works.

when violence kicks off women are usually disproportionately victims and always disproportionately non-perpetrators, but I don't really see this as much of a feminist issue. Ireland, with its decades now of ultra low taxes and EU membership, is a little ship on the waves of the global economy in a way that few other countries are... and O'Connell Street has been a disgrace for at least, what, 25 plus years now, more?

OK clearly you have some kind of agenda but I’ll spell it out to you anyway.
This is a site mostly for mothers of children. Small children were stabbed for a still unknown reason in our city on Thursday. The city erupted in riots that most of have never seen in our lives, certainly not in Dublin. The very same emergency services that rushed to the aid of the victims and who arrested the perpetrator were viciously attacked by a violent mob that night.
We are beyond shocked, upset and scared about what this means for our country.
If you actually gave a damn about the women of this country you’d be sympathetic and understanding. You’re clearly some kind of wind up artist but not a very good one.

my agenda is only to point out that it is men that are the perpetrators of violence, and it is news that some don’t want to see.