Tributes left for Ashling Murphy at Leinster House in Dublin. RollingNews.ie
An online vigil for murdered school teacher Ashling Murphy on January 16 was hijacked by a man who showed himself masturbating.
The all-woman online talk was organized for people who could not attend a vigil in person over the weekend, allowing them to share their concerns and disgust at the murder of Ashling Murphy, which took place in broad daylight on January 12 as she was going for a run in Tullamore, County Offaly.
Speakers at the online event include Irish Traveler activist Rosemarie Maughan, journalist Christine O'Mahony, singer Emma Langford, poet Kathy D'Arcy, and artist Erin Darcy.
O'Mahony shared her disgust about the shocking incident on Twitter:
We were holding an online vigil for Ashling and somebody decided to use my name hop on the zoom call and masterbate in front of us
I am absolutely done, how could anyone be so disgusting!!!
— Christine (she/her) 🏴🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@christineomg5) January 16, 2022
O'Mahony told the Irish Examiner that she noticed her name was appearing twice during the online event but could not work out why.
It transpired that a man had hijacked the event using O'Mahony's email address, which she shared publicly on Facebook while promoting the event.
She said that the man turned his screen on and began masturbating while Rosemarie Maughan was speaking.
Maughan said she was disgusted and angry with the incident;
I have never been so disgusted,angry in all my life as woman. A man actually thought it was ok to masturbate while women united in grief,anger,love for a murdered woman during an online vigil. RIP. 💔
— Rosemarie Maughan (@Minceirbeoir) January 16, 2022
Men own your shit!This is not on us.#shewasgoingforarun
"I’m really shocked that someone would do something this disgusting at a vigil for a murdered woman," O'Mahony told the Irish Examiner.
"I don’t know yet who it could be, I don’t think I know anyone who could be so disgusting as to hijack a vigil for a murder victim."
O'Mahony said later on Monday that she lodged an official complaint with gardai that has since been passed onto the Divisional Protective Services Unit.
Emma Langford condemned the incident on Twitter, calling on men to call out acts of misogyny and harassment.
"Start calling your scumbag friends out, because this guy I imagine has friends, this guy has somehow been enabled and emboldened by others to do this. I'm sickened," Langford wrote on Twitter.
We can't even have a vigil without some absolute shit hijacking with his frankly disappointing looking prick on show
Beyond angry
— Emma Langford (@ELangfordMusic) January 16, 2022
Evie Nevin, an advocate from West Cork who organized the event, tweeted that the incident made her "sick to her stomach".
"The fact that this vigil is now being talked about because of this "man" and not because the speakers, poetry, and music were BEAUTIFUL makes me absolutely sick to my stomach," Nevin said.
The fact that this vigil is now being talked about because of this "man" and not because the speakers, poetry and music were BEAUTIFUL makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.
— Evie Uí Cnáimhín (sí/í) 🇵🇸 (@Evie_Nevin) January 16, 2022