Femicide figures rise in Ireland: Taoiseach admits trend 'not going in the right direction'

The number of women violently killed in Ireland in 2026 has already exceeded the total for all of 2025. Taoiseach Micheál Martin acknowledged the figures are worsening as calls grow for emergency funding.

Femicide figures climb as Dáil debates women's safety

The number of women murdered or violently killed in Ireland is "not going in the right direction", Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Wednesday, responding to figures raised during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil.

BreakingNews.ie reports that Labour leader Ivana Bacik told the Dáil that the number of women violently killed so far in 2026 has already surpassed the total recorded for the whole of 2025. Bacik raised the recent deaths of two women, Jamey Carney and Adina Raluca Constantin, both killed in the past week.

"It's become a cliché to describe violence against women as an epidemic and fatal violence against women as femicide, but that's the reality," Bacik said.

Martin acknowledged the severity of the figures in his response. "The numbers are not going in the right direction in terms of the continued violence and extreme violence that's occurring, so there's a societal response required," he said.

Bacik cited statistics showing that almost 90% of women murdered in Ireland were killed by a man known to them, stating plainly that "domestic violence kills". She also said the charity Women's Aid has warned the housing crisis is "trapping women and children in violent homes".

"They simply cannot afford to leave, and they have nowhere to go. Their abusers know this," she said.

Bacik called for a three million euro safe fund, administered by Women's Aid, to provide emergency financial support for women seeking to escape dangerous situations.

Martin said the government is "broadly speaking" supportive of measures to assist victims of domestic violence and indicated he would discuss the proposal with relevant ministers. He also said he favoured reserving local authority housing allocations to help women fleeing violent homes, arguing for "as broad a degree of flexibility as possible" to support women under threat of coercive control or violence.

Source: BreakingNews.ie