THE RAIN was heavy and the wind biting but the sorrow bit deeper. On the banks of the Shannon, at Steamboat Quay, a small crowd of around 50 gathered in vigil for a woman who was brutally murdered one week ago, just a stone’s throw away on Limerick’s Dock Road.
Two pictures of beautiful young mother of four Geila Ibram (27) were placed on the footpath, flowers and candles laid out before them.
Most of those gathered in the rain came for similar reasons. To share their shock at the events that unfolded just one week previous.
Yvie Murphy of the Limerick Women’s Collective said she wanted to pay respect to a young woman who died tragically in our city.
“There are too many women killed and subjected to violence. She was a very vulnerable woman, far from home and she deserved to be safe here,” Ms Murphy told the Limerick Post.
Roisin Steinbridge lives just across the bridge from the site at Steamboat Quay where the vigil took place.
“It’s a disgrace what happened. She was a young woman, a mother. It doesn’t matter what you do, what you wear, what line of work you’re in – everyone should feel safe in their own home and she clearly wasn’t.
“We need to stand for women and try to make a difference, to make women feel safer. It’s all too common and it shouldn’t be happening.”
Philip Collins from Corbally said he is “so sad for her and for her family. She came to Ireland from Romania and to think that she met her end here is just tragic.”
Mr Collins added that he is disgusted by some of the racist rhetoric that has been flying about on social media following Ms Ibram’s killing.
“What does it matter where someone is from? Everyone deserves to go about their lives in peace. She was a human being and she was murdered and the person who murdered her is a violent criminal. That’s all that matters.”
