Fund in honour of Ashling Murphy launched marking one year anniversary of her death

It comes after her grieving family announced last year that they were set to establish a trust in her honour.

The 23-year-old primary school teacher died following an assault in Tullamore.

Taking to Instagram, her family said in a statement: “Ashling touched the hearts and minds of many people, particularly through music, sport, and education, during her very short life and even after her sudden and tragic departure from us on the 12th of January, 2022.”

“The Ashling Murphy Memorial Fund has been officially established through the charities regulator to honour the strong legacy left by Ashling,” they announced.

“On behalf of the Murphy family, we would like to thank the many individuals, groups and organisations that have already given so freely of their time and generosity to commemorate Ashling in various ways throughout this difficult time.”

“As Ashling's first anniversary approaches, the committee's mission is to publicly launch the memorial fund, the official 'Donate' fundraising platform and provide links for methods of contact to the committee for further enquiries and applications,” the statement continued.

“The committee's main focus is to promote and remember Ashling for who she really was. This will be done by supporting individuals, groups and other organisations that Ashling had a connection with and who continue the strong legacy that she left behind.”

The statement further said that as her family continue to grieve the heavy loss of Ashling every day they have decided not to engage in any interviews with the media until the criminal trial has concluded.

One week after her tragic death on January 19th, a 31-year-old Slovakian man, Jozef Puska with an address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, was charged with murder.

His trial is set to begin on June 3rd 2023 at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.