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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Damien Edgar

Natalie McNally - Lurgan rally-goers asked to wear pink and blue for Natalie and baby Dean

Those attending a rally for Natalie McNally next Saturday in Lurgan have been asked to wear pink and blue, in memory of Natalie and Dean, the baby boy she was carrying at the time of her murder.

The rally is being held at 2pm in Lurgan Park and is being co-ordinated by the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI).

Natalie, 32, was stabbed to death in her Silverwood Green home in Lurgan on Sunday 18 December - she was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

Read more: Natalie McNally killer "a monster, not a person" says brother

Rachel Coyle works as Head of Campaigns and Mobilisation for the NWCI, which is an all-island body seeking equality between men and women and to protect women and girl's rights.

She has been living in Lurgan for the past year and said like so many, she was shocked to hear the news of Natalie's brutal murder.

"Natalie was at home, she should have been safe at home," she told Belfast Live.

"I guess just in the aftermath of the attack, it was hearing my women friends in the town and neighbours talking about the precautions that they're taking, the fear in the community that the person hasn't been caught.

"I just got quite angry hearing about that - self defence classes being advertised, extra locks being fitted, even some young women moving back in with their parents.

"The thing that strikes me is that we're not the problem - male violence is the problem.

"It's women that are having to temper our behaviour and change our patterns of our behaviour out of fear.

"Every single one of us, men and women, have a responsibility to tackle this."

Rachel met with the McNally family on Friday and said their resilience was a testament to them, saying that the rally would offer people the opportunity to bolster the McNallys in their time of grief and to send a message.

"I think the rally next Saturday in Lurgan Park is a good place to start, a good opportunity to raise that we need a zero tolerance response to violence against women," she said.

"I think people really feel like they want to do something, they want to show support and solidarity with the family.

"People are very angry that this happened, very angry that a man felt entitled to go into Natalie's home and do what he did."

Rachel added that men and particularly young menneeded to call out misogyny when the saw it, whether it be in friend groups or elsewhere and that incidents that people dismissed were just "the thin end of the wedge".

"Some people might say what's the harm in wolf whistling and cat calling and comments about appearance," she said.

"But what that person did to Natalie is the outworking of a lifetime of thinking women are lesser and treating them accordingly - obviously that says a lot more about him.

"It won't be tolerated, we're going to keep coming after whoever is responsible and we'll leave no stone unturned."

The rally will see speakers pressing home the importance of ending violence against women, with Rachel saying there had been the highest number of women murdered in the last decade, last year.

"We want to have a bit of unity and a place for people to come and to grieve, but also to feel that there's a bit of a fightback," she said.

"We really want people from across the island to come and show solidarity for the family and to join the campaign to demand an end to violence against women.

"We're going to have speakers from the NWCI, Women's Aid NI and a really well known campaigner Ailbhe Smith, she'll be joining us too.

"It'll be a good event, hopefully uplifting for people who feel really heartbroken about it."

Everyone is encouraged to attend the rally and to share the timings and details for the event.

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