PADDY BARRY, the 82-year-old Waterford pensioner who died after a break-in at his home, looks like an archetypal gentle granddad. It is not surprising that his death has led to calls for mandatory sentencing, or laws allowing people to defend themselves vigorously against intruders. But is that the way to go?
Will anyone who ends up in Mountjoy learn anything about respect for human beings? Yet again, there has been a scathing report on conditions in the prison. Prisoners are still eating their meals in cells with slop buckets in them. Drug abuse is still rampant. The place is dirty, dangerous and overcrowded. Judge Michael Reilly took care not to point the finger at staff, who themselves are working in impossible and unsafe conditions.
We have inescapable evidence that the poor are disproportionately represented in our prison population. Indeed, as Prof Ian O’Donnell put it in this newspaper, the poor are not only more likely to be imprisoned, but to be imprisoned for failure to pay a fine. When released, they are most likely to end up living in seriously disadvantaged areas again.
Of course we should be upset and angered by the death of someone like Paddy Barry. But a vindictive, punitive response only continues the cycle of violence, and is manifestly failing to tackle the problem of crime.
Despite the fact that there seems to be a report of a violent crime or death virtually every other day, Ireland still has a relatively low crime rate. Admittedly, that fact is of little comfort to either families of victims or those who live in fear. Ironically, though, elderly people are most fearful of crime, and least likely to be victims of it. Young men typically believe themselves to be invulnerable, and are most likely to be victims of violent crime.
Friday, October 2nd is not just the date of the referendum of the Lisbon Treaty, but also UN Day of Non-Violence, celebrated on Gandhi’s birthday. It marks the end of Why Violence? Week, an initiative originally sponsored by Irish Quakers, but already moving far beyond the bounds of any denominational group. The aims are simple – to move to a situation where everyone in Ireland could live without fear of emotional or physical violence.
Pollyanna-ish? Impossible? The wizened little man from India who took on the might of the British Empire and mobilised a mass movement of peaceful resistance to achieve sovereignty for the Indian people would not agree. As he said: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it – always.”
It is tempting to believe that we are somehow hardwired for violence. Yet while conflict and anger are unavoidable, violence is not. And violence encompasses far more than stabbings and killings. The internet is a wonderful invention and can be used for many positive purposes, but it has led to a kind of casual verbal violence that is astonishing.
People say things on boards and blogs that they would not dream of saying to someone’s face. Examples abound on one of the best known websites about Irish politics. Last time I visited, a woman was described as “the most vile, vicious, hate-filled woman I have ever encountered”. The poster went on merrily to describe this person as “a step below” someone else whom they described as “a deranged psychopath”.
There are, of course, many courteous people who post on this website, but it seems to attract people who believe that any and every kind of verbal abuse is perfectly acceptable. It may seem ridiculous to mention abusive posts on websites in the same article as the death of a decent, much-loved man. However, it is all part of a culture that devalues human beings.
In many ways, Ireland has become a coarser, uglier place. In the Celtic Tiger era, we lionised those who made lots of money, and had contempt for the “losers” who did not. It is not surprising that some of the worst crime in Ireland results from a grim echo of entrepreneurial culture, except it is the marketing of illegal drugs that becomes an easy path to wealth.
The roots of violence are multidimensional. There was a conference yesterday, Violence in Irish Society, in the Mater Dei Institute as part of Why Violence? Week. It identified many roots of violence.
Social exclusion is an important factor, but to blame all violence on poverty is to first of all offend the many poor who never commit crime, and secondly to ignore the reality of so-called white collar crime. There is also a culture in Ireland that downplays the importance of personal responsibility, and tolerates abuse of drugs, especially of alcohol.
The conference suggested that we need to support families. Without strong families where parents model responsible behaviour and strong moral boundaries, more and more young people will be sucked into violence.
Many times people read about violence, tut-tut and do nothing, but in the wake of the Shane Geoghegan killing in Limerick, a small group of people in Dublin decided to try to do something practical in their own backyard. They want to support community initiatives in the Mounttown/Fitzgerald Park area of Dún Laoghaire, one of the most disadvantaged areas of south Dublin. This is a pilot, but it could extend countrywide.
They are launching a group tentatively titled Neighbourhood Link in the Southside Partnership Offices on Main Street in Blackrock on October 2nd, as part of Why Violence? Week. The aim is “to build friendships between people who live in contrasting parts of our local community, between those who experience little threat of violence and those who live where the threat is greater”. As one of the founders of the group said, quoting Gandhi again, “What you do may be insignificant, but it is important that you do it.”
Perhaps if we had more people willing to make such “insignificant” gestures, our country would be a step nearer to the ideal of non-violence.