What have we learned from Katy’s demise?

AS a member of the Church of Ireland, I found the spectacle of the funeral of Katy French in St Patrick’s church in Enniskerry to be shocking. I thought it lacked quiet dignity and reflection. It became a day for the minor glitterati, for our four-wheel-drive society. Katy French was a child of this culture. Many are sad about what happened to her. But this is surely not the example to be setting the young? Did anyone talk about what we might learn from her death? Of the type of life she lived which led to her sad early death? Of the sort of society we have become and what we can do about this? Of the media hype of people like poor Katy?

I have just spent several months in Canada, a liberal society showing optimism and energy. Coming home, I find an almost ritualistic form of degeneration. Politics is centred on a leader who has lost respect, surrounded by followers who lack the will to act. The health system needs reforming, yet the minister seems incapable of doing so.

In Canada, politicians and civil servants resign when shown to be incompetent or corrupt. Here they brazen it out. We have political and financial corruption — all poor examples to our youth, encouraging cynicism and pessimism and encouraging dropping out on cocaine.