We’re sorry that other people are deprived, but happy not to be them

OUR ideology crumples when confronted with vested interest. 

It’s hard to imagine now that there was a mass outbreak of anger when a homeless man, Jonathan Corrie, died in a doorway on Dublin’s Molesworth Street, yards from Leinster House, last December. His was a tragic, but far from straightforward, story. There was more involved than a failure of State services, though that may have been decisive.

I have been thinking of him, more particularly of the furore about him, these past few days. Listening to the debate on cutting Bus Éireann routes, on paying for water, or on selling Aer Lingus, no-one is joining the dots. But it’s all about choices. And every choice influences other decisions.