Irish Examiner view: MP's murder a sign of dangerous political duty

A chilling reminder of the dangers of serving in public office

David Amess was stabbed several times at a surgery in his Southend West constituency in Essex. Picture: Chris McAndrew/PA Wire 

The murder of British MP David Amess, one of very few Catholics in the House of Commons, is a chilling reminder of the dangers which attend upon public service in an increasingly febrile world.

Mr Amess, a transparently good man who had served as a backbench constituency MP for all of his political life, was repeatedly stabbed as he met voters in his regular ‘surgery’ where complaints and concerns can be brought to the attention of sitting members.

It was a mark of the man that even during the pandemic he went out to meeting halls and community centres to engage supporters, critics, and those who needed his help. 

On this occasion, he had set his appointments in a local church where he was to lose his life. The police cordon thrown around the crime scene meant that he could not be administered the last rites.

Mr Amess, brought up in the East End of London where he gained his Catholic faith from his mother, Maud, was a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and a pro-life supporter.

He once brought Mother Teresa to meet the then British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

President Michael D Higgins sent a message of condolence to his wife and five children. 

Meanwhile, Fr Pat Browne from Co Meath, who became duty priest at the Houses of Parliament in 2009 and who officiated at the wedding of Mr Amess and his wife Julia in 1983, remembered the late MP as someone who “always looked after the underdog”. 

While Ireland has been mercifully free of the kind of fundamentalist, radical extremism which appears to have contributed to the murder of Mr Amess, it is not exempt from a quickening of the political pulses which have afflicted other Western democracies.

The recollection of the storming of the Capitol in the US remains fresh in our memories. 

In Britain, where six MPs have been killed in the line of duty since the Second World War, London mayor Sadiq Khan has a 24-hour police guard due to the exposure of his office to political controversies and the nature of his religion. 

Spending on security for elected representatives has risen from €180,000 in 2016 to nearly €5m now. Reported threats have grown by nearly 140%.

The Irish Examiner has previously commented on a worrying increase in the aggressive treatment of elected representatives and officials, particularly where protesters and special interest groups seem to imagine that they possess the right to lobby state servants — for that is what ministers and TDs and their advisors are — at their homes.

Such actions do not improve the quality of public discourse and are a strong disincentive to take on duty and service. 

It is of fundamental importance that politicians remain accessible to all, and we as citizens share responsibility to ensure that they remain safe to do so and can carry out business in an environment free from threat and abuse. 

The quality and future of democracy depends upon it.