Irish Examiner view: Positive changes on the horizon

The new deposit return scheme will come into force on February 1 and will affect practically every household in the country. 

We are now just a few weeks away from what has been described as Ireland’s biggest social and behavioural change since the plastic bag levy or the smoking ban, but as yet this development does not seem to have captured the national imagination.

The new deposit return scheme will come into force on February 1 and will affect practically every household in the country. 

Under the scheme, a 15c levy will be added to every aluminium can and plastic bottle sold in Ireland, with the levy rising to 25c for bottles over 500ml.

Consumers will have to return empty cans and bottles to have those levies paid back — this will be done by shops over a certain size, many of which are now installing special equipment to accept the empty vessels in return for cash.

Some businesses have already indicated their unhappiness with the scheme because of the costs associated with the large scale of returns which can be expected. 

The size provision is intended to ensure that shops on the scale of the large supermarket chains are the primary destinations for those returning cans and bottles.

A certain amount of friction can be expected when such large-scale initiatives are introduced, particularly when they require modifications in behaviour.

The examples cited above — the smoking ban and plastic bag levy — each offer an encouraging precedent. 

They demonstrate that sweeping societal improvement is possible, despite the naysayers, and that people will make those behavioural changes for the greater good.

Recycling more aluminium, and removing more plastic from the waste system, are positive moves. 

At a time when news of the environment can
appear unrelentingly grim, this is a welcome development.

Corbett killers’ release

Earlier this week, there was shock when news emerged from North Carolina that Molly and Thomas Martens would be released from prison this week.

Last month, the father and daughter were jailed for a minimum of seven months and a maximum of 23 months at Davidson County Court for the 2015 manslaughter of Limerick man Jason Corbett. 

It was expected that they would be incarcerated for a further seven months, with a final two years suspended.

When the North Carolina Department of Corrections website stated that both would be released this week, the Corbett family was understandably dismayed by the news, describing it as “unbelievable” and asking why Jason Corbett’s children had had to sit through the recent hearing when the Martens would only spend three weeks in jail.

Jason Corbett's family are entitled to an apology.

Matters took a bizarre twist yesterday when the North Carolina Department of Corrections changed its position, stating: “After further review, the initial projected release dates calculated in response to resentencing for Molly Corbett and Thomas Martens were found to be incorrect.” 

The initial mistake was blamed on “human error”, and the two inmates are now expected to be imprisoned until next June.

To put it mildly, such flip-flopping is unlikely to instil faith in North Carolina’s prison service. 

If sentences cannot be calculated correctly in such a high-profile case, one shudders to think of the possible errors that may be lurking elsewhere within that system.

More importantly, where is the duty of care to the victims in this case? 

The Corbett family had to endure the trauma of the recent court case and relive the experience of losing a loved one to a violent death. 

Their distress was compounded unnecessarily by an organisation which should have particular regard for the families of victims of crime. 

At the very least they are entitled to an unreserved apology. 

And a full explanation of the circumstances which led to this situation.

Rebels see red over GAAGO 2024 schedule

The announcement of GAAGO’s schedule of games for next year’s GAA season caused an outcry in one county in particular. 

The revelation that three of Cork’s four Munster senior hurling games will be on the streaming platform caused Leeside hurling fans to see red immediately.

There has been a simmering unhappiness with GAAGO in recent years, a dissatisfaction with causes ranging from the perception that viewers are paying twice for RTÉ’s services — through a GAAGO subscription and the licence fee — to concerns about GAAGO itself, which was originally intended to cater for overseas viewers.

The operation of GAAGO was the focus of some pointed very questions at the recent Oireachtas committee hearings into RTÉ’s financial scandals. 

The GAA can expect plenty of flak for this decision. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

At that time, RTÉ’s head of sport Declan McBennett admitted to one committee that GAAGO was operating without clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which immediately launched an investigation into the service.

Regarding the specific allocation of three Cork hurling games to the service, this move is open to interpretation as a cynical ploy to pull in subscribers from Cork’s enormous fan base, which is still large enough to contribute a healthy number of spectators for those games, thus maintaining high gate receipts as well.

The GAA can expect plenty of flak for this decision, which comes after its disastrous proposal to drop five counties from the national hurling leagues in 2025, a proposal which had to hastily withdrawn following sharp criticism. Putting so many high-profile hurling games from one county behind a paywall does nothing to promote and spread the game, which is the GAA’s raison d’être.

The decision also undercuts the GAA’s image of itself as a bulwark of community spirit in Ireland. If anything, it suggests the very opposite.

CORK SPORT

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