Irish Examiner view: Free Catalonia hasn’t gone away, you know
Carles Puigdemont, the exiled former president of the Catalan government, said his Junts party is 'neck and neck' with the governing Socialists in polling ahead of the elections on May 12.
The first overseas head of state welcomed to Dublin by Taoiseach Simon Harris was Spanish premier Pedro Sánchez.
No doubt amities were revisited this week in the two-day Brussels summit as the leaders pressed their shared views on the Middle East crisis upon their colleagues in the EU.
However, perhaps Mr Harris will also be intrigued by another challenge facing his new ally, and one that has some resonances with the island of Ireland.
On the second Sunday of May, an election will choose the 14th parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats are up for grabs. The poll was called by Catalonia’s president, Pere Aragonès, after his administration’s budget was voted down in the regional assembly.
However, the bigger picture concerns the network of alliances required to keep the left-leaning Mr Sánchez, premier since 2018, in power.
Principal among them has been the necessity to cut a deal with previously outlawed Catalan independence leaders following attempts to create a breakaway state between 2017 and 2019.
Seven years ago, the conservative Spanish government sent police to quash a referendum that the courts had annulled. Campaign leaders were prosecuted for sedition and misuse of public funds.
The major figure was Catalonia’s former president, the ex-journalist Carles Puigdemont, who has been living in self-exile since then, while simultaneously serving as a member of the European Parliament.
Despite once proclaiming that he would never support an amnesty, Mr Sánchez has gambled on a controversial bill offering protection to transgressors, depending on the manner in which it is applied by judges. It is expected to come into force in late May or June and 400 separatists, of whom Mr Puigdemont is the most prominent, would be affected by it.
The amnesty was the price demanded by separatists — the Together for Catalonia (Junts) party led by Mr Puigdemont — for supporting the wobbly Sánchez government after it failed to gain a majority in the 2023 general election. Mr Puigdemont, speaking to Reuters over the border in Perpignan, southern France, said his party is “neck and neck” with the ruling Socialists to win control of the region on May 12. If it fails to do so, he warned, he may reconsider his support of the national government. If Junts succeeds, he plans to return to take up his position.
The unresolved sentiments embedded in support for Catalan independence have some roots in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939, the Gaza of its day. The conflict was described as “the dress rehearsal for World War Two”. It inspired the most famous anti-war painting of all time, Pablo Picasso’s ‘Guernica’.
With its fragile alliances, and the need to reconcile with recent history, the parallels with Ireland reach beyond the attempts of Mr Harris and Mr Sánchez to provide a moderating influence in the Middle East. They may find themselves with echoes of the same domestic challenges for the rest of 2024.
It is not only deeply depressing that we have to report another instance of harassment at the private home of a politician. It is another indication that matters are likely to deteriorate as we enter the campaigning season.
In this case, the dwelling of the Children’s Minister, Roderic O’Gorman, was the target. A gang of up to 12 masked men gathered outside. A large banner was tied across the gate, stating ‘Minister O’Gorman Hates Children’ and other banners were attached to railings on his front wall, and placed against the outside of his wall. A giant banner, saying ‘South Dublin Says No, Close the Borders’ was fastened to poles on the footpath. Videos were circulated online.
Mr O’Gorman was elected as a Green TD for Dublin West in the February 2020 general election and became Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth that summer.
His role in the challenges of the temporary settlement and housing of migrants has been a touchstone for some critics.
Experts have expressed concern at the increasing harassment and intimidation of public representatives, and fear that threats could escalate, particularly with the European and local elections approaching in June.
We must recognise that these are not protesters exerting their democratic rights. They are despicable bullies. And, in masking themselves from the public gaze, given judgements from the European Court of Human Rights, they are at the edge of legality. Sooner or later, and it should be the former, they will have to be tackled.
The series has rightly been described as both chilling and visceral in its depiction of a violent stalker — a woman on this occasion — and sets out in detail the behaviours which might justify complaints to police.
That it is a complex story can be judged by the fact it started out as a standup show in 2016 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and even won a comedy award. It covers a multiplicity of issues including mental health, sexual identity, grooming, assault, drug excess, fantasies of the virtual world, and the near breakdown of the central character, played by real-life victim and creator of the show, Richard Gadd.
Gadd was stalked by a woman two decades older, portrayed — and terrifyingly so — by Jessica Gunning in the Netflix version. Gunning depicts all the characteristics of a determined stalker: Bombarding her victim with emails and phonecalls; relentlessly appearing at his work and home; harassing friends and relatives; and persistently declaring love and ownership. Toxic obsession in every imaginable shape and form.
In Ireland, several people have recently come forward to share their experiences and the precautionary measures they took since stalking became a criminal offence in the late autumn.
Last month, Cork businesswoman Laura O’Connell told the of the campaign conducted against her by a woman, now in prison, who she met for the first time at a community meeting.
A 2023 study of 892 Irish residents concluded that 29% of perpetrators are people the victims have not encountered before.
In Laura’s case, what commenced with cyberstalking soon assumed a physical dimension with her stalker turning up at meetings with potential clients, following her, and associates of the stalker videoing her and placing their footage on social media. Anonymous false complaints were sent to Tusla.
Another victim, Una Ring, from Youghal, Co Cork, told Virgin Media One’s documentary in February how she lived in fear when a colleague continuously contacted her and left messages detailing his plans. He was arrested outside her house carrying a bag of items including gloves and rope after gardaí sent an unmarked car. He is now in prison.
Pioneering research has been carried out by forensic psychologist Ciara Staunton and Dr Catherine O’Sullivan, the vice dean of learning at UCC’s School of Law.
They have been supported by the Sexual Violence Centre Cork and veteran campaigner Mary Crilly.
Their report sets out the four tenets which define stalking — that it is “fixated, obsessive, unwanted, and repeated”.
Unwanted behaviours may include threats and abuse, malicious communications, and tracking individuals either personally or online. Garda advice is to keep meticulous records of such activities and be prepared to change routines.
It is nearly 30 years since Ian McEwan wrote , a novel about a paranoid obsession developed by a stranger for another man.
We are much better informed about the phenomenon these days. No one should be forced to endure it.
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