Irish Examiner view: We should not wait to be told to look out for fellow citizens
Joyce O’Mahony is understood to have lain dead in a house in Cork for at least a year. Picture: Chani Anderson
Readers will be aware of the tragic case of the woman whose body was found in a house in Cork this week.
Joyce O’Mahony is understood to have lain dead in a house in the Lough area of Cork for at least a year, if not longer.
Earlier this month Mark Watters, 61, was found dead at his flat in Castletownbere, Co Cork: It is believed he died at least six months ago.
Last October, an inquest heard that Timothy O’Sullivan, whose remains were recovered from a house in Mallow, Cork, had lain undiscovered for more than 20 years.
The year before that, Nicholas and Hilary Smith’s bodies were discovered at their home in Cloneen, south Tipperary. It was estimated at the time that they might have been dead for up to 18 months.
It would be dangerous to draw a general conclusion from these very different cases. Joyce O’Mahony lived in the middle of the second-biggest city in the country, while the Smiths’ home was in a relatively remote rural area. In the inquest into the death of Timothy O’Sullivan, it was pointed out that Cork County Council officials had boarded up the house in which his body lay and visited on at least one other occasion without entering the premises itself.
It is still shocking to realise that in a world which has never before appeared to be so well connected, people may still disappear from view so completely.
Paddy O’Brien, a long-time campaigner for the elderly, has called for a warning system to be created with the Department of Social Welfare, with that body informing the gardaí if a person does not collect their pension for six weeks — a suggestion with merit.
There is a responsibility on all of us to look out for our fellow citizens also. During spells of bad weather, An Garda Síochána and other organisations often encourage us to check in on vulnerable individuals in our neighbourhoods. Perhaps we shouldn’t wait to be told to do so.
The announcement earlier this week that Ireland is to formally recognise a Palestinian state has put international diplomacy in the headlines, and the emphasis on the power of negotiation and compromise comes at a significant time.
Around the world, the temperature has risen significantly in some border areas — which were heated enough to begin with. Norway announced earlier this week that it is to impose significant restrictions on the entry of Russians along the 198km-long border the two countries share.
The head of counter-espionage for PST, Norway’s domestic security agency, Inger Haugland, explained on Wednesday that “Russia now sees itself benefiting from carrying out sabotage in European countries in order to weaken Ukrainian defence capabilities”.
That is not the only instance of Russian intimidation in northern Europe this week. Finland and the Baltic states have not been impressed by a new draft Russian decree, which proposes revisions to national borders in the Baltic Sea. Latvian representatives have said they are trying to clarify the situation.
However, Lithuanian officials have been unambiguous in their response, warning that Russia’s aim was to intimidate its neighbours with a “deliberate, targeted escalatory provocation”. The grinding war in Ukraine goes on and on, but these developments suggest Russia has a keen eye on opportunities elsewhere as well.
Further east, there was a disquieting display of military strength this week. Taiwan scrambled jets and put missile, naval, and land units on alert because of Chinese military exercises being conducted around the island.
China’s military said its exercises were punishment for separatist forces seeking independence.
Experienced observers will no doubt point to China’s long-standing dissatisfaction with Taiwan, and its regular bouts of sabre-rattling, but Russia’s recent aggression with border countries represents a serious escalation in tensions across a vast area. The conflict in Ukraine shows no signs of ending, and this week suggests Russia has more appetite for confrontation than the other.
Easing these tensions would be a significant diplomatic achievement, but who would be acceptable to Norway, the Baltic states, and Russia as an honest broker?
Amazon has announced its intention to launch a specific website for Irish customers next year. Currently those customers must use UK or other European sites, but from 2025 they will be able to use a dedicated Irish Amazon site. The company already employs around 6,500 people in Cork, Dublin, and Drogheda.
However, the benefits of local Irish businesses, big and small, were articulated well this week by Evelyn Moynihan of the Kilkenny Group. Speaking at a Cork Chamber breakfast, Ms Moynihan said that for every €1 spent in a local shop, €2.50 circulates in the economy.
She said that local retailers face specific difficulties which range from antisocial behaviour and crime on their premises to the challenge of getting customers in the door when transport and parking are either problematic or expensive, or both.
It need hardly be pointed out that an organisation such as Amazon does not face those same challenges, yet it is competing with small businesses which are beset with the difficulties mentioned earlier and more. That is hardly a level playing field.
Loyalty to small businesses is so important in terms of local identity, competition, variety, employment: The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
As the saying goes, all of us should be keeping our business in the town in order to keep the town in business.
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