Irish Examiner view: A cargo full of love and devotion for Irish athletes

Paul O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy of Team Ireland celebrate with fans after winning the men's lightweight double sculls finals. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

From the very start at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium near Paris it was clear that the pride of Skibbereen would set their course to achieve a historic Olympic triumph.

Nothing could, or would, rock their boat in 6:10.99 minutes of perfection and domination.

The masterful rowing of Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy to defend their lightweight double sculls title burnt off Italy and Greece, who finished more than three seconds behind as the chants of “Olé, ‘Olé, ‘Olé” flowed around the pontoon.

The Irish pair moved to the front yesterday morning with more than 500m to go, and finished serenely to add a second Olympic gold to their three world and two European titles.

In their signal achievement, they became the first Irish athletes to defend their crown at this level since the legendary Dr Pat O’Callaghan from Kanturk, Cork, achieved back-to-back hammer wins in 1928 at Amsterdam and 1932 in Los Angeles.

In addition, O’Donovan has become the first Irish competitor to gain medals at three Olympiads — 2016, 2020, and 2024. The pair will also go down in history as the last-ever lightweight men’s Olympic champions. 

Coastal rowing will replace the grade when California again becomes host in 2028. The joy which surrounds their efforts and the achievements of swimmers Daniel Wiffen, Mona McSharry, fellow rowers Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch, and boxer Kellie Harrington brings pleasure and pride to all citizens of the Republic.

And nowhere was that more apparent yesterday than in Skibbereen, which can rightly claim to be Ireland’s rowing capital and which went en fête with shops and businesses decked out with Olympic flags, Irish flags, and pictures of its rowers.

More than 300 people packed into the town hall to watch the event live on the big screen.

Close to the banks of the River Ilen, where Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy first learned to row, the town’s own version of the Olympic flame was burning bright.

Paul dismissed his remarkable medal achievement as a “fluke”, and wondered about going out for baguettes and wine with friends on the French team.

He might raise a glass to his remarkable predecessor, Dr Pat O’Callaghan, who competed for the Free State in Amsterdam in 1928, and was the first of our athletes to witness the raising of the Irish flag and hear ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’ played to mark an Irish victory.

Dr O’Callaghan and his two brothers, who also competed, paid their own fares to the Netherlands.

Four years later, when he was in the US defending his crown, the authorities asked him to personally fund his replacement at Clonmel Mental Hospital for two months while he was away. The third month he could take out of his holiday entitlement. Times have changed, and so has the measure of a nation’s gratitude.

No case to argue against taxes on vaping

Few political leaders don’t welcome the opportunity of a giveaway budget.

With Ireland on the flight path to the next general election, we’re no exception.

Among the benefits being mooted in briefings are a significant increase for pensions; continuation of a 9% Vat rate on gas and electricity throughout the winter; changes in inheritance tax to reflect increases in house prices; a double child-benefit payment for Christmas; reductions in income tax by manipulating higher rate thresholds; and alterations to the universal service charge to assist low-income households.

While all of this is gravy, some measures reflect prudence from Finance Minister Jack Chambers.

The official establishment of the Future Ireland Fund and of the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund aims to offset threats to future public finances.

The nation also intends to continue work begun under Mr Chambers’s predecessor, Michael McGrath, to introduce a tax on e-cigarettes and vapes, with the possibility that it will be introduced next year.

These devices were originally heralded with claims that they could provide a bridge for consumers of tobacco to quit the habit. And it is true that, for some people, they have done precisely that.

But they long ago entered the mainstream and the products have experienced exponential growth since the early 2000s, with around 100m users, or 10% of the global population of smokers. This is despite increasing medical concerns over chemicals and flavourings found in e-liquids.

Donal O’Shea, professor of chemistry with Ireland’s Royal College of Surgeons, has said: “It is plausible that we are on the cusp of a new wave of chronic diseases that will emerge 15 to 20 years from now due to these exposures.”

Ten years from now the practice will be abhorred. There are often intellectual reasons to argue against new taxes. But there is no case to argue for vaping.

Body cameras are a necessary intrusion

We may regret the need for Garda to be equipped with body cameras — currently being piloted in divisions in Dublin and Limerick — which carries us further into the world of Robocop.

But while there are worries about the eventual integration of AI-driven facial recognition systems and their influence on the administration of justice there is no argument that police services need a full record of their actions. And particularly in a world where everything they do is being captured on mobile phone cameras.

In recent coverage of unrest, it is social media footage, often selectively edited, which defines the narrative. The riots in Parnell Square last November and in Coolock earlier this month; the disgraceful scenes following the Southport tragedy; the street fighting generated by graphic shots of police in action at Manchester Airport — all are examples of the tinder box nature of contemporary society.

It is a sign of public sensitivities to the deployment of such technology that Commissioner Drew Harris felt obligated to explain the penalties which would face rogue Garda members if they abused the system.

Mr Harris confirmed that they will face dismissal from the force, and potential criminal prosecution, if they are found to have shared or leaked footage of incidents captured on Garda body-worn cameras.

Mr Harris said the system is “secure” and cannot be tampered with or altered, but acknowledged that recordings could be taken from a third-party screen, such as a mobile phone, and shared with others.

This has happened in other jurisdictions. In 2022 Metropolitan Police officers who “dehumanised” two black female victims “for their own amusement” by taking and sharing photos on WhatsApp from a scene they had been sent to guard were jailed for two years and nine months each.

But Comm Harris, speaking at the launch of the system in Limerick, said: “An investigating member obviously has to review the footage in terms of preparing a file, so if somebody really wants to act outside our rules and instructions and indeed our discipline code, then on their head be it.” The initial projects, which are testing three different types of kit, are costing ¢3m. Trials are shortly to be extended to Waterford.

Mr Harris revealed that gardaí had secured “48 pieces of evidential footage” from a single deployment of members to the Coolock riots.

Gardaí have reported to headquarters that the cameras are also helping members “diffuse situations” as well as providing “very important evidence during arrests in terms of drink-driving, searches, domestic abuse incidents, and incidents of sexual assaults where you are recording the first complaint of the victim.” Justice Minister Helen McEntee intends to push on with plans to deploy face recognition technology to “free up Garda resources” by doing away with the current system-trawl through thousands of hours of footage obtained from multiple sources.

This is of a different order of magnitude and the public will be more cautious because the technology has had mixed results elsewhere. But as far as closed body cameras are concerned it is likely to support the view that the Devil should not have all the best tunes, or indeed the best equipment.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here