Irish Examiner view: Free speech does not equal a right to intimidate

There was a large gathering organised by anti-immigration campaigners in Cork over the weekend, involving several prominent far-right agitators including former Ireland First leader Derek Blighe and Hermann Kelly of the Irish Freedom Party. Picture: Larry Cummins

Readers may be aware that there was a large gathering organised by anti-immigration campaigners in Cork over the weekend, involving several prominent far-right agitators including former Ireland First leader Derek Blighe and Hermann Kelly of the Irish Freedom Party.

Soon after the march, another former member of the Irish Freedom Party, South Dublin county councillor Glen Moore, claimed on social media that some people who had attended the gathering were asked to leave a pub on Coburg Street, Sin É, and that they had been discriminated against for their political beliefs. Mr Moore’s post has led to threats being made against the pub and its owners.

Benny McCabe, who owns the pub, has responded in these pages to these claims. He pointed out that his staff have been abused in the past by people wearing far-right paraphernalia and stressed that customers are free to wear what they wanted as long as they do not misbehave.

It should be pointed out that alongside the threats being made online against Mr McCabe’s pub there are also calls for solidarity and support.

There is a desperation inherent in posts like Mr Moore’s, keen as they are in trying to manufacture some form of controversy, but that is hardly surprising.

In Ireland, there is a small minority seeking to control narratives by turning basic concepts on their head: For them, ‘patriotism’ means posting for clicks, ‘advocacy’ means aggression, and ‘protest’ doubles as provocation.

The basic concept of peaceful protest is a cornerstone of every democracy: People are entitled to register in public their approval or disapproval of issues which concern them. It is a fundamental right. But with rights come responsibilities.

Mr McCabe was right to describe the atmosphere in Cork last weekend as one of “low to moderate intimidation”.

Public assembly is not a licence to intimidate or abuse, to imitate the Nazi salute, or to try to provoke others.

Or to threaten local businesses which have been at the heart of their communities for years.

Cost rationale does not add up

The recent case in which Richard Satchwell was convicted of murdering his wife Tina has led to some discussion of how gardaí handled the case. Mr Satchwell buried his wife’s body in their home in Youghal in 2017, but it took six and a half years for the remains to be found, leading to questions as to why that discovery was not made sooner.

The use of cadaver dogs, which are trained to find bodies, has become one of the key topics in this discussion. Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has said it would be “preferable” if the gardaí had a cadaver dog, but said that was a decision for Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

Mr Harris was not as enthusiastic about the idea when asked about it recently, pointing out that such animals take a lot of training and often have a relatively brief working life.

He added that a cadaver dog has been used just three times in his seven years as garda chief.

This argument, persuasive as it appears, would probably have carried more weight if it had not been made at the same that new water cannons, which will be used by gardaí, were unveiled. Mr Harris said that the water cannons, which can be used to help quell violent disorder on the streets, would only be used in exceptional circumstances.

It is to be hoped that they will not have to be used at all, of course, but the principle of having them on standby just in case is a sound one. However, the water cannons cost approximately €1.5m — which rather dwarfs the cost of training and maintaining a single cadaver dog.

Maintaining public order is a key responsibility for gardaí, and any equipment which helps them to meet that responsibility is welcome.

Nonetheless, it seems counter-intuitive to acknowledge that an asset which cost €1.5m will only be used in exceptional circumstances while taking pains to describe a single dog as a specialised resource which is not working every day.

Surely the peace of mind which could be afforded to families if their loved ones are discovered in a timely fashion, which did not happen in Tina Satchwell’s case, is worth considering when weighing the costs involved. If the funds can be found for water cannons, then the funds can be found to train, feed, and house a single dog.

Brian Wilson: Sound of the 60s

Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys musician, songwriter, and creative force, died this week. He was 82.

In an Instagram post yesterday, his family wrote: “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now.”

Their loss will be shared by millions.

Wilson helped to create some of the most sublime pop music of all time, starting with The Beach Boys’s trademark songs about beach life and girls in the early 1960s, and culminating in the album Pet Sounds in 1966, often cited as one of the greatest of all time.

His life was not always easy. He spent time in psychiatric hospitals during the late 1960s, and was eventually diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and mild manic depression, while he also struggled with alcoholism and spent years embroiled in legal battles with family members and bandmates.

That hardly matters now: Wilson’s songs are immortal. “I can hear music,” he once sang. He certainly could.

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