Jobstown letter: What type of society are we living in?

The Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.

A Donegal News reader has got in touch regarding the recent verdicts in the Jobstown trials. Do you agree?

Dear Editor

AFTER the decision by the jury in relation to the Jobstown trial to find the defendants ‘Not Guilty’ I began to wonder what type of society are we living in.

The blame game started and we saw those who were very much a part of this protest that intimidated, harangued and assaulted defenceless women shift this blame onto the State.

Will this decision impact on every public official when they got about their lawful business? Will they be subject to the same type of abuse, intimidation and assault by extremists who believe, that if they do so, that they won’t face any sanctions?

What type of democracy, if any, do we want? The words, “Equality, Openness, Fairness and Justice” are bandied about but by whom?

What is quite startling and worrying to me is that there is a small cohort of extremists views on the Left and Right that want to dismantle the institutions that our forefathers fought and died for. Their words and actions are meaningless to these extremists who wish to tear apart everything that generations of Irish men and women have fought and died for.

Yes there were many failures and injustices perpetrated on our citizens by the different Institutions, including the church, on the good people of this State but we have progressed and we have become a more liberal, fairer and open society even with its warts and all.

We have allowed those who contributed little or nothing but vitriol and populism to subvert and undermine our institutions. We have allowed those extremists to dictate what is right for us while they spout their acidic words that poisons our society and fractures our standards and behaviours.

The constant chipping away of everything that we, the moderate voice of Ireland, hold dear is something that we should take stock off and stop before we slide any further into the morass of cynicism, and hatred spouted by these extremists.

We have seen the travesty of recent court cases where well heeled business men and elected representatives get free legal aid, and all the trappings that go with it, only to walk away with their smug smiles and a justification that what they did was not their fault but the fault of the State.

How dare they try and justify their actions, how dare they ask for anything. They have no pride, no shame, no honour.

Middle class Ireland, moderate Ireland, wake up before its too late. Let’s take back that middle ground that has been invaded by the extremes of both ends. Lets not just use words and phrases like, Openness, Equality and Justice and Fairness as if it were empty vessels but give these words meaning and hold those who don’t abide by them to account no matter who or what they are.

Regards,

Christy Galligan,
Letterkenny,
County Donegal

Please note that the views expressed here are those of Mr Galligan and not necessarily the views of the Donegal News.

Any response can be emailed to editor@donegalnews.com

Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere