Dublin Opinion

Perhaps because I hadn’t checked the news properly that day but while I was publishing our first ILR podcast, an interview with the criminologist Dr. Paul O’Mahony on the Sunday before last, I had no idea that Shane Geoghegan had been murdered in Limerick in a case of mistaken identity.

The murder itself was clearly horrible, and one can understand the public outrage and expressions of grief and revulsion. But what also ensued was a very strident political reaction which displayed the typical opportunism that such extreme cases provide.

It also seemed to confirm exactly what Dr. O’Mahony had been saying in his interview, that changes in criminal justice in Ireland are not necessarily based on the best available evidence, or indeed logic. Rather they are driven by the urges of politicians to respond to populist call that ’something must be done…’

Alex Klemm and I thought that it should be addressed in some way, and it occured to us that the best person to do it would be Dr. O’Mahony himself.

I didn’t think he would, but you have to ask. So, as a response to the fallout from the Shane Geoghegan murder Dr. O’Mahony has written an article for Irish Left Review which provides the context to the situation in Limerick and elsewhere. It also provides a very thoughtful analysis of the real levels of crime in Ireland, the reasons for the increasing levels of violence, the culture that underpins it and the role of Government and the politicians in the Dail, the implications of legislation brought in sometimes hurridely to deal with situations that have grabbed the headline, often designed merely to show that ’something must be done’.

At the centre of the criminality in Ireland at the moment though is the drugs business. Drugs, and their connections to crime are not something that is on the parifary of Irish society. They are endemic throughout the whole of Irish society.

As Dr. O’Mahony puts it:

The Celtic Tiger has had obviously positive effects, but has also had many negative effects, some of which impact on society’s ability to respond effectively to the growth of drug use and violent gang culture. The cultural forces that have encouraged drug use and have therefore empowered drug gangs have brought immense changes to Irish society and local communities. Despite the existence of a new level of political awareness of the underlying causes and despite all the new structures and actions specifically designed for the purpose, we are now far less able to respond effectively to the challenges and dangers of drugs and gangs. The boom period has accelerated the spread of materialism, consumerism, self-centredness, isolation and alienation in Irish life. The more frenetic pace of life and increased levels of stress, the much sharper educational and workplace competition, and commuting, child-care and housing issues all play a role. The old restraining bonds of family, church and community are withering and there is an increasing adherence amongst young Irish people to cynicism, apathy, moral relativism and a hedonistic code of excess. The pervasive obsession with ever more convenient and exciting electronic mass media and forms of communications and with a now globalised popular culture expose people to many psychologically unhealthy role models and cut them off from their local communities and the kind of activities that build solidarity and mutual trust.

All these factors have impacted powerfully on the kind of socialisation provided for our young people and on society’s political capacity to shape positive values and lifestyles and to maintain a constructive sense of interdependence and social inclusiveness. The experience of isolation, alienation, stress and, quite possibly, a sense of being devalued as a person inevitably takes a toll, making it more likely that vulnerable people will turn to alcohol and drugs as a form of release, escape or individual affirmation. The same forces undermine society’s inbuilt, constructive defences against people and groups who for one reason or another reject its values and opt for criminality.

I’m very grateful to Dr. O’Mahony for the article, so if you’re at all interested in the topic I urge you to read it.