General Current Affairs Chat - Global and Local

[isha]

I'm trying to figure things out in my head. My heart breaks for Ashling and her family. There was a young lad shot in Ballyfermot this week and his death doesn't have the same impact on me and I don't understand why.

Yeah I understand this struggle. It's a very weird and troubling one and some of the possible reasons or answers seem unpalatable.
Reasons such as a sudden crime against youth and beauty seeming more shocking or devastating on an almost mythic level to our hopes and fears.

There have been several women killed lately, such as poor Urantsetseg Tserendorj, stabbed on her way home from work. While we were all horrified it did not strike as loud a chord in the public consciousness.
Another man lies dead this morning in a lane in Buncrana, there is the Dublin father you mention, even the woman burned in her car in Cork last year - these did not bring people to the streets.

I don't know the reasons some crimes shock more. Robert Holohan shocked too, though male it was his youth. And I suppose there is an added element of shock when a crime could partake of the atavistic fear in us all of some unleashed sexual frenzy.

But it is undoubtedly troubling to realise that there is a hierarchy of shock and emotional response because it shows we are not rational beings.

[Del.Monte]

Just caught more of this on the Anton Savage show this morning and the sound of band wagons being attached to the murder of this poor girl needs to be heard to be believed. Sinn Fein know a lot about murder so I suppose their contribution to the debate is useful.

Nothing will change for women or MEN until our rubbish judicial system is completely overhauled but that will never happen as the type of groups that support women's rights are the same ones who would be shouting about civil liberties if a taste of law and order was brought to the country. Also our EU overlords wouldn't approve.

[490808]

On a lighter note

Tulips for Amsterdam: Growers hand out free flowers

Can you imagine anything being given away free like that in Ireland?

[Frank]

RTE just summed it up there. 10 minutes on vigils and interviewing people on about “gender based violence” and then it’s basically, ‘oh yeah some lad in Donegal was killed too’ - now onto Novak Djokovic.

[peasant]

Normally, German media just about remembers that Ireland exists and is "not-Britain" ...just about ...

But look at this screenshot from Google News Germany:

Capture 123.JPG (142.08 KiB) Viewed 11976 times

[Del.Monte]

About 20 year's worth of Bord Failte's budget wiped out there. I heard a woman on the radio yesterday talking about jogging on the canal path at Mullingar.....Jesus it wasn't safe there when I was in my twenties (reasonably well built male) in the early eighties. There are certain parts of this country that are unsafe for humans of either sex and there's no getting away from that fact. In the past on other forums I have raised the nonsense of money being spent on restoring both the Royal and Grand canals for leisure and tourism when the Dublin end of both (especially the Royal) are like Beiruit.

[BrianD3]

If there is such an "epidemic" of violence against women, there would surely be a market for self protection training. The acknowledged authority on this is Lee Morrison in the UK. Lots of great videos on YouTube.

A few years ago, a couple of lads in Dublin and Kildare who trained with Morrison tried to setup something similar here but there didn't seem to be much interest.

This is the sort of thing that needs to be practiced regularly, one class does nothing. But there are other benefits to regular training - a social hobby, fitness etc.

Anyhow, suggestions like this would no doubt be ignored if not dismissed out of hand by the likes of Women's Aid and NWCI. Why should women try to improve their skills when it is up to the male population to change their murdering, raping ways. And the State must make them do it.

[Frank]

If you took every single one of those head case tweets in the past few days and replaced 'all men' with 'all blacks' or 'all muslims' or even 'all english', there would have been war. It's absolutely sick the way some groups have latched on to such a tragedy.

[AmEireCan]

MOD NOTE - DELETED: Tread carefully AmEireCan, this is not the subject with which to test the boundaries.

[Samson]

Allegedly photos and details of the killer doing the rounds online, if true expect trouble.
Justin Barrett will gain many supporters

[Frank]

Allegedly photos and details of the killer doing the rounds online, if true expect trouble.
Justin Barrett will gain many supporters

If it’s true it’ll be silenced and the focus will still just be on ‘all men’.

[isha]

In the Independent this morning...

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said a new national strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in the wake of the murder of Ashling Murphy will be introduced in the coming weeks, with the intention of adopting a zero-tolerance policy for violence against women.

I welcome this. Hope it is a very strict policy and includes long sentences, no easy bail, scant mitigation considerations etc. Only serious quibble is it should immediately be changed to "a zero tolerance policy for violence against all people".

[Del.Monte]

Can't see how that would be possible, the zero tolerance policy, with the state of our current prison capacity.

Can't see how it would be possible given our wishy washy, liberal, pc politicians. Much better to have another mass/vigil/report/national conversation.....

[490808]

Some off the wall thinking here (hope it doesn't offend anyone ) maybe we should do like we did for the travellers and make women a distinct ethnic group?

[Del.Monte]

Self-appointed spokesman for All Irish White Males - Brendan O'Connor - wildly backtracking now as it turns out there are indeed female editors of various publications, not to mention two past Presidents of this State.

[Del.Monte]

Just on the RTE "This Week" via Sunday Independent columnist that the suspect in the Dublin hospital is from Tullamore and has self-inflicted knife wounds. Lots of info about him being married etc. More leaks?

[JONJO THE MISER]

Just on the RTE "This Week" via Sunday Independent columnist that the suspect in the Dublin hospital is from Tullamore and has self-inflicted knife wounds. Lots of info about him being married etc. More leaks?

Well for certain I wouldn't like to be his relatives or family at the houses searched.

[peasant]

Some wanker thought it a good idea to crash an online vigil and rub one out on zoom.

If you happen to know this fella, please be so kind and kick him in the nuts from me ...every hour, on the hour for the rest of his miserable existence.

Honestly ...what a dick

During the event, a man joined the Zoom call, falsely using the name of one of the event’s organisers, through a link to the event which was posted on social media.

On the video call the man exposed himself and appeared to masturbate for several minutes, before he was removed from the online event, one attendee said.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland ... -1.4778518

[Del.Monte]

Given the attendance of the President and Taoiseach at this funeral, is this the new norm i.e. will they be attending the funerals of all future murder victims. The circus has arrived in town.

RIP Ashling Murphy.

[isha]

The family asked for privacy. I cannot see how this helps. In the very early days after the tragedy the media were in their house doing interviews - a grieving family cannot be sufficiently compos mentis after such an unbearable horror to make good decisions. I find this whole response ghoulish and deeply uncomfortable. It is ....oh I am just going to stop before I say something too cross.

[peasant]

Apparently men crashing open zoom meetings to masturbate is a "thing", I guess similar to sending unsolicited dick pic messages. It may not have originated in Ireland or be someone who knew what the meeting was about.

Not sure if that makes it "better" or worse...ballkicking request still applies anyway.

[490808]

Not sure if that makes it "better" or worse...ballkicking request still applies anyway.

Of course it changes everything. Now there are far more balls that need kicking.

[JONJO THE MISER]

Looks like that piece of shit will be charged with murder tonight at Tullamore court.
Papers have named him as Jozef Puska and he replied no when the charge was put to him.

[Scotty]

Looks like that piece of shit will be charged with murder tonight at Tullamore court.
Papers have named him as Jozef Puska and he replied no when the charge was put to him.

I hope they have the right person this time!!

..and I hope you're never put on a jury Jonjo.

[Del.Monte]

Assuming that they have the right person he should never be eligible for release - ever! I'd have this sort of person on a chain gang myself but perhaps he was drunk or had a deprived childhood,..