Why do these people seem uninterested in Alex Coughlan's death?
Last week, I wrote about the shockingly irresponsible comments made by Senator Eileen Flynn in relation to the death of Congolese man Yves Sakila.
The good Senator accused seven men, who have yet to be charged with any wrongdoing, of murder. She also suggested that the death of Sakila was racially motivated by saying that we “have to ask ourselves” if Sakila would have died if he were “white”.
Flynn made these comments after the death of Alex Coughlan, who was set upon in Blanchardstown and brutally beaten, dying three days later in hospital. It’s somewhat difficult to imagine she hadn’t heard about the violent assault which took place in broad daylight about 15 minutes drive from her home.
I’m not aware that she called the two teenagers who have been charged in relation to Mr Coughlan’s death murderers or suggested that the attack was racially motivated.
It also seems she didn’t take the opportunity to attend the silent vigil held in remembrance of Alex Coughlan either. Nor did local TDs for the area, such as Ruth Coppinger of PBP-Solidarity, Jack Chambers of Fianna Fáil, Emer Currie of Fine Gael, Paul Donnelly of Sinn Féin and Roderic O’Gorman of the Greens.
While much of my comments are focused on Flynn, she is far from alone in her seemingly selective displays of grief and outrage.
I saw photos of Brid Smith with a bunch of roses for Yves Sakila on Henry Street: the contrast in the levels of grief expressed by the political and activist class is rather shocking.
It would be inappropriate for me to discuss the details of the ongoing investigation into the incident, but to say that all of the good and proper thinking individuals who expressed rage at the racial aspect of Yves Sakila’s death seem to be completely unbothered by the same elements in the Coughlan case.
Both teens charged, I am reliably informed, are from a Muslim and immigrant background. Funny how issues related to ethnic or religious identity never seem to matter when the aggressor/s, (for the avoidance of doubt, in this case, the alleged aggressors) are from one of these protected groups.
The great and the good might, like me, cite the ongoing investigation into Mr Coughlan’s death as the reason for their relative silence, which would be very believable had they applied the same level of restraint to the investigation into Mr Sakila’s death.
In my previous article on the conduct of Senator Flynn and ‘anti-racism expert’ Ebun Joseph, whose job it is to teach Irish people how not to be ‘racist’ in much the same way you taught your dog not to piss in the house, I mentioned the concept of collective guilt.
We are repeatedly led to believe that when a white person, particularly an Irish person, does something wrong in this country, it is a reflection on the whole of society and that something has to be done about the attitude of the perpetrator, which is naturally assumed to lurk inside us all. However, when the shoe is on the other foot, any suggestion of collective responsibility is out of the question.
I don’t seem to remember any prominent member of the Muslim community in Ireland stepping forward to address the homophobia which is latent in Islamic belief after Yusuf Palani went hunting for gay Irish men on Grinder, or the fact that homosexual acts are punishable by death in various Islamic nations under Sharia Law.
Before it emerged that the person who had cruelly murdered Michael Snee and Aidan Moffat wasn’t Irish, we were subjected to performative outpourings of concern over the supposed levels of homophobia among us.
Every Irishman was assumed to have a dark place in his heart where he held the same view of gay lads as an Iraqi Kurd – brought to our shores by a refugee resettlement program – who decapitated and castrated his victims respectively.
I don’t seem to remember this translating into a helpful conversation about the prudence of allowing large-scale immigration from cultures that view homosexuals with the highest levels of contempt, when our State has embraced unapologetically pro LGBT policies.
To me, this is like putting a fox in a hen house.
While it shouldn’t have to be pointed out that not all followers of Islam want to harm gay people, anyone with a bit of sense should be aware that the faith doesn’t exactly cherish such individuals, and to ignore this glaring contrast in values will, and has, inevitably led to disaster.
After it emerged that the family of Ashling Murphy’s killer Jozef Puska, were all living off social welfare, having contributed practically nothing to the exchequer in this country, we didn’t have a national debate on the benefits (no pun intended) of allowing non-nationals to live off the state for years on end.
What did happen was that references Ashling’s heartbroken partner, Ryan Casey, made to the fact were censored from reporting on his victim impact statement. Six adults on welfare collecting children’s allowance for 14 kids while living in a council-provided house is a lot of money.
“How can someone come to this country, get social housing, social welfare, not hold down a job of any description and never contribute to society for 10 years?” Mr Casey asked.
The answer is because there is an entire state and media apparatus that is willing to cover for and uphold this kind of irresponsible nonsense.
And the State also funds activists like Ebun Joseph who never waste time in insisting we see everything through a lens of racial injustice – and decide who is worthy of victimhood largely based on the colour of a person’s skin. Ironic, isn’t it?
It’s hard to believe anyone who would do this is campaigning for anything less than special treatment and an exalted status which ignores personal responsibility in favour of an unwavering victimhood status that must be upheld by those of us who are seen as unfairly advantaged in life, also because of the colour of our skin.
If this is how Ireland is choosing to do business, then some lives really do matter more than others.
