The Great Divide

As I write this, the last family of the five girls killed in the terrible County Meath crash is being buried. Not too far away, other families are preparing to receive the bodies of two men killed during an attempted robbery of a post office. Whatever the circumstances of life, death and sorrow come to all.

It was interesting to contrast the lives delineated by the coverage of both events. The schoolgirls were shown, rightly I am certain, as full of life and hope and expectation of what life would bring. The two robbers were, however full of life, without hope and expectation. One was described as a career criminal and drug abuser.
How one person comes to be full of expectation and hope and another full of despair is a matter that has exercised many great minds over the years. Of equal interest has been the search for ways to raise expectations and possibilities for those whose outcomes are, to coin a phrase, morbid.
Pessimists and determinists argue that there’s nothing you can do and that attempting to positively intervene is lily-livered liberal self-deception. Their recipe is to hit ‘em hard and often and use prison as a constant and well-used punishment.
Others point to the link between offending and social exclusion and educational and other disabilities. They also note how few white-collar criminals end up in jail and how, in general, when people talk about crime, they mean crimes committed by working class males.
In that mind, I read with interest an account ‘written’ by an English scallywag known as Oz of an incident involving his gang leader Johnno. This fellow is described as ‘big, mean and only too willing to seek revenge and mete out summary justice’.
On this occasion, having bought a Nissan Cherry for £400, the gang took it to a football pitch and had ‘a jalopy derby’.
The car was raced back and forwards on the pitch. At one point two members ‘surfed’ on the roof. Johnno decided to get them off and did so by slamming on the brakes, sending them flying and also shattering the sun-roof.
Finally, Johnno further trashed the car by opening the doors and ‘trying to smash them off by reversing into the posts’.
We get the picture. Communities throughout the country have been putting up with its like and more for years. Many’s the football pitch that has been ruined by so-called joyriders putting on exhibitions like this.
There is just one small problem. Oz is better known as Austin Healey, former England rugby international and British Lion. And Johnno is the recently retired Martin Johnson, captain of Leicester and England, a British Lion honoured by the Queen. The car belonged to a team-mate.
The article appeared in the Observer of May 15th, along with others, the general tenor of which was what a great guy Johnson was. The greatest ever, according to Eddie Butler.
Somehow one doubts that Minister McDowell, Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte are thinking of the likes of Oz and Johnno when they promise to tackle anti-social behaviour. It’s partly to do with wealth. Should anyone try to impose an ASBO on Oz and Johnno they would be ably defended by a team of lawyers as would many of the better-heeled youth of this country. So, it’s also to do with class.
And herein is the central problem with the idea of an anti-social behaviour order. What is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander. But our legal system is based on the fundamental principle that crime is described dispassionately and treated (more or less) equally and the judiciary is there to ensure some measure of consistency.
Michael McDowell is fond of referring to terrorised old ladies. Well, I met an old woman in Belfast recently. She pointed out noted the youngsters of whom her neighbours were terrified.
Some saw threats and heard loud noise and wanted them kept away. She just saw ‘wee boys’ going past the flats to play football in the carpark, the only safe space available to them. She added that ‘at least when you can see them you know what they’re doing. It’s when you can’t see them you should get worried!’
Who was right?
An analogy helps. The speed limit is a universal regulation. It applies to me and to the hooded youngster equally. But if the ASBO line is followed, speeding could be regarded as just good fun or as a crime depending on whether somebody noticed or got offended or like Johnno, the offender had someone to clean up after him.
A far better approach would be to find the money to implement the Children Act. That way, not only would you change the culture of anti-social behaviour. You would also cut down on the number of young people developing into criminals dealing in drugs, robbing post offices and turning loaded weapons on the Gardaí.
Liverpool fans will swear it. But even Johnno could tell Minister McDowell that winners are always prepared to play a long game.