Letters: How Shane MacGowan saved me from descending into hell

I knew all of this because I had told myself so — and also there was the small matter of the drink aiding such a favourable self-assessment.

At about 8pm in the bar of the Four Seasons, Ballsbridge, I was at the apex of my powers. I noticed Shane MacGowan in the corner of the bar with two men beside him, watching the evening unfurl.

I was certain Shane MacGowan would want to meet me. Two lads about town. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

The first thing that was wrong was my tracking, as I moved inelegantly towards him. What should have been a 10-second walk was probably closer to a minute as I kept the legend firmly in my zig-zag sight. And then I was there — one foot away from the icon.

Before I could open my mouth, however, he uttered seven immortal words — and not ones I might have readily expected from one of the country’s leading drinkers.

“Get that f**king drunk away from me,” he told a minder.

It was a very lonely and long walk back to my table of assorted other inebriates.

Two days later, following one last Christmas hurrah, I woke up at 2am and vowed I would never drink a drop of alcohol again. And nor have I since.

I’d like to think it was my own head and willpower that saved me before my final inevitable descent to hell, but it was you, Shane MacGowan — it was you who saved a soul with a throwaway remark.

The truth is, you never probably really knew the number of people you touched in so many ways in your life.

John Deane-O’Keeffe, Phibsboro, Dublin 7

Racism mustn’t thrive in our peaceful nation

Sir — On the night of the Dublin riots, I was ashamed to be Irish. This is a sentence I never thought I would say.

Three innocent children were attacked in broad daylight, which is a terrible tragedy, and my thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. But people are using this tragic attack, along with many others, as a reason and excuse to justify their racism and prejudice towards immigrants and people of colour.

The people who took down the attacker were Brazilian, French and Irish. The people I saw causing fear and destruction to this country’s capital and its citizens were Irish. People tend to conveniently forget we were once immigrants, unwanted in other countries.

I am a young mother of a baby girl and I want her to grow up in the just country I know we can be if we try. I cannot stay silent. Hate and fear will not bring peace. The racist agenda behind this attack has not and will not be achieved. We are still a country of peace and acceptance.

Shauna Whelan, Co Meath

Ireland pays price for raw US capitalism

Sir — We continue to believe we are a grand little country and everyone loves us. We have ignored wholesome social, cultural and economic betterment and embraced raw American capitalism and are now paying the price.

I have suffered greatly for my political and environmental activism and know this State is ugly and putrid.

Michael Kunz, Kilcoole, Co Wicklow

Public figures should mind their language

Sir — There is something unsettling and perhaps defeatist when you hear Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris calling individuals within our society “thugs” and “scumbags”.

It’s akin to losing your temper and only plays into the mindset of individuals who carry out acts of thuggery, violence and anarchy. Maybe the rest of us mere mortals can use such language.

Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18

Interesting to learn origins of ‘scumbag’

Sir — I was appalled to hear Minister Helen McEntee describe our fellow travellers through eternity as “scumbags”.

To ascertain the real meaning of her use of the offending word, I looked up several sources. To my great surprise, I found several etymologies that give it meaning. A few years back, it was actually the word for a contraceptive.

The word scumbag (scum plus bag) meant condom. It took on a modern meaning in the 1960s or thereabouts to become interpreted as a word for a despicable person.

I will henceforth describe any gathering of rioters on the streets or in a pub as a crowd (or, in Dublin parlance, a “shower”) of condoms.

Michael Freeman, Rosslare Strand, Co Wexford

Closure of our garda stations started rot

Sir — It makes me sad, depressed and angry to see the complete breakdown of law and order all over the country. It started back in 2012 when the seeds were sown with the closing of garda stations.

An Garda Síochána was once a proud organisation that young women and men were queuing up to join. Now members are leaving in worrying numbers. Why?

MJC (retired garda), name and address with editor

​We needed Defence Forces to protect city

Sir — Where were our Defence Forces when our capital city was under attack? How could An Garda Síochána, which does not have sufficient numbers for normal policing, be expected to cope with such a riotous mob? What is the function of our Defence Forces if not to defend our country when under attack?

Brian Lube, Co Meath

Government needs to drop soundbites

Sir — Who thinks the Government’s response to the Dublin riots is akin to the parable about the emperor’s new clothes?

Apparently, everything is hunky-dory in the rose garden, apart from the need for CCTV recognition technology and the Hatred Bill.

I find it simplistic and way off the mark to think this whole debacle can be distilled down to two pieces of legislation that are reactive rather than preventive.

The riot, despite Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s contention to the contrary, did not come out of the blue.

It is clear the gardaí were overwhelmed. If there was a plan, those tactics completely failed.

The far right is part of the equation, but as Michael McNamara noted in the Sunday Independent (November 26), whether those looting and attacking gardaí afterwards were driven by far-right ideology is debatable.

The Government needs a comprehensive strategy, not soundbites.

Andy Hales, Kenmare, Co Kerry

Gardaí clearly failed to use sufficient force

Sir — The garda response to the rioting, looting and thuggery on the streets of Dublin was inadequate and ineffective. It was solely a garda operational problem and not in any way the fault of the justice minister.

I have no doubt that if the gardaí had used sufficient force to prevent any of the incidents we saw and had succeeded, they would have received the full backing of all reasonable people, the courts and the politicians.

Sean Lavin, Donore, Naas, Co Kildare

Brave officers defend fabric of our society

Sir — I have watched, listened to and read commentary from people who will never have to stand on the front line in order to prevent the wanton destruction of property, assault on our communities and our dedicated men and women of An Garda Síochána.

You will never get a civil libertarian or certain politicians holding a baton or shield to protect their communities. Their raison d’etre is obfuscation, pontification and pointing the finger.

Blaming state agencies or frontline gardaí for perceived inequalities in society, or the thorny issue of immigration or allocation of direct provision centres for asylum-seekers, may have some legitimate merits or nuances to some minority groups, but it is not and should not be used as an excuse to stir up mob violence in an attempt to destroy the very fabric of our society, societal norms and values.

Christy Galligan (retd Gda Sgt), Letterkenny, Co Donegal

Let us be grateful to all those who serve

Sir — Not everyone chooses a life in uniform with the disciplines and sacrifices involved. Thank them for their service when you meet them.

And think of them when you retire for the night and enjoy your Christmas. They are out there always for us.

Harry Mulhern, Millbrook, Dublin 13

Sinn Féin cynical on victims of violence

Sir — At a time when Ireland’s hard-earned reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants fleeing torture and death and a safe tourist destination is being undermined, it is imperative that all democratic forces stand together against the far right.

Instead, Sinn Féin once again cynically and opportunistically exploits the situation for narrow and selfish political advantage, showing a callous disregard for those victims who have suffered, including not only immigrants but the Dublin city centre business community and the gardaí who courageously confronted the violent mobs.

Sinn Féin sympathy for gardaí rings very hollow indeed. It should not be forgotten that republican terrorist organisations, including the Provisional IRA, were responsible for the murder of 23 gardaí, yet Sinn Féin representatives continue to glorify the IRA campaign of terror that was also responsible for the murder of the majority of all the victims of the Troubles.

They would prove their fitness for government if they now disassociated themselves from the actions of the IRA.

Instead, they choose to condemn and blame Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris (whose father was murdered by the IRA) instead of joining forces with them to confront the present anti-democratic forces of the far right and those who preceded them during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

John Cushnahan, Lisnagry, Co Limerick

I buy newspapers for the truth, not lies

Sir — According to what I read in your newspaper, you and your reporters consider yourselves obliged to tell lies about Sinn Féin. You seem to pass it off as the right thing to do.

I would like to point out that I bought your expensive newspaper to read the truth, but it’s all over now.

Incidentally, I am not a member of any political organisation.

Éamonn Ó Liatháin, Mainistir na Féile, Luimnigh

Eli Cohen, not Leo Varadkar, needs ‘reality check’

Sir — Is it not supremely ironic that the Israeli foreign minister, Eli Cohen, should accuse the Taoiseach of “losing his moral compass” simply because he expressed joy and relief that the young Israeli-Irish hostage Emily Hand who was “lost” had now been “found”, given that Israel is in all but name conducting a genocide on the Palestinian people?

Everyone knows what Mr Varadkar meant by “lost” and “found”. He was lauding the fact that the young girl had been released from captivity in Gaza and he has unequivocally condemned the Hamas attack.

If anyone needs a “reality check”, it is Mr Netanyahu’s and Mr Cohen’s government.

Sinéad Boland, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow

Sir — Surely our Taoiseach’s error was quoting a New Testament parable in an Old Testament context — a minor glitch, except to nit-pickers.

Cal Hyland, Rosscarbery, Co Cork

Another with a foot in all the provinces

Sir — I read with interest the letter from your young correspondent (November 26) who had the unique distinction of being a granddaughter descended from each of the four provinces.

My daughter was born in Ulster’s Belfast and got engaged to a Redmond descendant from Leinster’s Wexford. They got married in Munster’s Ballycotton, Co Cork, and her great-grandmother was reared in Connacht’s lovely Leitrim.

Not quite a draw.

Ian Elliott, Windsor Park, Belfast

A Nazi collaborator honoured in Dublin

Sir — Alone of all the cities in the free world, Dublin has a statue that honours a Nazi collaborator. This stands in Fairview Park and pays homage to Seán Russell, a senior Sinn Féin figure who, in Berlin in 1940, was betraying his country while Jews and others were being railroaded into death camps.

Russell was committing treason in exchange for positions in a future 32-county protectorate should the Nazis win. Yet in his letter last week calling for the removal of offending iconography from public display, Tom Cooper makes no mention of this statue, which shames us as a nation.

Eddie Naughton, The Coombe, Dublin 8

​I will miss Gene Kerrigan, but Colin Murphy is a good read

Sir — Gene Kerrigan’s weekly article was always the go-to page for me. Sometimes I would, just for a change, consciously defer the gratification until I reached the end of the newspaper.

I had prepared myself for an extended mourning period before risking being bored or irritated by his successor.

However, curiosity being what it is, I chose to read Colin Murphy’s contribution. I am glad I did. It was well-written and so well-researched. Well done.

Phyl O’Connor, Gortahork, Co Donegal

​Victoria Mary Clarke enriched Shane MacGowan’s life

Sir — One could not get a better example of unconditional love than the loyalty, care and commitment Victoria Mary Clarke gave to Shane MacGowan. While Shane’s death leaves a big void in her life, she can be consoled to some degree by knowing she enriched his life.

Margaret Walshe, Clonsilla Road, Dublin 15

State sees disability as a benefit-in-kind

Sir — As a person with a physical disability, I sympathise with the points made by Gavan Reilly in his thought-provoking article (‘Slick ads on disabilities are just optics’, November 26) regarding the difficulties faced by parents of autistic children due to the Government’s foot-dragging.

May I also draw attention to some of the difficulties faced by people with physical disabilities due to the obstacles sometimes put in their way by the State? I encountered one of these through the taxation system.

I lost my right leg above the knee due to sepsis in 2012, aged just under 60. I had been living as an owner-occupier in an apartment I had purchased at the height of the boom in 2006.

The apartment, on which I still had a substantial outstanding mortgage, was on the second floor of a building with no lifts. It thus became inaccessible to me overnight.

On discharge from hospital I secured a rental property and let my own, as I could not afford to sell it. Neither could I afford to buy again. As I was continuing to pay the mortgage on my own apartment, I needed the rental from it to pay the rent on my new accommodation.

However, the Revenue Commissioners, on receipt of my tax return, charged me tax on my rental income. The amount of this tax, over two years, came to approximately €10,000. It was, effectively, a tax on my disability, treating it as a benefit-in-kind.

Seán O’Donnell, Ardee, Co Louth

TDs, use your break to talk to electorate

Sir — The Dáil will be in recess after December 14 until January 16.

Might I suggest TDs use that time back in their constituencies to get out on to the streets, into the shops and churchyards and meet the people who bestowed on them the honour to serve and represent them, and listen to what they have to say?

E Bolger, Dublin 9