Emotion often triumphs over reason

Death! The surprising hot topic of the week, writes Brendan O’Regan

Death is one of the very few things that are inevitable, so it’s no wonder that it features so heavily in news and drama. In the news I find the constant stream of murders and natural disasters rather depressing, but in drama there can sometimes be insights that give enlightening perspective.

The US drama Resurrection is back on RTÉ 2 on Tuesday nights. Now in its second season, it tells the story of a community where those who have died over the years begin to return.

There’s a faith element running through it as the local pastor has difficulties reconciling the apparent return of the dead with his Christian faith. Some busybody parishioners don’t make it any easier, nor does the return of his deceased girlfriend, now pregnant. Needless to say his wife isn’t too pleased.

Last week’s episode had him discussing his faith with the temporarily estranged wife and, in a touching scene, reconciling with her. We also saw him respectfully refusing the advances of the returned girlfriend that he is supporting in her pregnancy. We don’t see that too often in TV drama.

Religious faith is respected on the show, and it does tap into the link many people feel with those loved ones who have died. Of course, loved and all as they are, having them return like this might not be the most desirable thing, and these particular ‘resurrections’ cause many conflicts for the living, not to mention the confused dead. But then some characters believe these are not really their loved ones at all. The mystery continues.

Death seemed to stalk the airways in many other ways last week. There was a surprisingly heated debate on the death penalty on The Big Questions last Sunday morning (BBC 1), which started with a quote from Pope Francis and an acknowledgement that his words carried weight.

Assisted suicide became an issue here again after a recent trial, and though suicide is a huge national problem, much of the commentary, especially on Newstalk’s Breakfastshow, felt like suicide in some cases being approved.

There was talk of a ‘vacuum’ in the law. Suicide has been decriminalised, but assisting suicide remains an offence for the protection of the vulnerable. A woman was tried for the crime and the charge didn’t stick. So where is the vacuum? Is the law inadequate when someone is found ‘not guilty’ of a crime?

Fortunately, Dr Tony O’Brien, hospice director and palliative care consultant, was on the show to inject some sense into the debate.

Meanwhile, Sunday Sequence (BBC Radio Ulster) featured a nuanced discussion on the concept of a ‘good death’, with the presenter Roisin McAuley rightly insisting that they were not talking about euthanasia.

On the referendum front: on Thursday of last week, on foot of an article in this paper, Baroness Nuala O’Loan was interviewed on both Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1)  and Newstalk’s Breakfastshow. Given her vast and respected experience on policing matters, her criticism of the ‘yes’ campaigning of the Garda Representative Association and of Gardai assisting the yes campaign with voter registration, was highly significant.

In both interviews she declared that she was against same-sex marriage, and had been when it was debated in the UK. I thought the Newstalk interview, by Chris Donoghue, bordered on rude, and contrasted sharply with the easy interview given by him the previous morning to ‘yes’ campaigner Fergus Finlay.

He did put a few challenging questions to Finlay, but it felt perfunctory.

Asked if the mother and father model wasn’t ideally the best for children, Finlay was dismissive, going on about the ideal being “a rustic cottage, a picket fence and apple pie on Saturday”. I thought this was a disappointingly juvenile response from a man of his intelligence and stature.

Last Friday, The Late Late Show debate on the issue was at its most interesting when the contributors were interviewed separately to give a personal touch. Afterwards the cut and thrust debate probably confirmed people’s existing opinions. It’s hard to judge how the undecided voter would respond. Of the main contributors, Colm O’Gorman spoke with the most passion, and unfortunately viewers tend to assume that a person who speaks passionately must be right.

We can only hope that people will take a more rational view in the end, but we live in an age where emotion often triumphs over reason.

 

Pick of the week

Film: The Way
BBC 2, Sat, May 9, 11:40pm
(2010) An  American (Martin Sheen) travels to Europe to recover the body of his deceased son and completes the son’s pilgrimage from France to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela.

Ecumenical Service: The Children of the Rising
RTĖ One, Sun, May 10, 11:00am         
An ecumenical service organised by Joe Duffy in memory of the 40 children who died during the Easter Rising of 1916.

Claire Byrne Live
RTĖ One, Mon, May 11, 9:35pm
Special on the marriage referendum.