Dear Editor, I was unsettled this week to hear the coverage of the murder of a young Dublin man whose body was found in County Meath. Not only is this a new low in Irish crime, but the coverage of the story by some of the media sources is (in my view) a symptom of the disregard that currently exists in Ireland for some people in society.
All of the radio reports that I heard identified the victim as a convicted drug dealer, before they even gave his name. I felt saddened by that because it highlights the unfortunate reality that in Ireland in 2013 we are fundamentally unequal, even in death, and that the legacy of what you do in life will carry with you even after you are gone.
Perhaps I am being a little naive but whatever this man did in life, he has paid the ultimate price and I feel strongly that the media in a ‘Christian’ society have an obligation to have a little more compassion and afford him some dignity in death!
Yours etc.,
John Byrne,
Lecturer in Social Care Practice,
Waterford Institute of Technology,
Co. Waterford.
