OPINION: Pointing fingers at an individual in power is what we do very well

THE OPINION article that Willie O’Dea had published in the Sunday Independent criticising Justice Minister Helen McEntee is one that suggests finger pointing.

Whatever does a ‘woke gallery’ mean, anyway? I’m not sure Willie would even know, and considering that he is condemning behaviour of ‘youths’, the generational jargon seems a bit out of place. 

Telling the Justice Minister what she should and shouldn’t be focusing on in itself seems a bit rich. 

Yes, there is a gaping hole in the police force and fewer individuals are joining the force, but An Garda Síochána have very recently piloted a media campaign to encourage young people to join. 

The Justice Minister cannot physically push people into it. 

Frankly, the jobs that the gardaí face on a daily basis are difficult and very often, hard to stomach. Yes, they do years of training and so forth, but it is not by any means a job that every individual would be suited to. 

Anti-social behaviour is a constant and inevitable part of society, in all aspects. Pointing fingers at one individual in power is what we, as Irish people, do very well. 

In actuality, it is a problem which can only be solved through a united effort, and let’s be real: it’s just as difficult to stop anti-social behaviour as it is to charge parents with a criminal conviction. Nor is it as easy to employ more gardaí.