Irish Examiner view: Minimising all risks is an impossible task
Picture: Unprotected In Quays Dan Linehan Quay City Include Cork Kennedy
Fulfilling the role of coroner can be one of Ireland’s tougher tasks. Sitting through hours of evidence, much of it grisly and highly forensic in its detail; listening to accounts which can be both sad and depressing; reaching decisions which shed light on what has happened.
These are duties which can be undertaken in the most challenging and complex of circumstances. Last year, the Cork office reported that the number of cases it has handled has trebled since 2014, with consequential increases in inquests and autopsies.
Coroners are responsible under Irish law for the medical and legal investigation of certain deaths. They must be a barrister or a solicitor or registered medical practitioner of at least five years’ experience.
The instances in which they are called upon are varied: Deaths which are sudden, unnatural, violent, or unexplained; cases where crime is suspected; maternal or infant deaths; incidents involving persons in State custody; hearings where the date or cause of death is lost in the past and they have to rely on deduction; road accidents or those involving train, aircraft, and ships; and many more.
In addition to their professional qualifications, coroners need other qualities. They have to be ruggedly independent. It is their job to call it as they see it. And that is exactly what happened this week when the Cork coroner asked public bodies responsible for access to the city’s historic quays to prevent people who are contemplating suicide from being able to drive into the River Lee.
Coroner Philip Comyn said An Garda Síochána reported that there had been six suicides and six attempted suicides since 2018 involving people driving their cars into the river from unprotected quays such as Kennedy Quay and Horgan’s Quay, just downstream from the city centre.
“Given the number of incidents here over a short period of time, I think it is incumbent on the local authority responsible for these quays, whether it be the Port of Cork or Cork City Council, not only to come up with plans to make these quays safer and to prevent incidents of this nature taking place, but also to ensure the plan is implemented without further delay,” he added.
There was gruelling detail in the case of a 35-year-old Ukrainian father-of-one who drove his Audi into Kennedy Quay on March 2, before 4am. The inquest heard that he and his family had fled their homeland to escape Vladimir Putin’s war a year previously.
Through an interpreter, his wife said he had been depressed and agitated. Traces of cocaine were found in his bloodstream.
The coroner warned of the dangers of recreational drugs and delivered a verdict of suicide.
It is understandable that the coroner would make observations on how risks can be minimised or obviated. Indeed, that is part of their job. But the opportunities for someone who is determined to take their life are manifold.
Not all can be minimised.
To take an example many thousands of miles away, there have been 11 deaths so far this year at Grand Canyon National Park. The annual average is 17. Nearly 200 people have died there since 2007. Some are accidents; some are suicide; some are visitors simply failing to take adequate precautions in extreme conditions.
We might like to think we can mitigate all dangers and protect people from themselves. And we should give that aim our best endeavours.
But, noting the fragility of existence, it is a mission doomed to fail.
samaritans.ie to find your nearest branch.
Part of the benefit of being in a big club is that you enjoy the economies of scale, which can sometimes work in your favour. On other occasions, it means coping with daft decisions made elsewhere.
Into that category we can place the plan by Spain’s Consumer Rights Ministry to fine budget airlines €179m for practices including charging for oversized cabin baggage, seat selection, or printing out boarding passes at the airport.
That Ryanair is among the carriers to be hit will suit those who don’t like Michael O’Leary or his airline.
Other companies that were penalised are EasyJet, Vueling, Norwegian, and Volotea.
The reality is, however, that Ryanair and the others provide a low-cost, no-frills, point-to-point service which has been a manifest benefit to consumers and which remains popular.
The company makes no bones about its business model. A statement says: “Ryanair has, for many years, used bag fees and airport check-in fees to change passenger behaviour and we pass on these cost savings in the form of lower fares.”
Changing customer behaviour, which in this case has a direct impact on turnaround time and cost, is not illegal and most have adjusted to it. It’s not so different to the “surge pricing” which is adopted by many attractions and entertainment businesses to even out demand and make it manageable.
As long as people are aware, and have a choice, then lower fares should win the day.
If the Irish election was the Cheltenham Gold Cup, you might say that the runners are some seven furlongs out, and still have that potentially punishing run up the hill to the winning post.
While the opinion polls appear to have the TikTok Taoiseach ahead (and what a fine name that would be for a festival favourite next March) there is still the opportunity for an exciting finish and some interesting haggling after the weigh-in.
What we do know is that there is now less than a week before the votes which will determine the composition of the 34th Dáil are cast.
And amid the policy claims and counterclaims, statements about who will ally with whom (or not, as the case may be), socials and photo opportunities, there is a useful debate developing about who is eligible to vote and how that might change in the future.
Simon Harris was questioned yesterday on why Ireland is one of the few countries that does not allow its diaspora a vote in general elections.
While most people know the answer to this — it is potentially huge and could have a seismic influence on the outcome — Harris was diplomatic enough to rely on a response that has been a trusted favourite for this Government.
There’s an electoral commission looking at this, said Mr Harris, and he would “welcome any guidance from them”. Like the covid review and drugs reform, this is one for the future.
There is, of course, a significant difference between Irish people who are away temporarily — for work or study, perhaps — and those who have made their long-term and primary home overseas.
It would, of course, be questionable for them to be able to vote without facing the consequences of their decisions.
But there is another group who are disenfranchised but whose contribution and status have formed an important part of the debate during this campaign and before it. And that is the position of migrant workers.
Some of these work and pay their taxes here. Some rent and own properties. Some own and run businesses. Some play a full life in our communities.
It is possible to do all these things without full citizenship rights. Even if those are desired, they can take up to two years to achieve.
Globally, some 45 countries extend voting rights to migrants at different levels of elections.
British immigrants can vote in Irish general elections (and vice versa).
In Wednesday’s , our digital news reporter Imasha Costa put forward a convincing range of arguments in an article headlined ‘Migrants like me have no voice in this election’.
It’s difficult to see how, in a country where one in seven people fall into that category, we can have a fully-functioning and effective democracy unless their views are heard and represented.
In the American Revolution, there was a slogan which proclaimed: “No taxation without representation.” It changed the course of US history.
In Ireland, just now, we appear willing to accept the fruit of other people’s labours without finding an effective way to allow them to contribute to the body politic.