This Is Ireland
This is a story of two people from two different parts of the country who couldn’t be more different but have Irish law in common.
Our first is a young man who has no regard for anything but his own gratification. Some would call him misunderstood, others would call him a useless waste of oxygen. In 2006 this young man was part of a group who gang raped a woman in Cratloe woods. He later went on to clock up 43 other convictions for various types of scumbaggery. A couple of weeks ago, someone recognised this guy for the cunt he is and gave him a bit of a thumping. Fair play. Not the way I’d go about things but understandable nonetheless. He was admitted to A&E, where he decided to reclaim the testosterone he had lost by attacking the overworked staff of A&E. He was duly subdued and his injuries were seen to. He was recently up in front of a judge for this, his 45th conviction.
The second person in this story is a sixty fiver year old woman who lives on a farm. So proud is she of the land on which she resides that she has lovingly tended for the natural flora and fauna for most of her life. She has planted trees which she will not live long enough to see grow into their full beauty but is mindful of the fact that future generations will benefit from their presence. The ESB, Ireland’s electricity supply board recently informed her of their intention to cut down those trees and put pylons up on her land. They kindly informed her that she would be compensated to the tune of €150,000 for the inconvenience - not a sum to be trifled with by anyone in these lean times. Such is this woman’s love of her land and, indeed, her life’s work, that she refused that and asked instead if they could put the cables under ground, the European standard way of doing things these days. Ireland isn’t really up to speed on anything but the ESB are familliar with the practice, having used it in order to preserve the functionality and look of many a golf course and GAA club around the country. Obviously someone’s life’s work and passion isn’t as important as they ignored this request and took out a court order to gain access to her land and cut down her trees. She politely refused to unlock the gates to give them access and was, unfortunately, in breach of the aforementioned court order.
Which one of these people went to jail and which one was released on a short suspended sentence?
