Last week, there was some news about a burglary in the small town of Castlerea in County Roscommon, in the West of Ireland. The town where I more or less spent the first six years of my time in Ireland before moving further West. There is never anything going on in this town really, although it was supposedly a busy and thriving little place before the financial crisis hit it hard. The way I know the place is not always very positive. First of all, it has one of the few prisons in Ireland, which means that once Mount Joy in Dublin is filled up with the heavier cases and 2nd grade prisoners, they come to Castlerea. Their partners and family often move there too, so they don't have to travel the 2 hours from Dublin every time they want to visit, and most of them end up staying after their husband/father is released. Of course, not every prisoner is a repeat offender, but there are always a few. Which causes this tiny little town in Ireland to have become just that little more 'interesting' if you want to call it that. Then secondly, it is also the town with the largest criminal case of child sexual abuse by 2 priests ever to have been reported in Ireland, with more than 130 children who came forward about the abuse. And this number is probably much higher, as a lot of those children (mostly boys) would likely never have said a word. I personally know a few men who were a victim in the 80's and 90's and neither one of them has ever come forward about it. This gives the town an extra strange energy, because if you think of it, possibly 1 out of 4 men between the age of 30 and 48 who lived in the town back then, were once a sexual abuse victim... There are so many more things I could mention about the place, its dark history and it's interesting and sometimes plain crazy people, but I might leave that for another time. I think this story is more interesting, as it has awakened the otherwise fast asleep town people and brought them to action. Something positive...for once. Back to the burglary I mentioned...

What happened?

On the early morning of December the 9th, there had been a reported burglary in one of the shops in Castlerea. Of course, the Gardai (Police in Ireland)were up and on the go to try and catch the perpetrators. One member of the gardai, supposedly stopped two men who were walking home at around 1 a.m. in the morning. Somehow things got out of hand and all three had to be admitted to the hospital with injuries. Fortunately nothing too serious...

This was the news as the mainstream media of Ireland portrayed it:

According to several news outlets, the garda who was looking for the burglars, stopped to talk to these two men and was immediately brutally attacked by both. He allegedly had to fight for his life, using his baton to fend the men off, which eventually led to all three men being injured.

The first response of most people when they read this, was of course of horror at the brutality these men had shown. Some said the garda was right to use his baton to 'defend' himself. Others even said that the police here should have guns...

But then, some other news came to light. Something completely different from the story that had been told by the Irish media...
You see, you can't forget, that in a small town like Castlerea, pretty much everyone knows each other. They most likely grew up together, or are at least acquaintances now. I mean, half the town knows who I am. Even though I don't know half of them, they know me. After all: about 7 years ago, I moved to Ireland from Holland...that is something newsworthy in a town like that.

The truth?

It didn't take long before people started to tell a few other stories. I heard people say that these men wouldn't hurt a fly. One of them was as gentle as they come, was said by an older man I happen to know. He worked with him for 5 years. Everywhere I turned, I heard people say: Lies, lies, lies...
Now, I still don't know for sure who these two are. I am not sure if I know them. However, if I hear people that I do know in the town, say that the picture the media has painted isn't entirely true, or better even: not true at all, then I believe them.
The people of rural areas in this part of the country can be quite judgemental. If these men would have been drunks, known to get a bit rowdy every now and then, the town's people's words would have been more like this: 'Ah, it doesn't surprise me.' Or: 'It was only a matter of time...' But we heard none of that. Of course, I never spoke to the men themselves, but I am sure, that by now, they would have spoken to some people. And what was said was something 100% different from the 'official' story.
It was the cop himself who beat these men, pretty much right away after stopping them on the street. These men were minding their own business, one was even related to the owner of the shop where the burglary took place. Maybe they were a bit cheeky with their answer to him...But either way: the cop thought he had the right to beat them with his baton about something he didn't 'like'. And then, of course: they defended themselves... What would you do if a cop would start beating you without any good reason? Exactly...

These were the lines that appeared all over the Facebook feed in regards to the incident.

As you can see, there are enough people questioning and criticizing the 'official' story.

Some eyes have been opened.

And then this happened...

Conclusion

There's no way to express just how glad I am to see this happen in this small town in rural Ireland. Of course, I am not happy about these men getting injured. But obviously it was something that needed to happen for people to start opening their eyes and wake up to the corruption that is called the police and government agencies here. If I am quite honest, I lost all hope for Ireland and the Irish, because trying to talk sense to them made for a big disappointment time and time again. Every time I would bring up something that was just not right, or completely out of order, I would be met with blank stares, a shrug and/or the words: "But there's nothing we can do."

Well, the people of Castlerea have clearly showed that there is something they can do. Peacefully.
I am under no illusion that this will change things overnight, but it shows that people are waking up to what is truly going on in this country, and so many others. It's a good start.
In the same week, there was another incident that had people get up and stand up for the rights of others. I will write about this too.
The fact is: the people of Ireland are no longer asleep. They are starting to realize that this is not the freedom they fought so hard for all these years ago. And now, it is only a matter of time before the old Irish fighting spirit returns...

For the first time, in a long time, I am proud to live in Ireland.

Eire Tá do chúl agam

Thank you for reading.