Horrible blast from the past

[Spudulika]

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...e-2307284.html

I don't know how many posters on here remember this case, or the interview with the grieving father, but at the time it was close-ish to our family as the father, John, had had some business with my Dad and this shocked us all. In the week where a rather less than savoury and (if the rags are to be believed) unreformed character is released early, and the speculation on the thread about his probable self-demise, this should bring a balance to those who feel that karma can play a role. As a background to this article I suggest reading about events from this time (I won't mention what I know personally as that could be misconstrued or taken wrongly) - the, then, Health Board ordering visits to take place, despite Gardai objections and even the reservations of judge, and the lack of control exerted by the social welfare system on it all.

Then read this article, it's tone and tenor of it, and compare it with what's been written about Larry Murphy and any other males who transgressed the law. It's not just the Sindo, it's the media in general. Woman do things because they're sad, mad or misunderstood/deprived. Men do it because they're bad. In a nutshell:

To this day, investigators believe that alcoholism and depression drove her to kill her son in a deranged act of revenge on her estranged husband -- if she could not have custody of her son, then nor could he.

She admitted it at trial, it was mentioned in the Times and conveniently forgotten. This isn't wumming, or an anti-female post, it's just something that is a gaping flaw in human logic and reasoning that just isn't fair.

[Macy]

Whilst I think you have a point in the comparison of how (obviously sick, in a medical sense) men and women are treated in the media, I really don't think you are using the right comparison with Larry Murphy. There was no, however misguided/ misdirected, sense of love and loss that drove Murphy to do what he did that woman.

There are several cases that come to mind where a more direct comparison can be made in how they treat, for example murder suicides where it's the father compared to when it's the mother. Most of all it highlights the appaulling lack of support for people going through tough mental times, and the totally inadequate level of social services provision in this state. Even now, after several reports highlighting the problem and Government promises. Any time I've heard (the continually underwhelming) Barry Andrews talk about the supposed 270 extra social workers promised before the end of the year (last count 25 employed!), he hasn't been able to answer whether they will be new posts rather than new employees. And at a time of non replacement and recruitment embargos that's a very pertinent question.

[Spudulika]

Point taken, Macy, about the Murphy case, and I do feel for the father who lost everything. I always get very nervous when I hear about a woman who has killed her partner/husband/boyfriend, and how long it'll take for the "He was battering me for years" defence to come in. Fair enough there are cases, and too many that never come to an end, but try put it the other way around and it'd be laughed out of sight.

Agreed on the social services problem, a friend of mine was moved from our local health centre to take up a better position elsewhere, he told me that his spot - which he conducted with aplomb (even for an Athlone Town fan) was being filled temporarily but never permanently. A shift up happened in the centre and now they're one person down in an area that needs all the help it can get.

When I was home I'd to go up to apply for my European Health Card, and the weird thing was that almost half of the counter staff (case workers) were foreign. It made me think, only in 1 place in Canada have I seen an Irish person employed as such (no doubt there are more), and lots in the UK for sure, but what about the continent?