Let’s get rid of our Army and deliver a better policing service

I HAPPENED to be reading an article about some of the Latin American countries and the predicaments that they are in, with revolts, civil wars, dictators and drugs. Then I read about the most peaceful of all those countries, Costa Rica, which has a population of just over five million, and has no army whatsoever.

Then I thought of our little banana republic of a similar size trying to keep abreast of their soldiering counterparts in the European Union.

Costa Rica has a police force which is seemingly more than enough to maintain law and order. The country did have a brief civil war in 1948 that lasted 44 days and left 2,000 dead.

A year later the new government permanently abolished its army after drafting a new constitution, becoming one of the few self-governing countries without an official military force.

There is a lesson there for our Government. Rather than spending millions updating an army with modern weaponry, and discussing the need for an air force to keep an eye on the Russians, why can’t they get rid of all that razzmatazz altogether?

What Costa Rica has accomplished proves that a state can be voluntarily disarmed, and the money wasted on military spending can be distributed in ways that prioritise a proper nationalised health and education system.

So where are we going astray? I’ve heard that the Government is eyeing up the purchase of the biggest ship yet to join the Navy. What for? How can they justify such a decision?

The Irish Army morphed out of a half successful fight for independence and a nasty civil war.

Since then, there has been Irish involvement in UN peacekeeping operations, just to give soldiers twiddling their thumbs something to do, but in no way, shape or form are we contributing to any sort of world peace by having, updating and maintaining an army with money that could be better spent elsewhere. As for the Navy, keep fishery protection boats, which will be tasked with tackling drug shipments coming into Irish waters. Take a leaf from Costa Rica’s book and decommission arms, open all closed-up Garda stations and provide a proper policing service.

JAMES WOODS, Gort an Choirce, Dún na nGall.

Bailey the narcissist

I HAVE to commend Mary Carr for her brilliant and courageous article in Monday’s Mail on the life and times of the late Ian Bailey.

The law states that all of us are innocent until proven guilty. Mary is correct in pointing out that the vast preponderance of the court of public opinion, especially in West Cork, feel otherwise when it comes to Bailey. It’s incredulous to learn of claims he confessed to the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier to a number of people.

He was charged with assaulting his ex-partner in 2001 and the optics of all this are rather unnerving, though I am acutely aware that being convicted of assault does not mean one is automatically guilty of murder.

Bailey always struck me as being a textbook narcissist. Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) involves a pattern of self-centred, arrogant thinking and behaviour, and a lack of empathy and consideration for other people.

Narcissists possess this innate desire to experience excessive admiration from others.

These individuals can be cocky, manipulative, selfish, patronising and demanding. It always seemed to me that Bailey, in a perverse way, enjoyed trading off Sophie’s death. He appeared to relish doing television interviews and speaking to journalists.

The fact that he was always loud and raucous did nothing to endear him to the court of public opinion. If he showed humility and kept his head down after Sophie’s murder, one feels that his credibility would have been greatly enhanced.

JOHN O’BRIEN, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.