It’s as if euros can remedy awful effects of violence

WHATEVER else can be said about the graphic advertisement from the Garda Representative Association promoting their pay claims, it was clearly designed to shock. Posters of a young woman with black eyes and facial stitches may be ten a penny when they are raising awareness of domestic violence and the need to donate to the local women’s refuge. But conflating the real brutality that some gardaí encounter in the line of duty with the pay demands of public servants does not just strain credulity, it may also seem offensive to victims of violence – some of the very people our gardaí are paid to serve and protect. It is one thing for the gardaí to highlight the overlooked reality of members of the force being violently attacked. Perhaps the public should be made aware of how the work of gardaí can vary. That for every garda with an easy number or a desk job, there is another garda on the mean streets, risking life and limb on a daily basis. Gardaí like Helen Power who as the graphic advertisement says was ‘repeatedly kicked in the face until her eye socket fractured’ and to whom society owes a debt of gratitude. But there’s something obscene about stating that Garda Power is still suffering from ‘pay cuts’. It reduces her sacrifice and her courage to a matter of euro and cents, it suggests that the devastating effects of being viciously beaten up can be remedied by a few quid. This type of attitude caused the victim of sex offender Anthony Lyons to appeal the leniency of his sentence for brutally assaulting her and created a sea-change in attitudes towards rich people buying their way out of custodial sentences. Now we see it partially revived in an ad for garda pay claims. Let’s hope it doesn’t reflect the views of gardaí on the ground. Otherwise God help the terrified victims of violence who seek their assistance and expect their compassionate understanding.