In a polarised world, we all need to stand up for what we believe in

Jim Duffy regrets not sticking up for the parents of missing girl Madeleine Mccann while getting his hair cut

Iwas having a good morning, the sun was shining, I had completed my HIIT training and I was now off for a haircut.

The barbers was empty except for one patron already having his hair trimmed. This left one vacant seat and one hair stylist who duly prompted me to sit down. A shawl was wrapped around me, tucked in at the neck and I was politely asked what I would like. “A number two all round and a scissor cut to the front in a side shed please.” A fairly standard and basic exercise for a stylist and so she set off revving up the clippers. All was well and I was settling in for ten minutes of being pampered in the hope and belief that it would knock ten years off me.

However, the mood changed as I tuned into the conversation that was taking place in the chair beside me. It was all about Madeleine Mccann.

Both the stylist and the bloke getting his hair cut were blethering on about Kate and Gerry Mccann. As soon as I heard the name Mccann, something instinctive kicked in and my curiosity was sparked into life. It always is when I hear the name Madeleine Mccann as I for one live in hope that one day she will crop up somewhere alive and well.

I’ve never met Kate or Gerry Mccann, but they are of my generation. Madeleine’s disappearance is for me and many like me I would guess, a bit like what the shooting of JFK felt like for the generation before us. I will always remember where I was and the pictures being beamed out of Paia da Luz in May 2007 when she was reported missing.

Even more powerful is the fact that I have had holidays in resorts like this at that time and felt it was safe to let the children be out of my sight. So, I was immediately fixated on the dialogue taking place only three metres from me, punctuated by the sound of snipping scissors.

The conversation went something like this: in short, Gerry and Kate were covering something up and had a guilty conscience. That is why they have to keep “looking” and blaming the Portuguese cops. Only because they were doctors and had money was so much attention being focussed on the investigation.

And, of course, why were they not arrested for child neglect as soon as they arrived back in the UK etc ... The tone of the conversation was accusatorial and frank.

I immediately felt on edge and irritable. I could tell that the stylist cutting my hair could sense I was starting to move on my seat and fidget.

She also, I could feel, was not at all comfortable with the narrative emanating from her colleague and her customer and then started to chat to me about “Was I going anywhere nice on holiday this year?” This pleasant distraction then moved my attention to other things and very quickly I was handing over my cash and escaping from the barbers into my car and up the road.

In a “free” country, we have the opportunity to voice our opinions and we must let others have their say. This is only right and proper in a civil, democratic society. So, why was I so incensed at the spurious arguments I heard at the barbers? And why is that I am so irritated if I hear any negativity around Kate and Gerry Mccann, a couple who are in a living hell and always will be to the day they die, unless Madeleine reappears?

I fully accept that the Mccann media strategy was impressive and really kicked off global interest in Madeleine’s disappearance. But, if we are all being honest, we would have done the same.