Niamh Walsh’s Manifesto
Surely some are simply undeserving of our charity
SOME years ago, I was roped into dancing in one of those charity Strictly fundraisers that were all the rage. Beyoncé I am not.
The reasons for my missteps are many; I was drafted in late, missed a lot of practice and I had imbibed a few pre-performance tipples. So shocking was our routine that emcee Alan Hughes said ‘well, that was ehmmm...’ – he couldn’t quite find an adequate descriptor. When I got off stage my best friend who always has my back handed me a big drink saying ‘I stuck another 100 quid on our sponsorship. Coz, let’s face it, you’re going to need all the help after that shocker.’
Points were allocated not just on the dance but also on the amount of money raised. I was raising money for Dogs Aid and The Peter McVerry Trust and I have fundraised for both charities since. This is why I was wholly disheartened to read this week that Peter McVerry had given an apartment to violent repeat rapist Simon McGinley.
I am not unusual in thinking that when I raise or donate cash for charities it is with the understanding that the money goes to the needy, the most vulnerable, those to whom life has dealt a rotten hand. McGinley is none of those things. In fact, he is someone who has taken everything from the most vulnerable.
In 1998, McGinley was sentenced to 12 years in jail after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl.
Then, in 2009, he was jailed for 21 years for the brutal rape of an 85-year-old woman in her Co. Monaghan home in 2008.
It takes a particular type of evil to rape a helpless 86-year-old pensioner and not only violate her in her own home but cruelly deprive her of any happiness or peace and make her last years a living hell. So disgusting in fact that he even forced the poor women to testify instead of doing the decent thing and pleading guilty.
Someone like this deserves neither mercy, charity not forgiveness. Those at the Peter McVerry Trust may be of a more Christian or charitable nature than me and apparently of the mindset that sinners should be shown the righteous path. That road should not lead to a spanking new flat, fully furnished with mod cons. Especially when we are in a housing crisis and there are countless others far more deserving of a roof over their head.
Sleeping rough while we’re stuck in neutral
REPORTS that Ukrainian refugees who fled their war-ravaged country to seek safe haven here may be forced to sleep on the streets is a very poor reflection on this country.
Ukrainians are fighting for all of our future freedoms. Our neutrality protects generations of men from dying in war while we have also relied on it to avoid giving Ukraine weapons. It also means we don’t pay for arms that have cost other nations like Britain, France, Germany, Poland and the US billions. We had one job in this war and that is to provide safe haven to women and children running for their lives. Even if housing these people cost us all a little more, it’s a comparatively small price to pay. But it’s a sad state of affairs that we have failed miserably in that one mission.
Gary’s OG as he puts boot into Boris
LAST week, I (half-in-jest) posited that Boris Johnson could be back. Now that this could actually turn out to be true it is highly entertaining to watch the former empire descend into an international laughing stock. Spitting Image couldn’t give us comedy on this scale.
What is equally amusing is the outrage of the more self-righteous. Take footballer-turned-hiredsports-shill Gary Neville.
The former Man U great took to Twitter to call Johnson ‘corrupt’. Neville’s comments are very much an own goal given he is being paid to commentate on the World Cup by beIN Sports in Qatar – a regime with a deplorable human rights reputation – to act as sports washerin-chief. Neville may be anti-corruption but seems he has no problems with moral bankruptcy.
Great to see Mac’s back on the box
EOGHAN McDERMOTT and myself would have what, at best, could be categorised as a ‘cordial professional relationship’. I say this to pre-empt accusations of being a cheerleader for my media chums. Mates, Mr McDermott and me, absolutely are not.
But I was heartened to read this week that Eoghan has reclaimed his role as narrator on the new series of Love Island Australia. Eoghan vanished after accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced on social media from an anonymous woman who provided not a scintilla of proof. She later admitted they were false. However Eoghan lost his entire career and livelihood overnight, simply because an unknown person made the most awful false accusations on social media. I interviewed Eoghan shortly after he had landed the role on Love Island and I can vividly recall his joy and excitement at his new career venture. So to have not only this role but his career prospects ripped away from him in an instant is a trauma from which many could not recover.
Eoghan has proved that the claims made were untrue and he took legal measures to clear his name. He has every right to return to work and not only regain his livelihood but reclaim the rest of his life. I wish him the very bestest of luck, not only in Love Island but in life.
Therapy pooches refused insurance
INSURANCE companies are refusing to provide cover for therapy dogs who work even one day a week providing company and comfort in care homes and hospitals.
One volunteer pooch, Poppy, was deemed doggy-non-grata despite having been insured since she was a puppy. Poppy’s owner was refused a renewal despite the fact that separate cover was in place to insure Poppy when she was carrying out her charity work, so there was clearly no added risk.
Despite this the company remained adamant that her work disqualified her for cover meaning that should Poppy fall ill or need surgery she would now have to foot – or in this case paw – the bill for her own medical expenses.
It’s pretty much standard in this country that the more you contribute, the greater the cost.