16/12/2025
Very powerful message, long read but very worth the time
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ท๐ถ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐ต๐บ, ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ-๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ-๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ-๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ โ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ.
"Itโs been a week since we heard the horrifying news that four-year-old Tadgh Farrell, and his grand aunt Mary Holt, were killed in an arson attack on her home.
A third woman was left with life altering injuries. A child, four years old, killed, when the house he was in was deliberately set on fire.
That sentence is almost impossible to sit with, thereโs no way to make it smaller or easier to carry, no context that softens it and no complexity that diminishes what has been lost
That fact alone should have stopped the country in its tracks. It should certainly have stopped our National Parliament and demanded immediate political leadership. Forced a reckoning with how fear, intimidation and violence like this have been allowed to take such deep root in our communities.
Instead, thereโs been a disturbing quiet. No time set aside in the Dรกil to confront whatโs happened or to explain how this will be prevented from ever happening again. No visible response from the Minister for Justice or a public intervention from the Minister with responsibility for drugs.
No sense, at least within our political system, that the killing of a four-year-old child represents a breach so profound that it requires urgent and collective acknowledgement that something fundamental has gone catastrophically wrong.
This wasnโt a random accident. Violence rooted in intimidation, drugs, and organised crime, spilled directly into a family home. If that doesnโt warrant national reflection, itโs hard to know what does.
We pause Dรกil รireann for international tragedies and historic figures. We do it often, and rightly. So when a child is burned to death in Ireland and the parliament carries on business as usual, we are making a choice. We are deciding what counts as a rupture, and whatโs quietly absorbed.
Minutes of silence are not sentimental gestures. They tell people which lives the State publicly values, and which tragedies it is prepared to be unsettled by. Silence sends a message too, particularly to communities already living under fear.
The fact that this weekend we learned one of the suspects is fourteen years old makes this case even more devastating. It doesnโt dilute the horror of what happened, it deepens it.
When children appear in a story like this not only as victims but also as accused, it tells us that the damage runs far deeper than a singular incident or arson attack.
It tells us that itโs not just a policing issue. Itโs a complete failure across youth services, addiction policy, community safety, and State presence. It tells us that children are being drawn into violence long before anyone intervenes and that the systems meant to protect them have already failed.
That should be treated as a national emergency. Children donโt arrive at acts like these on their own, theyโre groomed into the environments where silence is survival, where debts and threats are held over households, and where adults with power and a profit to protect know exactly how to exploit vulnerability.
These attacks arenโt landing randomly either, itโs no accident that stories like this emerge again and again from the same kinds of places. They happen in working class communities, in ordinary homes, up and down the country. Edenderry. Clondalkin. Rural Ireland. The common thread is not the geography, itโs the vulnerability.
It happens most often in communities where the state has withdrawn. Places marked with fragile housing security, overstretched services, long waiting lists, growing up in poverty and a constant sense of being watched but not protected.
Look at what has been exposed in recent reporting. Farmers selling machinery to pay drug debts. Families threatened with sexual violence. Homes targeted to enforce silence and compliance. This isnโt chaotic violence. Itโs strategic, fear is used as the enforcement mechanism.
People rooted in place are being targeted precisely because they simply cannot leave. Farms passed down through generations, estates where everyone knows each other, small towns miles from services. That rootedness, which should be a strength, is being weaponised.
The uncomfortable truth is that when violence is concentrated in working class communities, thereโs an unspoken expectation of endurance. A quiet assumption that, yes, this is tragic, but itโs also familiar. That grief will be localised, and that the fear will be managed privately. This is where intimidation flourishes.
Itโs not that people are indifferent, but because the safety net beneath them is weak. If a child were killed in similar circumstances in a more affluent area, there would be no debate about our national response. There would be urgency, statements, wall to wall concern. Instead, weโre asked to move on.
This silence doesnโt exist in a vacuum. We know this pattern, serious youth violence is overwhelmingly concentrated in areas of highest deprivation.
Intimidation linked to drug gangs is routinely described by community organisations as endemic and largely hidden.
At the same time, youth services and early-intervention supports have failed to keep pace with need, leaving gaps that are filled with fear instead. None of this is unknown.
What is missing is urgency and it sits alongside a broader distortion of priorities in how we talk about public safety. Under the current Minister for Justice, enormous political energy has been invested in the spectacle of enforcement and particularly around deportations.
Weโve seen deportation flights carrying three times as many gardaรญ as deportees, framed as proof of resolve and control. It makes for strong optics and easy headlines. Meanwhile, the communities living under the daily threat of drug related intimidation, arson, coercion, and the recruitment and grooming of children are left asking a far simpler question.
Where is the State when our homes are targeted? Where is it when fear dictates how we go about our day to day lives? Where is it when children are both victims and tools of organised crime? A four-year-old child should never be collateral damage in a criminal economy.
That truth does not require caveats, but it does require an honest reckoning about the states failure to intervene before violence took hold. A State serious about safety does not choose between borders and communities. But it does choose where to put its attention, its resources, and its moral urgency. Right now, that balance looks badly wrong.
What worries me most is how quickly violence like this is folded into the background noise of crime reporting. A headline. A funeral. Then on we go. This is how we become desensitised as a society. That is how fear becomes normalised and how responsibility drifts upwards until it disappears.
Honouring Tadgh Farrell would not prejudice any investigation. A minuteโs silence doesnโt convict anyone. It simply says that the State sees what is happening and refuses to treat it as just another story.
If children can be groomed into killing other children, then this isnโt just a policing issue, and it demands political leadership equal to that reality.
The question facing government isnโt how quickly the story fades from view. Itโs how do we confront this pandemic of intimidation head on, how do we disrupt grooming, protect families, and ensure that no child grows up believing that fear is simply the price of where they live.
A four-year-old child is dead. Another child allegedly used to carry out the act. This should have been a turning point.
If it doesnโt provoke outrage, action, and accountability at the highest levels of our politics, then we need to ask what kind of silence we have become willing to live with, and who it ultimately serves.
Silence, in moments like this, is not neutral. It is a political choice and one we will be judged for."
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐, ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ: ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐. ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. ๐ง๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐น.
#๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ #๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป #๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐ #๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ #๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ #๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐จ๐ฝ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐
https://substack.com/inbox/post/181719789?r=i2nn7&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true&just_subscribed=true
