GERRY
REASON I WRITE kIERON
ACTION mAN As he steps out of the armour-plated Hummer with extreme caution, he looks to the left and then to the right, with fear in his eyes, for only seven hours ago he had lost fellow soldiers by an improvised explosive device. He raises his arm to stop the tail end of the sand storm dust from going into his eyes. He treads carefully across the plains of the desert, heading into the village to look for insurgents. Acting on a tip-off that Al-Queda rebels were seen in the vicinity. Then out of nowhere, he could hear the sound of bullets whistle past his ears. He drops to his knees to take cover, and he rolls to his left to reach the corner of a wall. He peeks around the corner. A full volley of shots are fired in his direction. He orders his fellow soldiers to get to cover. He peeps around the corner one more time and sees a sniper on the rooftop of the building on the righthand side. He radios to his sergeant to advise him of the sniper’s position. His sergeant then throws a smoke grenade in the direction of the sniper, so he can get closer to the sniper’s position. When he gets close enough, he hides behind a burnt-out car. Positions his rifle carefully, so as not to be seen. Lines up his line of sight. Takes one deep breath and holds it. He squeezes the trigger, and – bang – the sniper is hit. He radios out to say that the coast is clear. They move on to the next target, still with fear in his eyes.
Sometimes I write to make the thoughts in my mind concrete. Sometimes when I get angry with someone, I write a letter rather than dismembering them. The pen is mightier than the sword, and leads to fewer court appearances. Mostly I write to reduce the constant chatter in my brain, which tends to overflow. I also like to write because phone credit is so bloody expensive. Now I like writing because I just got a free notepad and pen.
NIAmH
dEAR mINISTER I am writing to you on behalf of myself and many other recovering addicts. We have grave concerns regarding the immense and too readily available dispensing of methadone in Dublin. We, as addicts, feel that other options apart from lifetime methadone maintenances are not being given. It is all too easy for young addicts to avail of methadone, unwittingly signing their young lives away, only to realise later on that their addiction to methadone is a hundred times more agonising than the heroin addiction that led them to this place. There are people who have been on methadone for twenty years or more, for whom the very idea of coming off this poison is terrifying. The long-term affects of methadone can include heart failure. So, Minister, we implore you to try something new, as your methadone clinics are simply a way to keep tabs on addicts, and not to help them. There have been many scientific breakthroughs in the study of addiction, yet here in Dublin we have one of the world’s biggest heroin problems. I enclose with this letter, studies on: Subutex, Brain implants, Natural detox and Rehabilitation, and a study on the long-term effects of methadone use. I hope you find them helpful.