Paul Hopkins

The Fact OfThe Matter

PAUL HOPKINS PAUL HOPKINS

When women in fear live every day with a plan

ree years ago when she was 15, Helen’s friend, a year older, enticed her into his house, when his parents were out. After some small talk he pounced on her and attempted to remove her clothing. Helen, thankfully, managed to fend o her attacker and ee.

Her mother, a lone parent, confronted the boy’s parents in no uncertain terms after her daughter came home in tears, shocked and dishevelled. e attack was not reported. “It would have been his word against mine,” Helen tells me. “Who would they believe?”

Dee is my age. Married in the Seventies, she lived in Paris. “On the Metro, men were exposing themselves. My friend was stalked for two years. A lot of women were harassed. It was a nightmare.”

Dee has lived on her own since her divorce. Her son and two grandsons live in London. She is in rural Ireland. “Am I afraid living on my own? Often I am scared to answer the door. Often it is men saying tiles are missing on my roof and they’ll x it. ey see I am an elderly woman on my own and want to take advantage.”

Recently Dee was having her car serviced. “In the garage, the salesman, about 50, was ddling with his phone. ‘Come ‘ere, look at this,’ he said and pointed his phone at me. ‘What do you think of that, eh?’ He was laughing, this face ushed. It was pornography on his phone.”

Meadbh is 39. “Cases like we’ve heard of in the last weeks are a reminder of the collective threat and valid fear women the world over live with. It’s always there, underneath, some days even subconsciously — a quickened pace, an averted gaze, a fake phone call. Anytime you have a ‘strange’ taxi man you feel it, or get caught in the dark somewhere.

“ e worst part is we grow up almost with acceptance, it’s second nature, to always be on your guard,” she tells me. “Stories like (Sarah Everard) are a timely reminder how real those threats can be.

“ e good men, most men, need to be part of helping change the threat, the culture. It starts with refusing to laugh at stupid jokes; it starts with stamping out cat calling. ere’s a long way to go.” is writer has talked to many other women this past week. Shockingly, it is the case that, of all the women I asked, all have ‘a plan’. e ‘fear’ is always a low hum beneath the rhythm of their regular life, implanted in early teenage years. Although, statistically, violent crime is committed on men more than women — 70% to 30% — women are more afraid. “You’re afraid a strange man will attack you,” says Helen who has started college.

So, women don’t run at night. Women don’t park in an out-of-sight car park. Women don’t enter a lift already occupied by a single man in an unfamiliar building. Women don’t leave a party without their friends. e Rape Crisis Centre dealt with 13,367 calls in 2018, the latest gures available. ree in four were from females. Of those who disclosed their details, 44.8% said they had been raped, while 33% were victims of childhood sexual abuse. Many, many cases still go unreported.

Almost a quarter of Irish women avoid certain streets for fear of being assaulted or harassed, according to a recent EU study. e study by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency shows 23% of Irish women “deliberately stay away from particular locations often or all the time to reduce the risk of being attacked”. Ireland’s nding is the second highest among the 27 states after Greece at 29%.

e gure is even more pronounced among Irish women aged 16 to 29 with 45% taking such action “to avoid being attacked either physically or verbally”.

I cannot, as I write this week’s column, but think of Deirdre Jacob and of JoJo Dullard, the latter young woman last seen in Moon as she was hitching a lift home to Kilkenny in November, 1995.

“Every day women live with the fear,” says Ella. “It’s not paralysing but it’s omnipresent — whether out walking alone or, with pubs again open, asking a friend to watch your drink while you go to the loo. Women feel like ‘it’s all my fault if something happens to me’.”

Ella has just turned 21. She has her whole life ahead of her.

Will she always needto have ‘a plan’?

‘Often I am scared to answer the door... ”

Students o ered chance to travel Europe for free

FREE travel rail passes to 60,000 Europeans aged from 18 to 20 years, have been given to go-ahead thanks to the DiscoverEU initiative. Irish people can apply for a number of tickets from now out.

Application close on October 26 at noon, for a travel period in 2022, which will be the European Year of Youth.

Ireland South MEP, Deirdre Clune said: “I am delighted that tickets are once again being made available so that young Irish people can discover Europe. e Commission is designating 2022 the European Year of Youth and this is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate this year by travelling and discovering Europe.

“ e scheme is a great way to help young Irish people learn about and see other EU countries. ere is so much to learn across Europe and a scheme such as this is very welcome in helping young people as they learn and develop.” is application round is open to young Europeans born between July 1, 2001 and December 31, 2003. Exceptionally, 19 and 20-yearolds can also apply after their rounds were postponed due to the pandemic.

Successful applicants can travel between March 2022 and February 2023 for up to 30 days. All travellers will be o ered exible bookings through a new mobile travel pass. e departure date can be changed right up until the time of departure. e mobile travel passes have a one-year validity.

Successful applicants can travel alone or in a group of up to ve people (all within the eligible age range).

DiscoverEU is an EU initiative based on a proposal from the European Parliament.

Creches face growing crisis over chronic staff shortage

CHILD providers are warning they will have to cut the number of creche places available as the sector battles with a chronic shortage of sta and the knock-on e ects of the pandemic.

Neigbouring Carlow has one of highest shortages.

Creche owners are “burnt out”, parents are delaying returning to work due to a lack of childcare, and some counties have very limited creche places available.

Data recorded by Pobal revealed counties Dublin, Longford and Kilkenny had the lowest number of creche vacancies pre-Covid.

Dún Laoghaire in Dublin had the fewest spaces available, with just over 2% of the total capacity being vacant.

In Longford, there were just 38 creche places available for 2018 and 2019. ere has also been a signi cant decrease in the number of places for babies and children aged between one and two and there are now 271 fewer providers than in 2019.

Childcare providers are warning they will have to cut the number of creche places available as the sector battles with a chronic shortage of sta and the knock-on e ects of the pandemic.

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman has secured approval for a signi cant new scheme that will see childcare providers given access to a funding stream to improve sta pay in return for a commitment that parents’ fees will not increase. e Government hopes the move will alleviate the burden on parents by e ectively freezing creche fees at a time of rising in ation. e Green Party Minister has secured a Budget package of upwards of €100m, part of which will go towards the new scheme.

Eight new library sensory services

KILKENNY library service is pleased to announce the development of a range of sensory services across the county library network. e range of services include: * An enhanced toy and sensory resource collection featuring over 150 toys that will help with the development of gross motor skills, ne motor skills and play and life skills. *A specialised autism friendly book collection of more than 300 titles aimed at parents, teachers and children themselves. * A social story for each of the council’s eight libraries and the mobile library so that teachers, parents and carers can prepare children and pupils for a visit to their local library. ese social stories include photos from both outside and inside the library, as well as some simple text to read through with a child so that they know what to expect on their visit. A sensory box is now available at all library branches to help pupils enjoy a better sensory experience during their visit. As well as calming toys, ear defenders and LULLS can be used when visiting the library. e library is also working towards receiving autism accreditation from As I Am, Ireland’s National Autism Charity and Advocacy Organisation. e nal step in this process is developing and implementing a Charter of Inclusion which will outline the long-term commitments to supporting those with autism in our local communities.

Pictured at the unveiling is GAA Chairman Tom Murphy with grandnieces of Richard ‘Drug’ Walsh

Mooncoin honours its hero ‘Drug’ Walsh

HUNDREDS of people gathered in Mooncoin village recently to witness the unveiling of the ‘Drug’ Walsh statue at the GAA club’s new entrance on Main Street. e Chairman of Mooncoin GAA Club, Tom Murphy, kicked o proceedings welcoming the huge attendance, relatives of Drug Walsh, and GAA o cials. A special word of thanks was rstly given to the Mooncoin juvenile U8s, U7s and U6s boys and girls, who so brilliantly displayed their skills for everyone as a curtain raiser to the main proceedings.

Richard ‘Drug’ Walsh, born Mooncoin in 1877, was one of the members of Kilkenny’s rst golden era team. Along with Sim Walton (Tullaroan), Eddie Doyle (Mooncoin) and Jack Rochford ( reecastles), he was winner of seven AllIreland hurling medals, all won between 1904 and 1913. eir record of most AllIreland medals stood until Christy Ring came along in the 1950s.

Drug Walsh also has another claim to fame, a record that is still not broken all these years later. He is still the only man to captain Kilkenny to All-Ireland victory on three occasions (in 1907, 1909 and 1913). He also won three senior county champions with Mooncoin – two as captain.

He is also reputed to have been the rst person to call publicly for the hurling ball to be coloured white for the convenience of spectators. He also helped train Laois to All Ireland victory in 1915 and trained Waterford in 1926.

GAA President Larry McCarthy spoke of how this statue would now inspire generations of children as they come through the gates of Mooncoin GAA club to play games.

He said none of the day’s events would have been possible however, without the Mooncoin GAA Supporters Club of Australia, led by Larry Delahunty, Séamus Delahunty and Billy Kinsella. e chairman also thanked the Drug Walsh Monument Committee in Mooncoin who had so diligently worked the previous three years to get the project to where it is today.

A special word of gratitude was given to Clare sculptor Séamus Connolly who ‘lived and breathed Drug Walsh’ over the previous six months. * Pictured at the unveiling is GAA Chairman Tom Murphy with grandnieces of Richard ‘Drug’ Walsh

Mairead at the helm in Micheál’s o ce!

A YOUNG South East student the helm at the Taoiseach’s o ce recently to honour of International Day of the Girl.

Mairéad Butler (19) is studying European studies at Trinity College Dublin and is a member of Plan International Ireland’s youth advisory panel.

Ms Butler, from Tramore, Co Waterford, will be the rst woman to sit in the o ce currently held by Micheál Martin.

Plan International held a number of Girls Takeover events across Ireland on the day.

Ms Butler said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to ‘take over’ Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s o ce today.

“To be frank, it’s not good enough in 2021 to say that no woman has ever held the o ce of Taoiseach. I hope girls across the country will see this and be able to envision themselves in this o ce one day.

“ e youth advisory panel carried out research over the summer and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to present the ndings to the Taoiseach.

“Most concerning were the responses we received about consent, contraception and LGBTI+ identities.

“ e reality is that when young people are not armed with the right information on sexual and reproductive health, girls and young women are at particular risk of being subjected to sexual and gender-based violence and early pregnancy, “she said.

Violin virtuoso to perform here

e Irish Chamber Orchestra is back on the road touring in for the rst time since 2020. Renowned Grammy Awardwinning German violinist Florian Donderer makes his debut with the orchestra for three concerts in Limerick, Bantry and Kilkenny on November 11, 12 and 13. Kilkeeny is the 13th.