novice-blogger

Mayo farmer Padraig Nally was refused leave to appeal his sentence for manslaughter this week at the central criminal court, and rightly so.

The media and certain politicians have exacerbated the fragile situation and perfectly illustrated the blatant racism and prejudice against travellers in this country. I genuinely feel sorry for Nally. John Ward had been on his land before and the man was living on his nerves. He was frightened and isolated and the Gardai can only do so much. However, it was the means of the killing and the public support that have really shocked me.

When I first learnt of this case my previous prejudice and bigotry initially made me feel, 'yea, good enough for the knacker, he was robbing this poor old fella's house'. Irish people just do not like Travellers. You think you are liberal and tolerant but then something like this case arises and the way it is reported affects you. It was not until I studied the case and learnt the facts that I have formed such a strong opinion. A Traveller was shot, 'ah sure he was trying to rob a vulnerable farmer, he deserved it'. This case emphasises the hatred towards Travellers in Ireland. You just kinda grow up with it, its embedded in the Irish psyche. Well, thank God I have removed it through educating myself about these people. That's all it is, taking the time to learn about these peoples culture and not judging them on age-old stereotypes.

Nally found Ward beside his house at 2pm in the day. Nally had a rifle and shot Ward in the buttock. He was wounded and his mobility was affected. Nally then beat ward 20 times with a large ash stick, inflicting a number of wounds to his head. Ward picked himself up and was hobbling down the lane. Nally went, reloaded his gun and then shot Ward in the head as he was crouched down.

Nally was charged and tried in front of a jury in Castlebar, Mayo. This area in Mayo has had a lot of 'trouble' with Travellers and I feel Nally's lenient sentence was as a result of the situating of the trial in Castlebar. The Jury found him guilty of manslaughter, thus under the rule of the law, manslaughter rather than murder meant they believed he acted under provocation.

Ward was unarmed, shot, battered and shot in the head as Nally stood over him. The jury obviously felt that the fact that Ward was a Traveller was provocation enough. Reverse the roles, do you think John Ward would have been charged with manslaughter or murder had Nally entered his halting site and Ward had killed him in the same fashion. The latter, No?

Ward was a 'knacker'. He had a number of convictions, he was a bare knuckle boxer and Nally claimed to have seen him loitering around the area previously. In Ireland, a tinker with these characteristics and stats will get no sympathy or no justice.

Fina Gael leader Enda Kenny has joined up with the Media circus and is supporting the justice for Padraig campaign - sickening. The leader of the opposition and possible leader of this country is supporting a murderer, why, because he knows people support Nally and that this will only benefit his support because he only killed a Traveller. Can you imagine a high profile politician supporting a murderer so blatantly and writing a column reiterating his support in any other circumstances. The mere involvement of an itinerant allows bigotry and racism to be homogeneous.

I have had my run in with Travellers, the bad ones were the scum of the earth, but there are a lot of decent Travellers. John Ward was probably not contributing too much to society, he was allegedly a very violent man and a criminal. But this does not legislate for Marshall law. Reasonable force could and should have been used; if Nally had shot him in the leg this case would never even have made the papers, but he went too far. The real protest or lack of justice should be that of Wards, and the fact that Nally was not convicted of murder.