Jonathan Corrie (above) and the doorstep on Molesworth Street (top) where he was found.
Via The Kilkenny People:
The only harm Jonathan Corrie ever did was to himself.
Many of us who knew him through the Kilkenny District Court know what his family went through and how they did all in their power to help him.
They were always there in the body of the court, willing to go bail for him, whenever he needed them to do so. However, from an early age he was gripped by alcohol and then drugs. It was his way of coping and his way of masking his shyness.
Jonathan Corrie was a fine cut of a man when he was young always in a T-shirt, he never felt the cold.
He was extremely quiet, a bit of loner. He didn’t seem to understand what was going on in court when he was being prosecuted for being drunk and disorderly or petty theft or rather had he decided at an early age, that he himself was a lost cause. Looking back, it is simple to see now, that Jonathan Corrie didn’t fit in.
…From 16 years old onwards, he was a regular in Kilkenny district court and whatever petty crime he was responsible for, he owned up to it. There was absolutely no guile in him and I always felt that he was a tortured soul and really didn’t understand the world around him. The supports were not there for him.
Jonathan Corrie’s shyness masked by drink and drugs (KilkennyPeople)
(Leah Farrell/Photocall Ireland)
Meanwhile…
Death knock. Who’s there. The Irish Times. That’s OK then. pic.twitter.com/Thvl7nc6Ho
— Pat Flanagan (@patflanagan1) December 3, 2014
Anyone who’s ever known addiction is their family or group of friends will know how hard it is to help someone that doesn’t want to be helped. This case is an absolute tragedy for this man’s family, but the way the media is holding up the state as being the cause of it, is I’d imagine nowhere near the whole picture.
The state is as culpable for its failure to implement decent addiction policies as it is to suggest that emergency shelters are the only measure expected to remedy homelessness. Although it does seem that people/the media are boxing off the one as a personal characteristic and the latter an institutional problem, when in fact both are within the purview of the state to fix at source.
Well said, but looking at the situation in all it’s complexity obviously won’t fit many narratives. Also, proposals dealing with depravation and poverty will have knock on effects on homelessness and addiction, but the election unfriendly timelines of these proposals make them unlikely to garner much support from politicians.
Well said, if we had a real leaders they would have already moved this debate in this direction.
The super, you are part of the problem.
Moaning about ‘real leaders’ is a waste of time in a democracy, especially one as small and personal as ours.
You have a big say in what our ‘leaders’ priorities are and how much taxation they have to spend in these things.
Demand it and be willing to run for election yourself
Completely agree with this. ‘The supports weren’t there for him’ (A) Its two fingers to his family who I have no doubt did everything they possibly could for him and (B) what other supports is this journalist talking about, in terms of support from the state. What evaluation has this journalist done of supports that were offered, and supports that should have been offered.
What really galls me here is the bandwagon jumping by the (print) media…. Suddenly its front page news……
Bandwagon jumping is not limited to the media. It seems everyone with a dislike of the government are using this fella as a new stick with which to beat them. Oh for the days of FF when there was no homelessness.
+1
In the context of media coverage of increasing rents, rising levels of homelessness (with the issue affecting groups traditionally untouched, i.e. huge numbers of families staying in hotels etc) coupled with a renewed focus on the lingering effects of austerity policies triggered by the water protests, it’s sort of completely obvious why this man’s death has received so much attention.
But none of that applies to him. He is from a good background and got involved in drugs and stopped contacting his family.
Do you assume that he felt he was a victim of “the system”? It’s a bit presumptuous to think on his behalf and plaster his face all over the national papers in order to push a (perfectly laudable) agenda.
What is a ‘good background’? Absolutely no one knows what goes on in someone else’s home. Absolutely no one. And even with the most loving parents, kids who experience trauma at school, youth clubs etc can go off the rails. Particularly in the past and particularly with boys – who might not be able to talk about these things. It’s interesting they mention another similar case in Kilkenny. People should be prepared, rather than saying someone doesn’t ‘fit in’, to show kindness and humanity. Only through kindness to people can you find out the truth about their lives. And sometimes it surprises one. Smug platitudes like this article achieve nothing. I would take all of this with a grain of salt and if you want to do something, listen to Jonathan Corrie’s own words. He may not have fit in, but he was an honest man.
Well said Teresa!
I found this on boards.ie.
http://dunlaoghairecounty.ie/viewtopic.php?t=2145&f=17
A lot of boys from the Dun Laoghaire area who became drug addicts in the 1980s. Homeless too.
People don’t realise or want to realise the harm things like that do. Try ‘fitting in’ afterwards. The worst is the people who expect you to just ‘buck up’ or ‘fit in’. Some times they are the same people who were or who enabled your abusers.
+1 Caroline.
Totally agree. There are people that cannot be helped and will not be helped. By all means criticise the state when there is someone seeking help who is being denied it but DO NOT politicise this man’s plight.
I believe there were a few members of the national media circling his bereaved family’s house yesterday
Kitty Holland knocked on the door of the family home yesterday? Really?
“So, how do you feel about the death of your son?”
Irish Times in the gutter with all the other rags.
I cannot believe Kitty Holland resorted to this. Vile behaviour.
Buzz are you really thinking this through? (Prob not as with 90% of your posts)
Kitty Holland is one of the good guys, she has been writing on homelessness for a good while now so maybe give her the benefit of the doubt.
What would that entail here, Fluffy? It seems fairly clear she knocked at their door.
Na.
Holland may be one of the ‘good guys’ but her behaviour in this instance was abhorent. There is no excuse to call unannounced at a family’s door.
Hear, hear! …and a grieving family at that….
She’s been making up stories on homelessness for a while. Nearly all of them have been debunked by the Daily Mail.
Ah, the Daily Mail. They would never lie to us would they Banotti?
Moronic response. You clearly don’t read newspapers but are happy to recycle received wisdom as fact.
Thats right Bano, you can never be too careful so its best to take everything you read in the Mail as gospel. There are immigrants out there! And single mothers!! And .. (gulp)… feminists!!!
*little England head explodes*
But someone like Kitty Holland is gospel of course.
http://bula.ie/2014/04/26/mother-3-lived-car-accused-lying-story/
Only hippies would believe that Kitty, Bano, you don’t need to convince me. Shameless slattern hippies with their long hair like women. And you should see their women!!
Wow and double wow. With feminists like you, who needs misogynists.
Doesn’t matter if the paper is left or right leaning. If you’re gullible enough to believe an article thats been shown to be inaccuracte and manipulative then you’re a fool.
“debunked by the Daily Mail”
That’s a new one on me.
incredible. Maybe she’ll get a book out of it though.
I would either delete this comment or close the comments completely on this post.
+1
what the absolute fcuk are you on Buzz?
Very bad form door stepping the family.
“The only harm Jonathan Corrie ever did was to himself.”
+
“when he was being prosecuted for being drunk and disorderly or petty theft”
Sorry, but no, that’s b*lls*it!!
The people who came home to a ransacked home, The person who had their bike/wallet/handbag stolen, The ME who had their car window smashed and lost so much of personal value to buy a €10 fix….
Awful thing to happen to the man, but let’s just stop this hand-wringing amnesia when it comes to addicts who will do whatever it takes to satisfy their cravings at the cost of anybody else.
+1 He also threatened to do harm to his ex. I’ve never done that; which makes me a saint.
Why doesn’t Kitty Holland just follow her heart and go work for a tabloid. She suspends her search for the old woman who lives in a shoe for what, to attempt to doorstep a grieving family. Absolute lightweight
https://soundcloud.com/the-irish-times/johnathan-corrie-interview-on-dublin-city-fm
Interview with Jonathan Corrie from a little while back. Seemed like a pretty nice fellow, in truth. And pretty sharp too.
Thanks for that. He seemed like a decent fella alright.
I know. They kicked me out of feminismsms club because of my rampant misogyny. That and I laughed at Ryan Gosling one time