Thursday, December 14, 2006
Padraig Nally - A free man!
I am absolutely delighted and thrilled at this news!Mayo farmer Padraig Nally has been found NOT GUILTY of the manslaughter of John Ward by a jury today at the Central Criminal Court.
Long-term readers of this site will note that this issue was covered in some detail on United Irelander in November of last year (hard to believe it was that long ago) and I don't think it's being arrogant or inaccurate to say that it was covered more on this blog than any other Irish blog. Hell, if you type 'Padraig Nally' into Google you'll get this result.
I recall there being some great discussions on this site over the matter but I feel that the decision made today by the jury to free Padraig Nally is the correct one and is a verdict that all Irish people can be proud of.
This is what I wrote on the subject of Padraig Nally's imprisonment on November 12th, 2005, and I'll reprint it as I stand by every damn word! Quote:
"My take on this is that Ireland has witnessed a grave miscarriage of justice. Should Padraig Nally be in jail? Certainly not!
"The most important right a person has in society is the right to defend themselves. When the English political scientist Thomas Hobbes outlined his views on the social contract (which detailed how a society ought to be governed), he was in favour of giving up all rights to the Sovereign with the exception of one right which he believed could not be sacrified under any circumstances - the right to defend oneself.
"People have argued that Mr Nally should be locked up as he went too far in the way he acted towards Mr Ward. Well isn't hindsight a beautiful thing? The fact is, when faced with a situation akin to the one Mr Nally faced, reason and rational thinking go out the window. Something primeval takes over, based on instinct. It's unfortunate that nowadays in society more concern is shown to the perpetrators of crime than the victims themselves!
"If Mr Ward had not set out to commit a crime in the first place then none of this would have happened. In my opinion, when you set out to commit a crime and to deny people their rights, you should automatically forfeit your rights!
"Mr Nally was under tremendous psychological strain. What about showing some consideration to him? A man who had never had trouble with the law previously?A suspended sentence would have been far better than six years in jail.
"Right now a man is in prison who shouldn't be there. A man who was imprisoned pyschologically by perpetrators of crime, who found himself compromised and who took action to defend himself, now is literally imprisoned at the behest of the judicial system we have in this country.
"It seems to me that the majority of popular opinion in this country is on the side of Mr Nally and the elected representatives of this country would do well to take notice of that.
"Criminals get a slap on the wrist in modern society whilst the men who take action to defend themselves and their property against criminals get locked up! Utter madness!
"Free Padraig Nally now!"
Well Padriag Nally is free now and I'm incredibly happy at the news!
I was listening just now to the radio and while most people who texted in were happy, some do-gooders are already starting to whinge. Someone called 'Orla' lambasted the "hypocrisy" of Irish people condemning gun crime and yet supporting the decision to free Mr Nally. Well "Orla" what you seem to have missed is the fact that Irish people condemn gun crime because it is a CRIME and that John Ward was originally shot because he was committing a CRIME. See? There is no inconsistency - crime is wrong and Mr Nally was the victim of crime, not the perpetrator.
Then we had a representative from some travellers association calling in alleging that the jury's decision was based upon Ward being a traveller and claiming that Nally shot Mr Ward because he was a traveller. WRONG. This argument - if you can call it that - really pisses me off. The fact that Ward was a traveller is irrelevant! Ward was shot because he was BREAKING AND ENTERING. I don't care if you're a traveller or a damn Martian, the bottom line is breaking into another man's home is wrong and if you decide to do so then you must accept the likelihood that the occupant of the home will do ANYTHING in order to protect himself, his family and his property. END OF STORY.
In all this talk about what Nally should and should not have done (by people who weren't in the scary position that Nally was) the simple reality is this - Ward would not be dead if he had not broke into Nally's home in the first place!
I am very pleased at the wisdom and common sense shown by the jury today and I find it refreshing. Padraig Nally gets to come home tonight and he gets to spend Christmas with his loved ones. I'll raise my glass to that.
Peace on earth and good will to all men!
# posted by United Irelander @ 7:49 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
