As the country celebrates the achievement of Kellie Harrington, winning a record second medal in the 60kg women’s Olympic boxing final to add to the gold she won at Tokyo, it would be remiss not to recall that some of those who will no doubt be celebrating might have prevented her being there at all.
Readers might remember when Shane Hannon of Off The Ball decided to tackle Harrington about a tweet she had posted – or rather a tweet which she had shared which was a comment upon the horrific rape and murder of Lola Daviet in France in October 2022.
Lola Daviet was the victim of Dahbia Benkired who had come to France legally from Algeria but who had been ordered to leave France prior to the abduction, rape and murder of Lola Daviet. Benkired had been detained by the French police but was given 30 days to leave. Well, she did not leave. We’ve had experiences of similar failures to self-deport here.
Rather than focus on the appalling crime – or appear to understand why Harrington, like most people, were appalled by this and had been moved to comment upon it. Shane Hannon decided instead to press her about the benefits which “welcoming immigrants” had brought to Dublin.
Although Kellie said that she felt Hannon was “trying to hang me out to dry”, Hannon persisted.
Reference was also made to Spar, Kellie’s sponsor, and Hannon said: “[T]he Spar slogan – and I read it out at the start – is to back communities to drive positive change and impact”. In that context, he insisted it was fair to keep pressing the young boxer about views he had said were “controversial when it comes to immigrants”.
After the interview went viral, a campaign – which Hannon was not involved with – then began online to have Spar withdraw their support for Harrington. Had it succeeded, it might have meant she would not have been in Paris and would not have won a medal for Ireland.
As Kellie said, while bringing the interview to a close: “You’re like a dog with a bone. Here we go, right. If you’re not hanging me out to dry, let it go, move on. Be like Elsa and just let it go. Do you know what I mean? Don’t hold it back anymore and just let it go. I know it’s your job and you’ve asked and I’ve responded and I’ve told you. Next question. Like, I’m not here to answer those questions. I’m not here to talk about politics. If I wanted to do that, I’d go and I’d do a degree in politics. I don’t know what agenda you have Shane but it’s not a good one. Over and out, I’m done.”
While the mob, predictably, descended, some commentators on social media delivered le mot juste, the succinct comment that captures what these people were at behind all their smug arrogant prattle about a diversity that they probably only come face to face with on the other side of a bar.
The witch hunt was on and while all the usual suspects rushed to the No Pasaran barricades, one might have expected something different from a member of one of the Government parties. You would have been mistaken. For Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley was straight into the fray.
.@SPARIreland Kellie Harrington is entitled to her opinion on immigration & diversity, however Spar Ireland has a responsibility to communities across Ireland to clarify and demonstrate that it’s opinions and attitudes are very different to its ambassador. https://t.co/6NPFJAKul5
— Timmy Dooley (@timmydooley) March 28, 2023
Kellie later said she “spiralled downhill” and went to the “darkest of the darkest places” after the interview.
“It made me realise who actually has my back in life when the chips are down. These are the people who are there for you, who are checking in on you, who are making sure you’re all right and that you’re looking after your mental state, which wasn’t great,” she said.
There were those who stood by her. Not just her own north inner-city Dubs but the “plain people of Ireland” whose instincts for fair play and sensing sanctimonious bullshit when they see it far outweigh the mealy mouthed opportunism of people who think they are on the right side.
Special shout again to Professor Mary Aiken, the Professor of Cyberpsychology who was made a Freeperson of Dublin on the same day as Kellie Harrington in May 2022. She tweeted a message of support.
Kellie, you are such a kind & generous person 🙏
— Prof. Mary Aiken (@maryCyPsy) March 27, 2023
You recently donated your time to raise money for #Neurodiversity Ireland - that's active inclusiveness.
You have apologised for any misunderstanding - stay strong my 'Freedom of the City' friend - ignore the cyber pitchfork mob pic.twitter.com/3ESHxqt0Jh
Good luck to Kellie and good luck to all of those who stood by her. Not too many people will end their days knowing that they had such days. As an uncle of mine used to say, she crowed upon a fence. Most people will, however, go to meet their maker knowing that if harm they ever did it was not as part of a frenzied mob.