One can entirely understand why An Garda Siochána made sure to issue a statement within hours of the tragic event in Carlow Shopping Centre, making clear that the deceased man was “white” and “Irish”.
He was not only white, and Irish, of course: He was also well known to the Gardai. This young man in his early twenties who walked into a shopping centre with a shotgun, firing shots into the air before firing one into himself, had the distinction of having been freed on bail for… firearms charges. The state knew he was a danger. The state knew he was a danger specifically related to guns. He was nevertheless free to walk around with a shotgun. That’s how we do business, in this country.
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