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- The Coroner (Channel 4)
- The Cold War (RTE)
- O'Gorman's People (RTE)
There's no such thing as a recession for an undertaker or a coroner -
rain, hail or shine, Celtic Tiger or oil crises, folk continue to
kick the bucket and the bodies keep coming in.
If you're an Elvis fan you can be buried in flares and shades or if
you're too big you might have to be put in a piano and lowered by
crane, but if you're a nobody you might be lucky to be buried at
all.
`The Coroner', as featured on Channel 4 last week, is left to deal
with all dubious deaths, including that of nineteen year old Irish
traveller Martin (who hanged himself on a door), alcoholic
octogenarian Sam and the `cultured' Doctor Henry.
The coroners go about their grim business in a merry, matter-of-fact
way, cutting rope from around the victim's neck, straightening his
legs and popping him in a body bag.
As the tales unravel we met eleven more victims, particularly
Martin's mother, who was forced into an arranged marriage in Galway
many moons ago, and fled six weeks after the birth of her son. The
same son followed his mother to England twenty five years later, only
for the family reunion to founder on drink
and emotional traumas, culminating in Martin hanging himself
on a bedroom door.
The mother underwent further heartbreak after being abused in the
Coroners' Court by a relative and she was left a lonely figure
clutching a paper hankie alone in the Court waiting room.
The other victims had at least a lengthy innings as the Coroner
investigated causes of death and arranged funerals. Alas for Sam his
long estranged family had no interest in attending his family and his
only assets, a disused TV and soggy settee, were sold to help defray
the costs of a coffin.
For those who wear Megadeath heavy metal T-shirts and read Miss
Marple novels, they may have been impressed by the ``room of
evidence'', where Stephanie stores many samples of rope, electric
wire, tyres and exhaust pipes.
Martin's tale bears a number of similarities to our own Pat Tierney,
writer and republican, who also committed suicide by hanging and
whose wake and funeral went on for three days and nights on the
fourteenth floor of the Ballymun towers.
Doctor Henry, who set his house alight with his pipe, had a similar
merry send-off with much wine, women and song.
Pat Tierney would surely have featured on ``O'Gorman's People'' ,
plugging his community, as did Antoinette King, who spoke candidly of
her past heroin addiction and her new life and her new found interest
in the writings of Darwin and Bertrand Russell.
toinette died shortly after the piece was film, falling from one of
the Ballymun towers.
O'Gorman's series could be seen as either a revealing insight into
the plight of the marginalised or a patronising glimpse for the
comfortable into the misery of others, queuing outside dole offices,
jails and other such places where it always seems to be raining.
O'Gorman, who was commissioned to produce a TV series after his
highly popular ``Queuing For a Living'' radio series, talks this week
to Ballymun's single mothers, who generally have mothered children at
a young age to dodgy fathers, who have long flown the coop. These
women spend their days scrimping and saving for their flock and
caring for stray relatives, including Linda whose brother's drug
habits have led to her receiving an
eviction order from the Corporation.
They all share a common affection for their places of abode, which
nevertheless will shortly be levelleled to make way for ``the new
Ballymun'' - a decent increase in Welfare might be more beneficial
right now.
Ronnie Reagan was up to his usual antics on ``The Cold War'', smuggling
billions of dollars worth of weaponry to ``the Mad Mullahs' of
Afghanistan, who were attempting to overthrow the repressive
Soviet-backed government during the Civil War of the 1980s which led
to over one million Afghan deaths and 15,000 Soviet deaths.
Afghanistan became known as ``Russia's `Nam''.
Prodded into sending troops into the country, a reluctant military
was ill-equipped and easy prey for the guerrilla tactics of the
Mujahadeen, who themselves, when not fighting against the enemy, were
busy infighting (and making movies with Sylvester Stallone).
The Russians were subject to the by-now cliched drug and alcohol
problem and similar to the Yanks in `Nam, massacred many civilians
and wiped out villages - ``sometimes we shot for fun and sometimes to
test our guns... or curious to see what the inside of a head looked
like... it was like hunting rabbits.''
This historical but biased documentary lays the blame for
Afghanistan's travails at the foot of outside superpowers who used
other states as chessboards.
It's interesting to note the American backing for Islamic
fundamentalists, now depicted as the ultimate evil... ``We know of
your deep belief in God and your fight will prevail as God is on your
side,'' the hypocritical Yanks told them.
Finally, if you're looking for Sunday afternoon entertainment and can
tear yourself away from the boxpop down to Dublin's Parnell Park,
where Sinn Féin candidate Nicky Keogh's Naomh Fionnbarra tackle
Ballinteer in the Dublin County Intermediate Football Final.
by Sean O Donaile
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