Those That Serve

I am biased. I have a brother who has been a member of the Garda Siochana for the last 20 years. I think that in any organisation there are those who are the rotten apples and those who do their job above and beyond the call of duty with compassion and empathy. I believe my brother Andrew is one of those. When visiting his home towm in the West Of Ireland I have always been struck by the warmth of greeting that he receives from so many people living within the district he has responsibility for. He takes an interest in his local community and is involved in projects for the elderly including accompanying them on an annual trip to Dublin, and many other things. I know that there has been many occasions that he has been unable to leave a problem at work and has felt frustrated that he couldn't do more for a grieving family or a child in difficulty. Quite simply, he is one of my heroes.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, he was out in the squad car on a call and arrived back to the small Garda station where he was the only Garda on duty to find that his own car had been vandalised. Vandalised so completely that it is a write off. All bar one of the windows had been smashed and the body work is also damaged. It would appear that this act of cowardice was personal. No other car was damaged in the area.

I think we take forgranted those in our uniformed organisations. We forget that we are protected at land and sea as we are so rarely worried by threats to our security. We, as a nation of increasing individualism, are so quick to stand up and shout when we feel that we have not been treated fairly and demand our rights but so much slower at saying thank you. Last week members of the fire service were injured trying to go about their business also. Are we shouting as loudly as we ought in their defense? We are not. Why?

So today, if you know anyone in these organisations doing their best in increasingly difficult circumstances and under increasing budgetary pressure, who is still willing to go that extra bit because we are lucky enough that they still care - don't forget to say thank you for a job well done. It may well have been a long time since they heard it.

Thank you Andrew!