EDITORIAL: The people who face tragedy when we look away

It has been a devastating week in Limerick.

On Thursday, September 17, Robert Duggan, a father-of-two in his 30s, tragically lost his life in a house fire in Killeely following an accident.

On the following day came the heartbreaking news that mother-of-three Elizabeth (Liz) Lynch, aged 44, had died after a septic tank trench collapsed in Kilmeedy.

On Saturday night, Brendan T O’Regan, a recent graduate of environmental science at University of Limerick, and a current Masters student, passed away after suffering a medical emergency at work. The young man from Caherconlish was employed by The Locke with their businesses in the city centre closing on Sunday as a mark of respect.

And on Sunday morning, further devastation. A fatal road collision near Adare, claimed the life of Nathan Browne, aged in his early 20s, of Glin, while two male passengers were injured, one critically.

Our thoughts, of course, are first and foremost with those who have died, their families and everyone left devastated by these three terrible events. But there is another group of people who deserve our thoughts too. The emergency services.

Gardaí, fire and rescue service and ambulance crews are often among the first people to pull up at the scene of a collision or arrive through the door of a house when tragedy strikes. They see things most of us will thankfully never see. They deal with casualties and their family in the worst moments of their lives, and then, when their shift ends, they go home and try to close the door on what they have seen earlier that day.

An Garda Síochána and the National Ambulance Service have been in the headlines in recent weeks for all the wrong reasons, with serious questions being raised about behaviour, culture and leadership.

Those questions must be asked. Improper conduct should never be ignored. But neither should the actions of a relatively small number of people overshadow the many dedicated people on the ground who continue to do difficult, demanding work every single day.

We rarely hear their voices or their stories. They simply get on with the job as best they can. But after a week like the one we have just experienced, it is worth remembering these people and the extremely difficult job they do.