THE NEWS of the death of Paddy Barry was greeted by sadness tinged with anger on the streets of Waterford yesterday.
There was widespread public support for greater legal protection for the elderly and mandatory sentencing for criminals convicted of assaulting old-age pensioners – echoing comments made by members of the Barry family during RTÉ Radio One’s The Marian Finucane Show last Saturday.
On Mount Sion Avenue, the blinds were drawn at Mr Barry’s modest two-storey terraced house. It is one of the very few houses in the area with an Eircom alarm visible on the facade.
Next-door neighbour Alice Stacey (54) said she was “heartbroken and shocked” at the death of a man she regarded as “like a family member”.
Her daughter Patricia Cummins (27) described Mr Barry as a “gentleman” who was happy living alone and was fiercely independent. She had “offered him a lift last week when it was raining and he said no, he’d rather walk”.
Both women described the street as being in a “quiet, settled area” where many elderly people live alone.
Outside, a man who didn’t wish to be named said news of the burglary at Mr Barry’s house had created fear and he had just been to visit an elderly aunt “who’s worried sick”.
Chrissie Sheehan (72), who described Mr Barry as “a lovely man”, said she was “devastated” by the incident.
Mr Barry’s family described their father as “very security-conscious”, a man who would never have kept much cash in the house and would never have put himself at risk.
Yet despite that his father had “probably died for less than €150”.
Fergus Barry said his father had developed an awareness of security issues during his many years working in the post office “especially during the Troubles”.
He described his father as “a private, independent man” who “liked being in his house reading the newspapers and watching television”.
Meanwhile, a Labour Party councillor in Waterford has called for a mandatory minimum 10-year jail sentence for anyone convicted of assaulting an elderly person at home.
Cllr Pat Hayes, a retired postal worker, said he had known and worked with Mr Barry, “a decent, good man”, for more than 25 years.
He called on the Minister for Justice to urgently review the law and introduce “severe sentencing with a mandatory minimum of 10 years – and up to 20 years – for any individual who assaults an elderly person in their own home”.
“Ireland has changed the law to protect children and it is now time to change the law to strengthen security for elderly people who want to be able to live independently at home and without fear.”
He said that while Waterford was “still a relatively safe city to live in”, people were “terrified and very upset” by the “cowardly act”.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said: “With regard to calls for mandatory three years prison term for attacks on the elderly, our existing laws go much further and specify that a burglar can be imprisoned for up to 14 years”.
If a burglar “uses violence or carries a weapon, that jail term can be life”.
Furthermore, he said, “offenders jailed in such circumstances are not released because of overcrowding. They remain to serve their sentences.”
He doubted that “any judge would err on the side of leniency in sentencing someone who attacked an elderly person in their home”.
Mr Ahern, who expressed his sympathy to the Barry family at this “horrific time”, said that “as a society and a community we all have our duty to protect and look out for our elderly neighbours. For my part I will not shirk my responsibility in this area. Our elderly living alone deserve no less.
“If I thought for one moment that a new law would make the elderly safer, I would bring it in tomorrow morning. I have shown on gangland crime that I will act and act decisively when required.”
A spokesman for Age Action Ireland, Eamon Timmins, said the organisation was “anxious that older people do not respond to this latest attack by retreating into fortified homes, for fear of being victims of crime.
“If people take basic precautions they should be able to continue living full, active lives without any undue fear of being victims of crime.”
Age Action has recommended that elderly people should, among other precautions, lock doors and windows at night; use a door chain when answering the front door; never allow in uninvited trades people who seek access unless they have photo identification; and not keep large sums of money in the home.
