Madam, - I was deeply moved by Ruadhán Mac Cormaic's compassionate and thought-provoking account of the life and death of Kevin Fitzpatrick ( Weekend Review, October 13th). I read The Irish Timesdaily, and occasionally I come across snippets of news from around the globe that I would prefer not to read. Kevin Fitzpatrick's horrific death was certainly in that category.
I was struck by the similarities between Kevin Fitzpatrick and my late brother Tommy. Like Kevin, Tommy was my parents' third child and my mother's favourite. In later life, she saw him as vulnerable and often exhorted us to look out for him after her death, little thinking that he would die before her. He was born on my first birthday and died in October 1993, at the age of 38. His favourite watering hole was Toner's of Baggot Street, and the touching tribute composed by his journalist friend and drinking companion Paddy Murray still adorns the wall of the pub, 14 years later.
Like Kevin Fitzpatrick, Tommy was very bright and could have been anything he wanted. He became an executive in the ESB and over the course of about 15 years moved from one department to another, in a series of what he jokingly called lateral promotions. Again, like Kevin, his death at such a young age was described by one of my younger brothers as a great waste.
I don't know if there is an award for Dubliner of the Year, but if there is it should go to someone like Alice Leahy, Peter McVerry or John Lonergan, who all help vulnerable people. We live in a society in which individualism, materialism, greed and vulgarity are rampant, and it's good to read about people who eschew this shallow lifestyle and try to help those less fortunate than themselves. They're living proof that it is possible for human beings to be altruistic. - Yours, etc,
JOE PATTON, Chapelizod Court, Chapelizod, Dublin 20.