Justice, grim and relentless, has been done and can be seen by all to be the only winner in the Brian Murphy case. One young man is dead. Another is convicted of manslaughter and violent disorder. A third is found not guilty of either. The fourth and fifth young men are guilty of violent disorder. And, in the case of one of them, the jury could not reach a verdict on the charge of manslaughter. A terrible price is being paid for five minutes of mindless, alcohol-fuelled violence on a summer night.
The Brian Murphy case held the public's attention in every home with young people across the State. The evidence in the 34-day trial provided revealing insights into the lifestyle of the young middle-class. The culture of conspicuous consumption and male machismo was publicly exposed. Not since the Philip Sheedy affair has a case and its conduct been so closely scrutinised. Judge Michael White must be commended for his scrupulous fairness in the most controversial circumstances.
These observations, however, are not intended to take away from the horror of what happened outside Club Anabel on August 31st, 2000. One of the female witnesses said up to six young men kicked Mr Murphy repeatedly on the ground and were "behaving like animals".
The death of Mr Murphy was not the first occasion in recent years on which a young man became the fatal victim of a violent, late-night assault. And, unfortunately, it has not been the last. A pattern of alcohol promotion, of binge drinking, of young men out of control and of inadequate policing has contributed to this social breakdown. And while the family members of the dead man are the most immediate victims, they are not the only ones who will suffer as a consequence of this case.
Mr Murphy was not an entirely innocent party. But that does not excuse what subsequently happened. Alcohol abuse was the background against which these events were played out. One must still question the vicious nature of the assaults and the failure in the social fabric of society. Increasingly, the use of extreme violence has become a feature of confrontations between young people. An estimated 15 per cent of all admissions to accident and emergency departments are alcohol-related.
The Government took steps to address the problem last year. Drink promotions have been banned and publicans who sell alcohol to intoxicated persons, permit drunkenness on their premises or contribute to public disorder, can be fined heavily or have their premises closed. Persons under 18 years of age must leave licensed premises before 9pm; identity cards have been introduced and opening hours have been curtailed. Even before those provisions were introduced, alcohol consumption had begun to fall and that pattern has continued. In spite of such improvements, there is a need for more late-night Garda foot patrols in our towns and cities.
The Brian Murphy case exposes a cultural complicity which has yet to be confronted.