Murders of two gay men in Sligo

I don't see anyone saying that these 2 murders are worse than other murders. Murder is murder.

But the inherent nature of a hate crime means it is an attack against a certain group of people, these 2 people were killed because they were apart of the same community. And as someone in the same group as those 2 men I can tell you it's been a horrible week. 4 high profile homophobic attacks, 2 of those being murders. Which is why it's important to recognise a hate crime when you see it, because it has an effect on that whole community and can be very telling in terms of trends and attitudes to that group which has a knock on effect for the safety of members of that group.

that's your opinion and i respect it and you but please stop trying to put words in my mouth that fit your opinion. You don't HAVE to bring a stranger into your home the first time you meet them, i didn't years ago in my prime, and i don't now it's dangerous. Even wait till the second time ! Or go to a hotel not on your own in a quiet house. Meet for a beer or a coffee whatever is all i'm saying but each to their own

I'm not saying it's not the case but the full facts haven't been established. It was a horrible crime is all I know. I was actually saying I don't think the current discussions are helpful for society. Society at large doesn't have any responsibility for making a murderer. It's much more specific than that. Blaming society or a section of society does no favours to the victims. On the other hand blaming the victims as has happened on thread here is disgusting too. In the absence of full facts people are filling the void with thier own opinion and prejudice.

The most important thing here is 2 people are dead, the murder found them to be vulnerable targets and acted on his impulse to kill. The blame is with him. His background, religion, race, belief system, mental health are factors in what made him a murderer. But that discussion should be had when the full facts are established and then the understandable emotions and fears of people can be addressed in a responsible lucid manner.

The tone of the current discussions adds no value and certainly doesn't comfort the victims , the families and friends.

With that , I'm out of here. There's a reason I don't post in this forum and AH. All the best , I hope the case hasn't impacted you personally or professionally.

so basically you agree with me then ! good post LOB that will help more than worrying about my post or accusing me of something i didn't say or mean

What difference does it make if you bring them home after the second or third date? That doesn’t guarantee anything. Your logic doesn’t make any sense.

Nothing guarantees anything Jequ0n you're right but at least you get to see the person, meet them and get a feel for them, are they upfront and normal ect before bringing them to where you live, i would have thought this common sense no ?

Plenty of gay people out there who are very tough, and give off that vibe in photographs etc.

All I meant was, this perpetrator appears to have selected gentle looking men to victimise.

A psychopathic parasite who's name will hopefully be forgotten long before his victims names.

RIP

I don't think not victim blaming is particularly inciteful but there you go. And I'm not interested at all in attacking you. The only important thing is that hopefully they've found the right guy, that maybe it's time we took an introspective look at why hate crimes are so much on the rise here, and how we can try to be safer to protect ourselves as much as possible after a genuinely horrible week for the community.

Your advice would be inciteful to people who are meeting up with strangers that's what i meant, letting friends know ect.

Fair enough, basically I think we're both getting at the same thing. I'm just saying that, and I know this from experience, guys of that age just aren't as tech savvy as younger guys, that sounds like a generalisation, maybe it is, but that's just been my experience of it. And to guys of that age group, you've been texting a guy online, a question of trust probably would barely factor into their thoughts because they're taking the guy at face value. He says he wants casual sex, you want casual sex. Getting the word out there about best practice can only be beneficial.

Since time immemorial, humans have always sought to "other" perpetrators of crime so as to distance themselves and their community from it. To comfort themselves in the knowledge that this was an external evil visited upon their community and therefore it could never have been their father, mother, brother, sister, cousin, child, who had committed these acts.

And that by banishing the "others" we can resume a peaceful life.

The first question people always ask about a murderer is whether they were a local. Always. That's why the media goes to establish it as soon as they can. Because when they don't, people always jump to the conclusion that they weren't.

Fine, then don't we need to acknowledge that human instinct and deal with it honestly. Instead of suppressing facts, and reporting deliberating misleading facts. That's all I'm saying. The selection of facts in that Sligo Champion article shows their editorial policy is hyper-sensitive to race - that's simply the case.

But you are insinuating I'm racist for saying just that (and, yes, you are - no need to dodge). And many of us find the problem is made worse, not better, by that rush to judgment by folk who share that awkward Father Ted impulse.

He has an Irish name

Except the Irish media are not reporting the full story. It’s infuriating. The same issue is playing out internationally. Many outlets in the States,said the gunman on the train was 5foot 5inches tall but did not mention his race.

i don’t agree with labelling a whole community/race based on stereotypical held beliefs, but there is an agenda in the Irish media to “not offend” Which is causing more issues than it solves.

no one deserves to die due to their sexuality, race, religion. This for me is the abhorrent part. Simply because of perceived difference, these men were killed.