An island of two laws

The article below appears this week in all the Irish regional newspapers of Independent News and Media.

By Michael Commane
I think it’s true to say I have never dodged on my television licence. This year it was due in February.

I hold my hands up and say that it took me some months before paying it. But there were reasons for not paying it promptly. I had had a change of circumstances and had been missing from the house for some time. Added to all those reasons, I genuinely kept forgetting to go down to the Post Office to pay the bill.

For months back I had noticed the TV ad licence on radio. The ads had amused me, as they were quite funny, even if they contained questionable grammar. But as time went on and I began to get warning letters about not paying my TV licence the ads became more and more menacing.

Then one Saturday I arrived home to find a threatening letter, warning me to pay up and that an inspector had called while I was absent and he would be back again.

All the warning and scaring worked. The following Monday I went down to the Post Office and paid the TV licence, which was backdated to the date on which it had fallen due.

At one stage I had thought of writing to them and explaining that I have been a paid-up customer all my life and that this current hiccough happened because of a number of circumstances. I was annoyed with their callous, unfeeling approach. They had been quick enough to make me feel as if I were a petty criminal. I’m sure if I were hard-necked enough I could brazen it out and get away with it. And then it occurred to me what about all our Nama friends and the treatment that is meted out to them. Or what about Senator Ivor Callely? The good senators in the Seanad find that he has been behaving as a naughty boy to the tune of over €80,000. Will the Bertie Ahern-appointed Senator be asked to pay back the money? I wonder how many threatening letters he has received about paying back the money? Have people called to his door looking for the money to be returned?

It’s the law to pay your television licence but surely the normal law-abiding citizens should be treated in a fashion, which is commensurate with their usual or general behaviour.
When the current economic/banking/political crisis hit the fan I felt it quite likely that there could be civil unrest. But as someone pointed out, all of us would have something to lose if we took to the streets and that’s probably true. But there is no doubt about it, there are two laws in this little island of ours - one for the powerful and rich and then another law for the rest of us. Is that why we ere told in the catechism that really it is a valley of tears - at least for the ones who are not in the powerful club?

It must be about a month now since I paid my licence and thankfully, the threatening letters have stopped arriving.

Listening recently to RTE Radio1 shortly after 09.00, there was silence and the silence lasted. And then it dawned on me how often both my radio and television go blank. And at the best of times my RTE One and Two television reception is appalling. And even to receive this appalling reception I have to have an aerial on the roof. And wait for it, in order to receive adequate radio reception I also have an aerial on the roof.

The house is in West Kerry and it has been explained to me that I live on the edge of a reception area. Surely that is simply not good enough. And even with the aerial on the roof, TG4 reception is almost unwatchable. I’m aware that my licence fee does not support TV3, nevertheless, it is a terrestrial station but it is not available to me. Can you imagine if I refused to pay my TV licence on the grounds that the reception was poor what I would be told? Of course it could be all challenged in the courts. But at what price and more than likely the plaintiff would lose. But surely if the State is not keeping its side of the bargain, then why should I be asked to pay up in full?

It is also most annoying that we pay a licence to fund a station that carries advertising and pays inordinate salaries to many of its personalities.

And then just think of all the Nama boys and girls and how they are all swanning about while we pick up the tab and mighty tabs they are.

The little man or woman will always remain the little man or woman and we all need to stop fooling ourselves that it is otherwise.