Shame on the residents of Pearse House

While I appreciate the lighter side of Dublin and of people, the strange, the sarcastic, the misspelled and the malformed, I find it incredibly difficult to ignore the traces of the darker side of things.

Not just the junkies, the beggars, the racism or the dilapidation which are deplorable by themselves, but the sadness, the melancholy and the helplessness that tends to permeate the non latte drinking, metro reading, 9 to 5 office bound section of society.

I think it's my awareness of this that makes me seek refuge in humorous graffiti, street art and expression, attempting to accentuate the positive while the negative runs riot, sticking its middle finger up at the attempts to ignore it and screaming loudly to both announce its presence and remind itself it exists. Head down and iPod loud, I do my best to evade it.

And then, every so often, I'll run across things like this - stuck to a wall on the walk beside the Luas tracks - that will rise up, slap me in the face hard and make me realise that my refuge is temporary, that my ignorance is self delusion at best and that Dublin city can be a sad, sad place.



I can only imagine the frustration, anger and ire of the person or people who composed this and while I don't know the story, I can only imagine what fear and desperation prompted them to stick this on a wall for people to read.

From what's remaining, the text is as follows:

"SHAME ON THE RESIDENTS OF PEARSE HOUSE

• Shame on the residents to allow child rapist _______ _____ to continue to live among you
  
  
• Shame on you to allow him live with a young mother and her two little girls
  
  
• Shame on _______ _____ to allow this evil pedophile access to her two little babies
  
  
• Shame on the father of these children who allows this rapist and pedophile to sleep under the same roof as them
  
  
• Shame on her mother to allow her grandchildren to be exposed to this monster
  
  
• Shame on the young men of Pearse House for not standing up and doing what their parents are afraid to do
  
  
• Shame on the people that still befriend him
  
  
• Shame on the local publicans that are still serving him
  
  
• Shame on the political representative in the area for ignoring the actions of this filthy scum
  
  
• Shame on the gardai for dragging their heels in [unreadable] appropriate steps to protect these children
  
  
• Shame on the local HSE or their r [unreadable]

Great praise and admiration for the girl [unreadable] come forward and expose [unreadable] what he is and capable of [unreadable]. Their courage is to be admired.

FROM

Concerned Parents of Yo [unreadable]"

If it's real, then why is this allowed to happen? Why have things gotten to the stage where they have to resort to a shaming campaign? If it's not, then why is this poster allowed to remain for, based on its wear and tear, a considerable time? Surely a smear campaign cannot be tolerated either? Who should most feel ashamed?

What do people do when they feel they're not being listened to? Where can they go? How do they share their stories? What of those that we never hear?