A FEW months ago, I was in a shop with my daughter. An agitated man was bouncing on his heels, swinging his arms back and forth.

His partner was browsing an aisle. He muttered under his breath repeatedly, before finally roaring a string of expletives.

Then, he menaced her: “If you don’t move yourself now, I swear to God…”

I lifted my head from the item I was examining and caught his eye.

Then, in a cool, deliberate voice loud enough for him to hear, but addressing my daughter, I said: “Never, ever end up with a man who speaks to a woman like that.”

His mouth flapped open and shut like a fish. No doubt he holds a far better opinion of himself than the one he was projecting to the rest of us.

We’re a bit like that here. We like to present an image of a Nobel-worthy post-conflict society.

The reality? Decades of decaying political relationships, propped up by an on-off-again, fascia-like bulwark on the hill, surveying the rot beneath.

Enmity is stronger in some quarters than pre-1998, whipped up by politicians and social media commentators with little social conscience. Political firefighting on a whole host of issues trumps prevention.

Isn’t it instructive that in all our recent hand-wringing about the 30 killings of women here, the elephant in the room still stumbles large?

To halt a cycle of violence, we must tackle the root cause.

The word........

© The Irish News