To date the worst excesses of the campaign have been confined to TV studios where candididates have actually been struck by a well-known TV presenter.
Nevertheless, it seems opportune to cite Geneva Convention II [1949].
Article 12
Members of the armed forces and other persons mentioned in the following Article, who are at sea and who are wounded, sick or shipwrecked, shall be respected and protected in all circumstnces, it being understood that the term ‘shipreck’ means shipwreck from any cause and includes forced landings at sea by or from aircraft.
Such persons shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Parties to the conflict in whose power they may be, without any adverse distinctions founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar criteria. Any attempts upon their lives, or violence to their persons, shall be strictly prohibited; in particular they shall not be murdered or exterminated, subjected to torture or to biological experiments; they shall not wilfully be left without medical assistance and care, nor shall conditions exposing them to cantagion or infection be created.
In the light of the above, consideration of the contamination of the drinking water supply of Galway city before the launch of the campaign is clearly in order. At the least the victims should ensure the perpetrators are driven from office; trial will have to await later developments.
There must be great worry about the neglect of casualties; the HSE have warned already of neglect of patients in hospitals due to the actions, it claims, of nurses, in the hostilities opened by the Government with them.