Roe McDermott, who has been living in San Francisco for most of the past year, writes about The New York Times' coverage of the Berkeley tragedy in which six Irish students lost their lives – and insists that Irish lives cannot be represented by stereotypes

This week, Ireland and California alike have been fiercely shaken by the tragic balcony collapse in Berkeley student residences on Monday night, in which six Irish students lost their lives.

The six students, named as dual US/Irish citizen Ashley Donohoe (22) and Irish students Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcan Miller and Eimear Walsh (all 21), had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday, at an apartment in downtown Berkeley late on Monday night, when the fourth-storey balcony gave way, collapsing onto the street below.

In addition to those who died, there are seven students, who suffered injuries of varying levels of severity. The injured students have been named as Hannah Waters, Clodagh Cogley, Niall Murray, Sean Fahey, Jack Halpin, Conor Flynn and Aoife Beary, all aged between 20 and 22. One person is believed to be seriously injured, while others are believed to have what have been described as life-changing injuries.

While Irish politicians have been focusing on sending best wishes to the families of the victims, Irish media coverage - the graphic, body-bag laden front page of The Irish Daily Star excluded - has generally been responsible and supportive to people in a moment of appalling tragedy and grief.

Sadly, American media coverage of the tragedy has not been nearly as compassionate. The New York Times, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world, has come under particular fire for its coverage of the tragedy. In what is seen by many as a serious deviation from the standards normally applied at the newspaper, they set their depiction of Monday's horrific events against the backdrop of a purely subjective and largely hostile judgement of Irish students in general.

The relevant article claimed that the J-1 work-visa program that enables Irish students to travel to San Francisco for a summer exchange "has in recent years become not just a source of aspiration, but also a source of embarrassment for Ireland, marked by a series of high-profile episodes involving drunken partying and the wrecking of apartments in places like San Francisco and Santa Barbara."


QUOTE OUT OF CONTEXT

The descriptions in the newspaper of how the balcony collapsed failed to mention that it is now widely suspected that the wooden joists of the balcony were unsuitable for such a construction, and that dry rot may have weakened the integrity of the balcony's structure. Instead, the coverage focussed on a seemingly random group of quotes from former J-1 students, which supposedly portray the hedonistic lifestyle that all Irish visitors to San Francisco embody.

As someone who has been there for the bulk of the past year, I can say that this is entirely unfair, unwarranted and wrong.

One of those quoted is the Irish Voice writer Cahir O'Doherty, who described an incident where Irish students apparently inflicted damage on a house they were staying in during their J-1 in 2014. One might simply answer: so what? To suggest that any of those who have lost their lives were in any way culpable for the terrible events that took place in so wrongheaded as to be libellous.

For his part, O'Doherty has since complained that this quote was taken out of context.

"The Sunset Park piece really has no relation to what happened in Berkeley," he said. "This was a structural collapse. I've been to plenty of loud parties, but I've never seen a nation held to account for them before."

By including a reference to damage in the way that it did, The New York Times is implying not only a pattern of destructive behaviour by Irish students (note to The New York Times: a one-off incident is not a pattern, in fact it's most likely an exception), but that the wild partying of Irish students may have caused the balcony to collapse.

So let us be quite clear about this: the erroneous and judgemental tone of the piece in the New York Times is irresponsible, distastefully victim-blaming, and deeply disrespectful to the families mourning the loss of their sons and daughters. But sadly, as someone who currently lives in San Francisco (on a student Visa no less), I find the patronising attitude of the piece unsurprising.

BELITTLING STEREOTYPES

While I - and the four close Irish friends I know who also lived in San Francisco this year - were and continue to be deeply committed to understanding our new home of San Francisco, including its progressive politics, surprisingly sensitive social nuances, and deeply complex relationship with immigrants (particularly white, privileged immigrants such as ourselves) and the city's notoriously complicated experience of gentrification, we found - unfortunately - that at least some Americans are not by any means as respectful of us.

While a few years older than the victims of the Berkeley tragedy and therefore dealing with slightly different peer-groups, all of my Irish friends who have lived in san Francisco have faced various forms of the stereotyping and belittling of Irish people embodied in The New York Times article.

Irish men in their twenties are frequently patronised, treated as parochial and drunken louts, while Irish women are frequently fetishised.

Our accents, complexion and hair draw a persistent and exhausting form of harassing attention, and myself and my best female Irish friend have had lengthy, exhaustive conversations about how very few people have attempted to get to know us on any substantial level - when we utter "We're Irish", we are often faced with a barrage of assumptions on our home country, which trump any curiosity about us as fully-rounded individuals.

We have of course also been lucky to find wonderful American friends and peers who are exceptionally creative and welcoming individuals - but finding those people who see beyond the media-supported fiction now inherent in our Irish label can take a concerted effort, particularly outside of college life, where international students are broadly welcomed. But even within my progressive MA college course, I've experienced a persistent form of belittling and bizarre assumptions about my perceived lack of intelligence or cultural awareness.

I've been asked in all seriousness by a fellow MA student (who knows I'm a film critic) if Irish people knew what the film Mean Girls was; if Irish people really do have sex with sheep; and I have had lecturers, honestly, who didn't know that Ireland wasn't part of the U.K.

Apart from these ironic assumptions about our perceived lack of education, sophistication and awareness about the outside world, I also personally found that stereotypes of our drinking habits are more likely to be fulfilled by American than by ourselves. On the afternoon of both Saturday March 14 and Sunday March 15, I walked from the Fillmore in San Francisco all the way to the Mission, to a café where I like to study. The city was filled with Americans in green outfits falling out of pubs, drinking in the streets and loudly celebrating "Patty's Day."

Toasted (it's like being catcalled, but with novelty drinks!) by many a group of American men as I walked by, I remarked that "St. Patrick's Day isn't for three more days." I was greeted by blank stares. "It's the 17th," I clarified. "Is it?" several people remarked. "Oh." And back to their drinking they went. Because these individuals don't care one iota about Ireland or our culture - they just want to appropriate stereotypes of our culture to behave how they like.

THE ABSENT IRISH

The difference here is: I don't judge Americans for drinking, or partying, or having a good time - pastimes that, as a college attendee, I know form a vital part of American students' social lives. No problem. However, when Irish people are seen to be doing the same thing, it's apparently an indictment of our country.

It is against this background of condescending stereotyping that the New York Times editorial decision to besmirch the students who were the unfortunate victims of the Berkeley tragedy has to be seen.

Absent from the American media coverage are the accounts of Irish students and immigrants who massively contribute to the cultural landscape of San Francisco. Absent are the accounts of young tech enthusiasts who contribute to San Francisco's economic hub, or the writers who perform slam poetry and stories at the city's constant rotation of literary events. Absent are the accounts of J-1 students who become a daily part of San Franciscans lives by working in bars and cafes, while also attending courses in colleges and adding some much-needed perspectives to courses that can sometimes be hindered by a prevailing sense of American exceptionalism.

Absent are the voices of Irish people living and working in San Francisco and Berkeley who hold a deep respect for America's historical and current struggles, and who were loud and consistent allies in the Black Lives Matter protests. Absent are the accounts of students who spend their time in San Francisco trying to learn as much as possible about America's history and unique intersections between race, sex and class, so that we can not only understand our host country better, but use this knowledge to further social discourse and progress the social good, back at home.

VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES

In Berkeley, where many Irish students stay both during summer programs and the college year, their presence is both a vital and vibrant addition to the community, as evidenced by the amount of Irish cultural events, meetings and dances that take place around Berkeley and San Francisco city, just a short train ride away. As someone who currently lives in San Francisco and travels to Berkeley to an Irish bar for weekly poetry and music events, I've seen the contagious enthusiasm and energy that young Irish students bring to the area, and how deeply they are appreciated by their Irish peers, new American friends and lecturers alike.

In two of my frequent haunts, Ashby in Berkeley and Ocean Beach in San Francisco, the most popular cafes and bars in the area are those owned and run by Irish staff, who have become not just daily staples in their customer's lives, but valued members of the community - who are always willing to give any new Irish visitor an instant network of friends and emotional support when it's needed. The loss felt by all of these people, consequent on this week's tragic events is enormous.

Of course that's a much too human and complex portrait of Irish people to present in American media, and one that would involve seeing and recognizing Irish students and immigrants as individuals, rather than one collective group that fulfil conveniently self-destructive stereotypes.

That type of reporting requires no compassion or nuance. But it is wrong and deeply unfair - especially to the victims of this tragedy, and to their families, but also to the Irish community in general.

When it comes to representing Irish people in American media and dismantling outdated and victim-blaming stereotypes, it appears that a headline will trump humanity, every time.

That is not the way it should be in the New York Times...