Let me begin this piece of writing by making clear that I do not know John George or his family. I do not know their background (nor do I care). They may be politically aligned to my views, or they may be repulsed by my views, but none of that matters. All that I know is that self evidently this is a family who are desperate to be reunited with their son. That desire will be one which should be commonly understandable to everyone who is a parent, a sibling or a friend. It crosses religious, racial and societal barriers.
In all candor, my knowledge of the ongoing situation has been derived from mainstream media reporting (particularly the Belfast Telegraph who were the first outlet to seriously cover the story), and observing various social media contributions.
The latter exercise is, in of itself, fraught with peril given the ‘wild west’ nature of social media and the rumour mill which makes differentiating fact from fiction increasingly difficult. I note that Mr George’s family themselves felt compelled to take to social media on a number of occasions to dispel rumors which they had established as being false.
In light of all the foregoing, I am not going to speculate or delve into the facts or evidence around what is ongoing. That, in my view, is the remit of Mr George’s friends and family (indeed, it should also have been the remit of the Spanish and UK police forces). It is for them to put into the public domain how much or how little that they wish and to inform those supporting their campaign of any developments via their authorised family spokespersons.
Instead, I simply feel compelled to draw attention to a rather concerning reality, namely the largely muted civic, political and, until others followed-up the Belfast Telegraph’s reporting, media attention which has been focused on this story.
John George’s family, particularly his father and his sister, have almost single handedly been left to build a campaign via Facebook. They have been issuing pleas for help and trying to raise the alarm for a number of weeks. This was scarcely covered in the mainstream media.
It seems to me that, perhaps, because Mr George is from a working class family that in the eyes of some within the civic, political and media arena that the plight of that family doesn’t reach the same threshold as if John George was a private-school educated middle class professional who was missing. But why is that so?
The life of John George, and the grief of his family, is worth every bit as much as that of those who live a life of affluence or form part of the professional class.
It seems the Spanish policing response has been grossly negligent, at best. They seemingly paid no heed to the pleas of John George’s friends and family, and until recently appear to have done little beyond treat the matter as a ‘missing person’. It will be apparent to anyone simply following the family’s social media pleas that from very early on, certainly inside a week, the family were making clear that Mr George was not the type of person to simply ‘go on the missing list’.
This inaction has obviously lost many forensic, CCTV and other investigative opportunities. I am not sure if there is a Police Ombudsman in Spain, but if there is then the Spanish police must surely have serious questions to answer. Indeed, as a country of the European Union, it is hard to believe the lack of energy, diligence and professionalism which has characterised their response. It is more like something you would see in a third-world country.
There has also it seems been little by way of activity by the PSNI (for example following up potential leads in Northern Ireland, if any) or, it seems, much of substance by the British embassy. Instead, the family have been left to essentially gather together whatever resources they can and conduct their own search and investigation. That is absolutely scandalous.
A British citizen is missing, presumed potentially having been subject to a violent crime according to his own family, and that working-class family are left having to mount their own investigation and search operation. I personally don’t care who it is or what background anyone is from, that is unjustifiable.
There also appears to be very limited political support for the family (I see their local Sinn Fein MP has tweeted he has been liaising with the family) beyond some cursory superficial efforts. Again, if this was a middle-class professional who was missing in a foreign country the political, civic and media elite would be elbowing each other out of the way to virtue signal and win social status by being the chief supporters of the family.
John George’s family, particularly his father, have shown themselves to be remarkable people. They are determined, tenacious and are- largely alone- embarking upon trying to overcome an ordeal which is scarcely imaginable for any family. I have watched his father’s videos pleading for his son to be returned, expressing the agony of his wife, John George’s mother. That, in of itself, is something no man should have to do, but it is a testament to the depths of despair this family have been left in.
This family deserve much wider support not only from civic and political society, but from policing both here in Northern Ireland, across the rest of the UK and in Spain. The UK Government should be taking steps to pressurise the Spanish Government as to what steps they are taking, and a joined-up approach should be put in place in order to follow up all investigative leads and intelligence which can assist in locating Mr George.
In the fullness of time, the abandonment of this family by the State and political/civic society must surely be the focus of serious reflection. But right now, the priority must be locating John George and returning him to his loving family and most of all his little children.
By Jamie Bryson