Media coverage

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Joe Duffy loses the head

September 19, 2011 in Media coverage, President, Uncategorized by Anthony | 5 comments

In fairness, Joe Duffy did his very best to hide his contempt for Martin McGuinness on Liveline today but, in the end, he lost the head.

Joe attempted for a short time to remain balanced but it soon became obvious that callers who supported McGuinness were, let’s be kind here, ‘robustly’ challenged by Joe while those opposed to the former IRA man were allowed to make their point without serious interruption.

Joe: If Martin McGuinness committed crimes he should be in prison.

Caller: The Good Friday Agreement dealt with all of that. The UVF prisoners were all let out.

Joe: (Shouting down the caller).

Hang on, Larry Murphy of the Shankill Butchers is not standing for president of Ireland…how would you react if Larry Murphy was to put himself forward and get the support of twenty of our parliamentarians, tell me how you would react.

The caller attempted to respond but Joe became hysterical.

Joe: You’d vomit.

Caller tries again to make a point.

Joe: You’d vomit.

Caller: No Joe, I wouldn’t.

Joe: You would.

I think we can safely say that Martin McGuinness’ entry into the fray has finally launched the election campaign; I think it’s going to be very interesting.

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John Waters’ rant

August 5, 2011 in Catholic Church, Media coverage by Anthony | 2 comments

Irish Times columnist, John Waters, is ranting today about the ‘ideological corruption’ of the Irish media regarding the David Norris controversy.

There are some very interesting comments on the article. This one, by ‘Adam’, is worth reproducing in full.

Adam

John, since this story originated with a blogger, I was hoping you were going to write an article retracting your view that blogs and bloggers are stupid. Who am I kidding?

As regards the comparisons with bishops, there is of course a large difference between a misguided appeal for clemency for a convicted abuser and the attempt to cover-up abuse so that an abuser may escape prosecution. That is why bishops are more harshly treated by the media, and rightly so. That doesn’t make Norris right, but the comparison with the behaviour of bishops is incorrect.

And John, you’re not immune to media bias yourself. You tried in your article last week to portray the Church as some sort of doddering old victim of the liberal media (and indeed you’ve portrayed the Pope – who’s a great chap altogether – as a victim in previous articles) when, of course, that is not the truth at all.

You see the church overall as a hero, as a “good guy”, so you are inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt. This is exactly what is happening on the other side of the political divide. People see Norris as a “good guy” and they are inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Is it right? No, of course not.

But, it’s like the way your fingers twitch instinctively for the words “aggressive” or “militant” when you write “secularist” or “atheist” when you really just mean someone who is is an outspoken advocate for both. You would never use the words to describe the Pope, even though in context he’s just as “aggressive” or “militant”, because your bias weighs heavily on your fingers.

You cannot seriously call for fair mindedness in journalism when you, only last week, called members of the Labour party “atheist ayatollahs”!?

You wrote an article once about Atheist Ireland where you claimed that if two of your friends were given half an hour and a microphone the would change the minds of almost every atheist in the room (without ever explaining what those friends would actually say). Only a person who was a slave to their own bias could make such a claim. Incidentally, Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion bemoans the fact that his entire book will not change the minds of but a relatively few religious people who read it, and your fingers will still twitch for the word “arrogant” when you write about him.

In short, John, there is a degree of truth about this article, but you certainly aren’t the one to be casting stones.

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Brendan Keenan: A disturbingly ignorant journalist

June 16, 2011 in Body Politic, Government, Media coverage, Regulatory Agencies by Anthony | 1 comment

During a discussion on nepotism and cronyism Irish Independent economics editor, Brendan Keenan made the following comment:

We have certainly seen in Britain an appalling decline of standards in Parliament and I think we’ve seen some signs of that spreading over here.

It’s difficult to know where to start analysing such a disturbingly ignorant statement.

It seems that Keenan labours under the illusion that, apart from some contamination from the UK, Ireland is a fully functional, democratically accountable state where politicians seldom, if ever, engage in corrupt practices.

First, let me give a broad outline of what happened in the UK when the expenses scandal broke.

There was genuine and widespread anger throughout the land including among the body politic. Politicians were ruthlessly challenged on the matter by a professional and well informed media. Some MPs were even physically attacked by their constituents such was the anger at this theft of public funds.

The police were involved from the very beginning and ultimately succeeded in sending a number of politicians to jail. At least a third of MPs were either sacked or forced to resign and the Government introduced tough new legislation as a result of the scandal.

The theft of taxpayer’s money by Irish politicians is rampant and has been for decades, the practice is an integral and long accepted aspect of the corrupt political system.

The majority of Irish citizens have no problem with such practices so long as their local gombeen representative continues to dispense petty favours.

The police never, ever act against such corruption. The Ivor Callely scandal is a case in point. When a formal complaint was made against Callely the Garda Commissioner, the highest ranking policeman in the state, effectively put the investigation on hold because he was waiting for ‘more clarification’ from a lowly civil servant.

To my knowledge he’s still waiting.

The media, for the most part, are ineffective in challenging the corrupt politicians through a combination of grovelling subservience and/or low journalistic standards.

To be precise here, the Irish media are good at uncovering corruption and even at asking the right questions but almost never stay the course in demanding answers.

Irish politicians have long ago copped on to this and so respond by just throwing out the first excuse/lie that comes to mind and it’s off to the next scandal.

New legislation in response to political corruption never seems to be actually fit for purpose. This, of course, is no accident.

The recent ‘reform’ of TDs expenses, for example, allows them to steal a good portion of their allotment if they so wish, with no questions asked.

This type of legal corruption is rampant within the political system and throughout the ruling class.

One of the crucial weaknesses of how Ireland is governed is the total absence of any law enforcement authority capable of operating independently of the corrupt political system.

The media, for all its faults and weaknesses, is the only force in the land capable of challenging that corrupt system; it’s the only force that provides any protection for ordinary Irish citizens.

That’s why it’s so disturbing to witness such an ignorant display from such a prominent journalist.

Copy to:

Brendan Keenan

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Greece v Ireland

June 14, 2011 in Government, Media coverage by Anthony | 4 comments

Yet another ‘expert’, Dan O’Brien, tells us how bad things are in corrupt and dysfunctional Greece.

The background suggestion is that Ireland, while not in the best of shape, is a normal, functional state.

A reader responded to the article.

Let’s repeat that sentence. “IRELAND is a borderline failed state. its society lacks cohesiveness and is deeply divided its economy is in shock.

If the country’s history is any guide to its future, there is serious trouble ahead”…… by the end of this year, 300,000 people will have emigrated and 450,000 people are currently unemployed with youth unemployment hovering around 40%.

There is not a single government worker capable of being paid without the bailout money borrowed at 5.83%. People in glass houses should not throw stones.

It is less than a week since our Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dail that he could do nothing about nepotism at the heart of his government.

Jobs paid for with state funding or borrowing, for which no citizen is allowed to apply? Can that be legal. If it is have we legalised nepotism?

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George Lee: Advising the Greeks

June 11, 2011 in Government, Media coverage by Anthony | 2 comments

Dr. Labros Chatziz, president of the Hellenic Community (In Ireland) and co-owner of the River Medical Group was on The Business this morning discussing the growing financial crisis in Greece and the Irish government’s negotiations in Europe.

The presenter, George Lee, put it to Dr. Chatzis, that tax evasion was rampant in Greece.

Yes, tax evasion is a national sport. Unfortunately, the only people who are paying tax in Greece are people on salaries; all the professions are tax evaders.

George didn’t intervene here to say that the situation is the same in Ireland, he allowed the doctor to continue.

I’m ashamed to say you have doctors, like me, who have been declaring €10,000 income for the past ten years. When the taxman went in they found yachts, swimming pools and mansions.

Again, George didn’t intervene here to say that the situation is worse in Ireland because ordinary and long suffering taxpayers are still waiting for the taxman to act against the rich tax evaders.

But this is done by everybody in Greece. It’s the mentality and this is the big difference with Ireland. In Ireland it’s not like that.

Once again, George didn’t intervene to say that the mentality is exactly the same in Ireland; that Ireland is exactly like Greece.

Instead George went on to advise the doctor that his country will have to end its culture of tax evasion and added, that it’s not a banking crisis his country is suffering from but a fiscal crisis.

Clearly, George is of the same mind as the Minister for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton. He seems to believe that Ireland is a normal functional state that just happens to be suffering from a temporary banking crisis.

The doctor went on to explain how the already severe austerity measures were being imposed on people who were already paying high taxes.

They’re squeezed even more; I can’t believe how much more they can give. Now you will be taxed for the size of the house you live in on top of the stamp duty.

And that’s just driving them nuts, said George, helpfully, without the slightest hint that he was aware of the raft of similar taxes about to be imposed on ordinary Irish taxpayers.

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Broken promises to a politically ignorant electorate

June 3, 2011 in Body Politic, Government, Media coverage by Anthony | 2 comments

Fionnan Sheahan was writing about broken government promises in yesterday’s Irish Independent.

The average member of the public does prefer to get accurate accounts from their elected leaders and demands a high degree of honesty.

This is a ridiculous statement.

Irish politicians are very, very seldom honest. They operate within a deeply corrupt political system where lying, cheating, stealing and generally betraying the people is the norm.

Honesty within a system that runs on the fuel of corruption can quickly end a political career.

Such corruption flourishes because of the chronically low level of political intelligence among Irish citizens.

A few scraps from a politician’s table, even from criminal politicians like Haughey, is all that is required to ensure election time after time.

The credibility of the previous government was eroded because the public gradually couldn’t believe a word their ministers were saying.

This is also a ridiculous statement.

Irish ministers lie all the time. Political lying is a deeply ingrained part of our corrupt political culture and is fully accepted by a chronically politically ignorant electorate.

Irish citizens have no problem with political dishonesty/lying so long as it does not affect them personally.

They vote, overwhelmingly, on a selfish, personal basis – what’s good for me, not the wider community, not the country.

It was only when the previous government led the entire country over the cliff of destruction, affecting the individual interests of a great number of citizens; that they found themselves thrown out of power.

It’s not about honesty, it’s not about good government; it’s not about the country.

It’s about how well a corrupt political system based entirely on the buying and selling of votes through clientelism can deliver a few crumbs to a politically ignorant peasantry.

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Comrade Madam sticks it to Varadkar

June 1, 2011 in Media coverage, The State by Anthony | No comments

Question:

Did the following comments emanate from the Propaganda Minister of North Korea or the editor of the Irish Times?

A coalition of two parties in government should speak only with a united voice…The Government must articulate only one policy position, the collective view that Ministers have already agreed and accepted…the role of other Ministers is to reflect and defend government policy…It is not to make policy themselves or to misrepresent the Government view by failing to inform themselves properly.

Today’s Irish Times editorial also sees that organisation boarding the ‘Europe is to blame for all our troubles’ bandwagon.

As the euro zone debt crisis has unfolded, Ireland has lost credibility and sustained major reputational damage at various levels, government, public service, banking and business.

The party line here is clear: The destruction of our country has nothing whatsoever to do with our corrupt political/administrative systems, somebody else is to blame.

Oh well, at least Lehman Brothers are off the hook.

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Historic (Twitter) events in Northern Ireland

May 15, 2011 in Media coverage by Anthony | No comments

When I listen to RTEs Northern Ireland editor, Tommy Gorman, I sometimes think he’s slowly going insane.

Without question, he must have the most frustrating, most boring job in the entire universe, and yet, when he reports, his excitement is always that of someone who has just won the lotto.

Last week, for example, he was breadth-takingly telling Drive Time presenter Mary Wilson the dramatic news that positions in the new NI Executive were going to be made on Twitter.

They’re about to make their decisions and they’re going to do so, wait for it Mary, they’re going to do so using Twitter.

This cosmos changing news was met with a deafening silence by a clearly under-whelmed Mary Wilson but Tommy carried on in his excitement.

They’re gathered at Stormont at the moment, they’re about to make their decision and as they do so they will Tweet details of their decision. You can follow the breaking story on…

They will be giving live updates over the next few minutes on the allocation of portfolio’s and I cannot remember this happening anywhere in the world before this Mary.

Live updates from Stormont? – on the allocation of portfolio’s? – on Twitter?

Well, I can tell you one thing, this earth shaking news has changed my life forever.

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Cosmic events in Northern Ireland threatens global apocolypse

May 8, 2011 in Media coverage, RTE by Anthony | No comments

Were you ecstatic when you heard that Sinn Fein’s Barry McElduff topped the poll in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections?

What? – You never heard of McElduff? Shame on you, shame on your ignorance.

Surely you must have been riveted to your seat as commentators analysed the improvement in the UUP vote with Ross Hussey claiming 4,069 votes, outpolling his brother Derek?

What? – You never heard of Ross Hussey, you never heard of his brother Derek?

I’m shocked I tell you, shocked at your lack of interest and knowledge concerning the cosmic events taking place in Northern Ireland.

We can only be thankful that RTE, our national broadcaster is tracking, analysing, dissecting and reporting on these events in minute detail so that every citizen is kept fully informed on how McElduff, Hussey and his brother Derek are doing as our corrupt republic careers over the cliff to financial destruction.

It was agreed by all the commentators that this particular NI election was extremely boring, had a very low turnout and made no difference whatsoever to the political landscape.

But such trivial matters didn’t stop RTE extending its flagship current affairs programme, Saturday View, by a full hour to cover the earthshaking events up North.

Of the 120 minutes of news analysis a full 15 was set aside for a discussion on the financial/political catastrophe that continues to destroy the lives of almost every citizen in the republic.

But even this brief period was interrupted as events north of the border took a dramatic turn when unionist politician Jim McAllister agreed to speak to the people of Ireland on the strict condition that he would not be kept on hold while events in the republic were being discussed.

Economist Moore McDowell was in full flow discussing the latest article by Morgan Kelly outlining the ruinous state of the economy when he was dramatically cut off by RTE presenter Rachael English.

I’m so sorry to cut across you…we have another guest on the line and I’m told if we don’t go to that guest we’ll lose him and we wouldn’t like to lose Jim Allister the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice.

There then followed an edge of the cliff discussion which began with a question of global importance – Have you been elected?

When McAllister replied in the affirmative, he was immediately faced with an even more challenging question – How significant is that development?

I have to admit I was on the edge of my seat, rooted to the spot, overwhelmed with expectation and excitement – what scintillating question was she going to ask next?

Obviously, RTE believes that the views of this extreme right wing politician, who is the sole elected member of his party and who once described Irish as a ‘Leprechaun language’, were of much greater relevance to Irish citizens than the latest warning from Morgan Kelly concerning the country’s ongoing slide into financial and political oblivion.

Recently, and obviously before RTE focused most of its resources on the NI elections, a woman sent a message to another RTE programme with a desperate plea for help.

My husband has lost his job; we’re €10,000 behind in our mortgage payments. Please, please, somebody help us.

Well, that’s all very well, RTE would say, but you’ll have to wait until we’ve analysed every possible angle arising from the infinitely more important events in Northern Ireland.

Copy to:

Saturday View

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Marian Finucane: Stop telling me the truth

April 5, 2011 in Banks & Finance, Government, Media coverage, The State by Anthony | No comments

Marian Finucane (Saturday) began her interview with Pat Cox last Saturday in a very angry tone.

A lot of Irish people are feeling really, really angry with Europe at this stage, that Irish taxpayers have been forced by Europe not by the IMF to pay for loans that the Irish people didn’t take out, there seems a dreadful injustice at the heart of that.

Throughout the entire interview Finucane refused to accept that, as a nation, we were in any way to blame.

It’s the fault of the Europeans; they allowed the nasty European banks to take advantage of our gentle and innocent banks.

Cox tried his best to tell her the truth.

In fact, right throughout the interview he kept on saying – It’s our fault, we did it to ourselves but Finucane was having none of it.

We’re Irish she seemed to suggest, we can’t be expected to face reality, we don’t do reality.

Why, asked Cox, are other European countries both inside and outside the Euro much better off than Ireland, why did Ireland fail?

Yes, said Finucane we know all about bad regulation and the politics of it all but those nasty banks were taking a punt on our financial institutions and they’re getting away with it.

It’s our fault said Cox, we had no contingency plan, we made a mess of it.

But Finucane insisted the European banks were investing here because they figured that the Irish mug would have to pay for it through tax.

Cox was patient.

The unilateral decision made in 2008 to guarantee all the Irish banks was the single most reckless decision in the history of the Irish state.

The decision was made without telling our EU partners, it posed a serious danger to their interests. We put on the Green Jersey, the Germans didn’t make us do it, the French didn’t make us do it, we did it ourselves.

But Finucane was determined, at all costs, to avoid facing reality.

But we’ve made so many sacrifices, tax increases, pay cuts, there’s a lot of pain and the nasty investors who lent recklessly to our gentle innocent banks are getting away without any pain.

Cox is a saint.

We did it to ourselves he said. The EU and even the IMF stopped believing us; they don’t trust the Irish, that’s why they insisted on an external examiner to supervise the latest bank stress tests.

But, said the by now crazed Finucane, the people who put money into Anglo, for example, knew it was a basket case, it’s so unfair that we should have to take the pain.

I switched off, went for a walk.

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