A Very Northern Ireland Problem

[blues six glens nil]

A VERY NORTHERN IRELAND PROBLEM

Well, it's been another eventful week in Northern Ireland where our local media and elected representatives once again cover themselves in glory, in their reaction to the events in the city centre on Saturday afternoon, where they decide to point score and massage their ego's in the wake of a man being in hospital fighting for his life.

I'll start with Paul Maskey, who in the aftermath of incidents in the City Centre on Saturday proceeded to tell anyone who'll listen that it was a horde of Linfield fans who carried out the attack outside Cosgroves on Saturday, even though eyewitnesses at the scene, and the investigating officers have stated that it was not, he continues to spout his bile, and doesn't even have the decency to apologise.

Oh the irony, as his party are quick to complain if they are linked to an attack. It smacks of double standards. If you complain about having mud thrown at you, then you shouldn't be throwing it at others

These comments were inflammatory, simple as that. If someone had suffered as a result of a revenge attack, then Paul Maskey would have had blood on his hands. This is not the conduct that should be expected or tolerated from a public representative.

The Sunday World's headlines were disgraceful. No foundation or evidence to their claims, yet the club remained quiet, and don't even have the decency to ban their hacks from Windsor Park. I won't be holding my breath for an apology.

Of course, if someone farts in Belfast, Stephen Nolan sticks his nose in. Unsurprisingly, he sticks his nose in to this incident, which amounted to a character assassination on Linfield, and the Irish League. You don't want to drag yourself to that level, people like that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged, otherwise their already oversized egos will inflate even further, yet the club did just that.

Nolan often talks about his desire to lose weight, claiming this as the reason why he struggles to get a primetime show on network TV. No Stephen, the reason why you can't get a primetime show on the mainland is because you are an egotistical, attention-seeking, loudmouth who would be at home on TV shows like Big Brother or The Apprentice, but not on a serious, current affairs show.

His antics this week, are further proof why people find it hard to take him seriously as a broadcaster.

Unbelievably, he will be at The Oval next Monday night as a guest of Jim Rodgers. If I was a Glentoran supporter, I would be disgusted at the prospect of someone whose only interest in football in Northern Ireland is for an opportunity to put the boot in on his TV or Radio show getting the VIP treatment at my club.

As part of Nolan’s shameless self-promotion, he bills his show as "the biggest show in the country". A sense of perspective is needed here. We are talking about a country on a remote island, with a population size, similar to that of a small town in England.

One of the major irritations of the Irish League is the amount of armchair experts who put the boot into the league despite never inconveniencing themselves into going to a game. What scares them the most isn't the possibility that they might get hit by something or hear a word out of turn. It's possibility that they might enjoy themselves.

Talking of armchair experts, it brings us nicely onto the subject of Gail Walker, with what could be only described as a vile, clueless piece of work, which should have been ripped up in the editors office.

She goes on to mention 'Newry Town' in her article. Anyone with a basic knowledge of football knows there is no such team as Newry Town. There was, but they changed their name to Newry City, in 2004.

You may think i'm being harsh by criticising her for not knowing about Newry Town changing her name, but surely researching a story and checking your facts right is a basic thing in journalism.

Do you reckon she would even recognise Eddie Patterson if he walked past her in the street?

There seems to an element within the Northern Ireland media, who seem to consider themselves as too big for Northern Ireland, and feel that they belong in the celebrity circuit in London, where TV, Radio, Magazines and Newspapers want to hear their opinions on what's going on in the world.

There's nothing wrong with having ambition, there's nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself. There are two ways to go about it, the hard way or the easy way.

The hard way involves working hard in your chose field, developing a reputation for excellent work and earning the respect of your peers. The easy way, is to shout as loud as you can, churning out a production line of cheap and sensationalist drivel in the hope of getting noticed.

Have a wild guess at what our heroes choose?

The irony of which is lost, as they prepare to talk in a patronisingly highbrow way about the line-up for the latest series of Big Brother, or criticise Daily Mail writers for picking on cheap targets for easy headlines.

People who live in areas where the kerbstones are painted, people who don't live in BT9, local football, local industry, public services, female celebrities who never seem to have a bad hair day. I wonder who the victim of their wrath will be next week?

One thing we are all forgetting that there is someone in hospital after being stabbed, with friends and family praying for his health. People who were spending an afternoon having a few drinks and/or watching football on TV, traumatised after witnessing this assault.

I hope that he pulls through, and goes back to living in normality. That may surprise people, seeing as i'm supposedly a sectarian bigot because of what football team I support.

Yet there are those who choose to use this as a platform to point score, sell papers or get listening figures.

Because of that, any moral lectures or social commentaries they give, should be treated with they contempt they deserve.

And when they sit at their desks, dreaming of that dream job and the celebrity they crave, but will never get, try not to laugh as they attempt to work out why.

[jimhancot]

Good stuff, more of the same please!

[billyard1886]

Yeah good article to read.

[ThreeColoursBlue]

Originally Posted by blues six glens nil

A VERY NORTHERN IRELAND PROBLEM

Well, it's been another eventful week in Northern Ireland where our local media and elected representatives once again cover themselves in glory, in their reaction to the events in the city centre on Saturday afternoon, where they decide to point score and massage their ego's in the wake of a man being in hospital fighting for his life.

I'll start with Paul Maskey, who in the aftermath of incidents in the City Centre on Saturday proceeded to tell anyone who'll listen that it was a horde of Linfield fans who carried out the attack outside Cosgroves on Saturday, even though eyewitnesses at the scene, and the investigating officers have stated that it was not, he continues to spout his bile, and doesn't even have the decency to apologise.

Oh the irony, as his party are quick to complain if they are linked to an attack. It smacks of double standards. If you complain about having mud thrown at you, then you shouldn't be throwing it at others

These comments were inflammatory, simple as that. If someone had suffered as a result of a revenge attack, then Paul Maskey would have had blood on his hands. This is not the conduct that should be expected or tolerated from a public representative.

The Sunday World's headlines were disgraceful. No foundation or evidence to their claims, yet the club remained quiet, and don't even have the decency to ban their hacks from Windsor Park. I won't be holding my breath for an apology.

Of course, if someone farts in Belfast, Stephen Nolan sticks his nose in. Unsurprisingly, he sticks his nose in to this incident, which amounted to a character assassination on Linfield, and the Irish League. You don't want to drag yourself to that level, people like that cannot be allowed to go unchallenged, otherwise their already oversized egos will inflate even further, yet the club did just that.

Nolan often talks about his desire to lose weight, claiming this as the reason why he struggles to get a primetime show on network TV. No Stephen, the reason why you can't get a primetime show on the mainland is because you are an egotistical, attention-seeking, loudmouth who would be at home on TV shows like Big Brother or The Apprentice, but not on a serious, current affairs show.

His antics this week, are further proof why people find it hard to take him seriously as a broadcaster.

Unbelievably, he will be at The Oval next Monday night as a guest of Jim Rodgers. If I was a Glentoran supporter, I would be disgusted at the prospect of someone whose only interest in football in Northern Ireland is for an opportunity to put the boot in on his TV or Radio show getting the VIP treatment at my club.

As part of Nolan’s shameless self-promotion, he bills his show as "the biggest show in the country". A sense of perspective is needed here. We are talking about a country on a remote island, with a population size, similar to that of a small town in England.

One of the major irritations of the Irish League is the amount of armchair experts who put the boot into the league despite never inconveniencing themselves into going to a game. What scares them the most isn't the possibility that they might get hit by something or hear a word out of turn. It's possibility that they might enjoy themselves.

Talking of armchair experts, it brings us nicely onto the subject of Gail Walker, with what could be only described as a vile, clueless piece of work, which should have been ripped up in the editors office.

She goes on to mention 'Newry Town' in her article. Anyone with a basic knowledge of football knows there is no such team as Newry Town. There was, but they changed their name to Newry City, in 2004.

You may think i'm being harsh by criticising her for not knowing about Newry Town changing her name, but surely researching a story and checking your facts right is a basic thing in journalism.

Do you reckon she would even recognise Eddie Patterson if he walked past her in the street?

There seems to an element within the Northern Ireland media, who seem to consider themselves as too big for Northern Ireland, and feel that they belong in the celebrity circuit in London, where TV, Radio, Magazines and Newspapers want to hear their opinions on what's going on in the world.

There's nothing wrong with having ambition, there's nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself. There are two ways to go about it, the hard way or the easy way.

The hard way involves working hard in your chose field, developing a reputation for excellent work and earning the respect of your peers. The easy way, is to shout as loud as you can, churning out a production line of cheap and sensationalist drivel in the hope of getting noticed.

Have a wild guess at what our heroes choose?

The irony of which is lost, as they prepare to talk in a patronisingly highbrow way about the line-up for the latest series of Big Brother, or criticise Daily Mail writers for picking on cheap targets for easy headlines.

People who live in areas where the kerbstones are painted, people who don't live in BT9, local football, local industry, public services, female celebrities who never seem to have a bad hair day. I wonder who the victim of their wrath will be next week?

One thing we are all forgetting that there is someone in hospital after being stabbed, with friends and family praying for his health. People who were spending an afternoon having a few drinks and/or watching football on TV, traumatised after witnessing this assault.

I hope that he pulls through, and goes back to living in normality. That may surprise people, seeing as i'm supposedly a sectarian bigot because of what football team I support.

Yet there are those who choose to use this as a platform to point score, sell papers or get listening figures.

Because of that, any moral lectures or social commentaries they give, should be treated with they contempt they deserve.

And when they sit at their desks, dreaming of that dream job and the celebrity they crave, but will never get, try not to laugh as they attempt to work out why.

Excellent post.

[UltraBlue]

Terrific post. Well done.

well in lad sums it all up perfect

[blue forever]

very good .. and some very good points made .... well done