Dec 07
Kieran Allen. Michael Clifford. Karl Deeter. John Drennan. Diarmuid Ferriter. Fergus Finlay. Maureen Gaffney. Constantin Gurgdiev. Eoghan Harris. Eddie Hobbs. Gemma Hussey. Pat Leahy. Tina Leonard. Diarmaid McDermott. Sean McDonagh. Michael McDowell. Harry McGee. Tom McGurk. Joseph O’Connor. Mary-Louise O’Donnell. Niall O’Dowd. Emer O’Kelly. Olivia O’Leary. Michael O’Regan. Mary O’Rourke. Fintan O’Toole. Jim Power. Terry …
Jul 30
When is a complaint not a complaint? When RTÉ broadcast a lighthearted complaint in March about a portrait of Brian Cowen hung in that national gallery, they received nine calls complaining the item was in poor taste. It’s not clear if the nine includes a call from Eoghan Ó Neachtain, who rang RTÉ director general …
Jul 24
Remember #picturegate? As described in a complaint to the broadcasting complaints commission, RTÉ showed two portraits of the taoiseach, one ‘in a pregnant situation’. RTÉ News later apologised ‘for any personal offence caused to Mr Cowen or his family or for any disrespect shown to the office of taoiseach.’ But in response to a complaint …
Apr 29
I emailed Joe Duffy today. Well, I emailed the show. Joe is off sick, Damien Reilly has been keeping the seat warm. Mick Nugent was on, representing something called Atheists Ireland. (by the way, who elected Mick to speak on behalf of all the atheists in Ireland?) Anyway, Mick was speaking about blasphemous libel, so …
Mar 28
Old Media doesn’t get New Media. Old Media thinks New Media is a bunch of grungy geeks with nothing to say. In short, Old Media thinks new media should get a haircut and a job. Journalists and bloggers come from different worlds. Journalists are deadline orientated. Bloggers are instant. Their focus isn’t on getting the …
Mar 25
‘The visit by a Garda detective today to the offices of Today FM radio station, demanding that staff from the Ray Darcy Show hand over information they might have had about the artist of these pieces was astounding,’ Labour party Senator Alan Kelly said. ‘Does this investigation really represent the best use of scarce Garda …
Mar 25
FG Justice Spokesperson Charlie Flanagan criticised the decision by Gardaí to demand emails relating to the artist who painted nude portraits of Brian Cowen hung in two Dublin galleries. ‘At a time when the majority of gangland murders remain unsolved, to have Gardaí spending their time investigating what amounted to a practical joke that offended …
Mar 25
Yesterday, I wrote about RTÉ removing a film report on caricatures of Brian Cowen smuggled into two Dublin galleries. [Kudos at this point to Maman Poulet, who's blog tipped me off to the story.] Since them, things have grown more serious. The images on the RTÉ website were removed, copy has been edited, and the …
Mar 24
You can tell a lot about the powerful by how they react to satire. In Ireland, the powerful tend to react badly. Older politicians still smart at the memory of Hall’s Pictorial Weekly, and can barely bring themselves to smile through gritted teeth when Scrap Saturday is mentioned. The result is a pale imitation of …
Mar 11
Questions and Answers is no more, though truth be told, it’s been limping for a long time. In it’s heydey, it could point to the confrontation between the elder Brian Lenihan and Garret Fitzgerald that changed a presidential election. But that was then. When was the last time people talked about QandA on Tuesday morning? …