POP Archive 06: Gerry Conlon & Governments

Eoghan Harris is a silly little man, but he is also wonderfully, unintentionally hilarious.

Let’s take a look at this week’s Sunday Independent article, another rant about the evil Liberals and Provos that dominate and manipulate the Irish mainstream media and a defence of McDowell as a “bulwark of democracy”.

Eoghan’s recap sets the tone for his piece. It goes:

“Michael McDowell made a ridiculous attack on Richard Bruton and then an apology, which was accepted with good grace. After the apology most ordinary people I met thought better of both men. By contrast, the mainstream media … agreed that McDowell had made a major political blunder because of his alleged “arrogance”.”

Eoghan is setting the scene here. In Eoghan’s fantasy land, there are two types of people; ordinary people and the media. The problem with Eoghan’s conception of Irish society is that he terms anybody that doesn’t agree with him a Pinko or a Provo, which means that he always seems to think of himself as being “the man on the street”.

Perhaps these are the same “ordinary people” that told Harris about republicans ripping into marchers during the Dublin riots?

Another example of this fallacy occurs a few paragraphs down when he decides that “media colleges are producing radical-chic critics rather than real reporters”. In Harrisland, if you’re a radical (i.e. somebody that disagrees with Harris) then you’re not a “real reporter”.

It’s also amusing to note, that Eoghan’s “ordinary people” thought better of Richard Bruton after Michael McDowell apologised to him! Yes, apparently the victim of an attack becomes a better person when their attacker apologises.

Harris then shifts into full on conspiracy mode:

“Meanwhile, the marginal tribal media used the mainstream media as a Trojan Horse to settle scores with McDowell.”

Apparently, Harris thinks that the Rafia has some means of controlling Independent Newspapers and the rest of the Irish media. And the only reason that anybody could find anything wrong with Micky’s Nazi taunts is because they’re a Provo.

No time for a full on fisking (my God, I hate that term) so here’s a few more Harris quotes and a few thoughts on them.

“Michael McDowell never attempts manipulation of the media”

Where exactly was Harris for the Frank Conolly affair? Apparently, leaking confidential Garda documents to the media does not constitute manipulation in Harrisland.

“How the hell can anyone who calls himself a reporter really regard Michael McDowell as an arrogant politician?”

Another example of Harris is circular mode. Next Christmas, somebody should buy him “The Big Book of Logical Fallacies” and highlight the section on Scotsmen.

“McDowell is a determined democrat, heedless of how he looksl and always available for argument”.

Do “Determined Democrats” circumvent the legal system and abuse Dail privilege in order to attack political opponents?

“Why is Harry McGee so protective of Daily Ireland, a trade rival….”

Oh I don’t know Eoghan, maybe it has something to do with the freedom of speech and press freedom.

“McDowell is incontinent in his willingness to call up a radio show at a moment’s notice and render himself open to attack by almost anybody who wants to abuse him.”

Yes, Micky does like talk radio. However, I don’t think that this is necessarily a good thing. Anybody who heard him sulking on Matt Cooper’s Last Word a few weeks ago, when the problem in his argument against drug use was highlighted (Micky argues that we shouldn’t use drugs because in doing so we fund criminals. Matt asked if this meant that legalising them would eliminate that problem. Micky moped around, lost for words) will tell you that he doesn’t come on to answer questions, but usually to attack people.

The weirdest thing about Harris’ piece is that he manages to totally ignore McDowell’s comments about Green Party supporters. He should have read Gene Kerrigan’s piece.

Kerrigan explains exactly why McDowell is arrogant. It is not a case of confusing “moral clarity” and arrogance. A man who manages to turn an apology into self praise is hardly modest. Kerrigan also references a piece he wrote in 2004 on McDowell’s mediocre record as Justice Minister. Village Magazine ran with a similar piece this week. Once can only assume that Harris never read them.

Kerrigan claims to have seen the video tape that McDowell claims implicated Green Party supporters. He declares that “we saw nothing that could remotely justify any such allegation”.

The Sunday Independent also runs with a very important story by Antonia Leslie titled “MY BOOB JOB WAS BOTCHED, BUT I LIKE THEM”. Unfortunately, I never read that story. I’m sure that I’d be a better person if I had.

Meanwhile over in the Sunday Tribune, Helen Murray interviews Gerry Conlon, of the Guildford Four. It’s an interesting piece. Sometimes, when people like Conlon leave the media, we forget they exist. A noteworthy quote:

“Conlon will soon have been released from prison for as long as he spend inside it – yet it is abundantly clear that he is not a free man. He is a miserable man. He is embittered and angry, lonely sad and, I imagine, very difficult to be with”.

Conlon is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. This fact just shows you that the public apology Blair issued to the Guilford Four changes little. Gerry Conlon claims to have been assured by Blair that he would receive the treatment he needed, but has yet to receive it.

Conlon is a haunted man. Haunted by the memories of prison life and haunted by his father, who never lived to receive the apology that he prophesised. Gerry is an atheist, and regardless of the merits of his argument, it is easy to see why. He says

“Everything is taken on trust. Its like me saying to you if you give me twenty quid I’ll come round tomorrow and give you a Plasma TV tomorrow –would you do it?”

There are people I’d trust in such a situation. But Gerry is a disillusioned man. The things that he believed in, government, law and society were all turned against him. We trust in our government. We trust in our laws. What Gerry experienced taught him to do otherwise. It is frightening to think that someday, the Powers That Be would select you to serve as a scapegoat in order to protect their interests.

There are lessons we should take from the troubles. They must not be forgotten. Western countries are not as sinless as they like to present themselves. Thatcher was willing to sacrifice Conlon, and countless others like him, in order to hold on to power. The Birmingham Six, Bloody Sunday and Pat Finucane are only the tip of the iceberg. Are things any different today? Not if recent events in Spain and the US are anything to go by.

Which links in nicely to the next article of interest; Brendan O’Connor’s piece on how its trendy to be anti-American. Brendan is a great writer, but only when he’s writing something that supposed to be funny.

The major mistake he makes is that he takes Brendan Glesson’s comments on the US health service out of context, or at the very least, he fails to put them into context. Mary Harney is the one who started the Boston versus Berlin debate and she is the current Minister for Health. She clearly favours the Boston approach and that fact probably influences her policy-making, so Gleeson’s comments were perfectly appropriate.

Brendan seems to lack any sense of self-awareness. He has the cheek to criticise the Marian Finucane Show “where a bunch of people you’ve never heard of before come in to ostensibly review the papers but actually to listen to the sound of their own voices as they mouth off about various pet subjects”. Do any of the Indo’s columnists actually read each others’ columns? And this coming from a “You’re A Star Judge!”

Brendan writes “There is a broad spectrum of opinion in every conversation and every media exchange in American that you don’t get here. There is constant questioning of authority that you don’t get here and there is true radical and political diversity”.

Right Brendan. Wonderful Brendan. Any chance of some examples Brendan?

I’d have no problem accepting the idea that there are voices within the American that question authority and offer radical interpretations of events, but they are not as common as they should be. The research (ever hear of it Brendan) indicates otherwise. If anyone doubts this, then just scroll down to my blog entry: “On Global Ignorance.”

That’s all folks.