08.08.07
Senator Harris
JUST catching up now.
OH MY GOD (even though we agree he doesn’t exist)
At first my jaw dropped. Alright, so there is a case to be made that an intellectual is appointed to the Seanad BUT such a BLATANT BLATANT reward for the SINDO’s embarrassingly over the top support for the last two months?? Do they not even have to PRETEND?
Apparently not! Bertie can do what he wants and the SINDO can sell gazillions of newspapers and the people are quite happy with that.
And there I was, dabbling in sneering at the materialism and self-obsession of the over-tanned millionaires of the Cote D’Azur. Why not? Why for one second would you take politics and “democracy” seriously for a second? You might as well get the backs of your legs roasted…
Dave said,
August 8, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Welcome to my world Sarah
PJ said,
August 8, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Are you suggesting that Harris is an intellectual?
Sun must have gone to your head.
The Crewser said,
August 8, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I never liked Harris myself, always thought he was an anti-republican, caviar eating gobshite from Dalkey but he redeemed himself a little during the election campaign by bringing a little balance to the debate about Berties alleged receipt of monies. Whether he is worthy of a place in the Senate is another matter.
Good to see GG doing the business back home at the weekend for Meath yet again. I can see him really giving it welly when it matters most against the dirty Dubs. What a man. Like Sahah I am on hols. in Spain (35 in the shade most days)
Things are looking up
Tom N said,
August 8, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Oh Sweet God (and I do believe he exists) but he or she is having a right laugh right now. This is worthy of Mugabe, rewarding journalists who do his batting for him!
I always thought the man was a buffoon. His display was proof that emotion wins over reality.
irishpancake said,
August 9, 2007 at 11:39 am
“I always thought the man was a buffoon. His display was proof that emotion wins over reality.”
The German/Prussian upper classes/aristocracy thought that Hitler was a buffoon also, that they could control him and look what happened to Democracy in Germany. They seriously under-estimated his fanaticism, and that of his followers, and paid the price.
I’m not saying that Harris is on a par with Hitler, maybe Joseph Goebbels.
I mean from the pre-split IRA, through the Officials/Stickies, SF-WP, WP, Fine Gael (Sorry Sarah, the John Bruton connection), Unionist Party(Trimble) to Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fail may seem a long journey, but it is grist to the mill for this craven former ideologue.
We should not forget his secret WP Cumann in RTE, which over-saw the implementation of Section 31 to silence any Republical/Nationalist voice.
With Conor Cruise O’Brien he almost destroyed independent political comment and analysis, and was instrumental in enshrining his particular virulant anti-provo ideology as the Official policy of the State.
Crewser, you decent FF’ers should choose your friends
more carefully
Sarah said,
August 9, 2007 at 12:56 pm
btw, there was an interesting if very minor episode last year over the 1916 commemorations. Harris had been writing a series of articles criticising Damien Kiberd, then presenting the lunchtime show on Newstalk. I heard that the Newstalk crew and Kiberd were really upset at his criticism that Kiberd’s overtly republican views were colouring all of Newstalk’s coverage. As it happened I was presenting the show on the Bank Holiday Monday, the day after the march, and the following is Harris’s opinion of my performance:
“Actually we almost got through it without any nationalist name-calling. Almost. Last week, on Newstalk 106, in casually charming tones, Tim Pat Coogan, called 1916 critics “crypto-Unionists” and “West Brits”. And with
equal charm the presenter, Sarah Carey, firmly challenged his choice of words. Good show Sarah. ”
(http://www.independent.ie/national-news/rising-parade-compliments-complaints-and-sheer-boredom-129374.html)
Naturally I was delighted to have a) been mentioned and b) in complimentary terms. However, I was warned the praise was probably
more about the war with Kiberd than it was about me. Sigh.
Gerry said,
August 9, 2007 at 3:04 pm
since when has becoming a senator being such a valuable bauble? It’s a bit dismissive of the lunacy going on in Zimbabwe to call the appointment a leading journalist with a long and prominent career to an essentially meaningless post with no financial reward “worthy of Mugabe”. Shows how lucky we are.
Tom N said,
August 9, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Gerry,
Obviously I am not comparing everything that Ahern has done to Mugabe, that would be ridiculous. It would also be obviously insulting to the hundreds of thousands who have died at Mugabe’s hands.
However getting a ranting raving journalist to do your batting is worthy of Mugabe. It may also be worthy of Merkel, Sarkozy, and Brown but I cannot imagine any of them being quite so brazen about it.
There is financial reward, about 60K….wouldn’t call that meaningless. It’s more than most earn. How can a man who has effectively got a sweet deal from the Taoiseach ever be considered impartial?
V said,
August 9, 2007 at 5:33 pm
What is the Senate? What is it good for? What power do they have? Is this Ahern’s way of saying that he does not give a ‘fig’ about it, while at the same time dangling a carrot in front of every soft-brained, center-right journo within his immediate orbit? Even the mighty, many faced Harris will struggle make this ‘chalice’ signifigant, how can you raise a debate if every other donkey in the chamber is pissing up your alley too? Last year we had O’Rourke treating the place like her own personal coffe morning. This year we will have the usuall crowd again, except with a mad illiberal authoritarian roaring ‘Aristotle’ at them.
In Memoraim: Seanad Éireann 1922-2007
Darren Mac an PhrÃora said,
August 10, 2007 at 1:22 pm
“However, I was warned the praise was probably
more about the war with Kiberd than it was about me. Sigh.”
I doubt it. Southern Unionists are fairly lonely people. They give credit where they believe credit is due.
Whatever about the reasons for Eoghan Harris getting a seat, I think that it is great- an Irish speaking Unionist in the Seanad. It can only have a benign effect.
The Crewser said,
August 12, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Now that the peace process is developing and working, against all the odds and the begrudgers you would think that people in the Southern part of this country would be pleased and happy to give credit to those who worked hard to achieve that peace. Not so in the case of the begrudgers I am afraid, they are so set in their entrenched ways that nothing will move them. Certainly not the sight of another Unionist in the Seanad. Eoghan Harris is certainly not the first.
Malins said,
August 18, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Oh. My . God. I missed this. This is sad.