# RTE News apologise for reporting about Cowen caricature



## redstar (25 Mar 2009)

I couldn't believe my ears. RTE News apologised about reporting something which was not inaccurate or misleading.

The subject matter was a caricature of Brian Cowen mischieviously hung up in the National Gallery.
http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/mar/22/cowen-hung-out-to-dry-in-national-gallery-hijack/

I can only suspect that the 'powers that be' did not like the report and leaned on RTE to apologise.

That is a disgrace, and smacks of political interference in news reporting.

What do AAM'ers think ?


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## jhegarty (25 Mar 2009)

Guess they don't want their budget cut next month.


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## michaelm (25 Mar 2009)

redstar said:


> I can only suspect that the 'powers that be' did not like the report and leaned on RTE to apologise.


This is clearly what happened.  And they shouldn't have apologised however they should never have run with such a tabloid non-story in the first place.  It seems that RTE are more concerned with pronunciation than with quality of their content.


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## Sunny (25 Mar 2009)

Apparently the Guards called into Today FM to get e-mails that they may have with regard to the artist. Is it against the law to leave a picture in a gallery? Cowan the muppet should have just laughed it off. Now it has made the international media because he has turned a trivial funny story into something newsworthy


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## redstar (25 Mar 2009)

michaelm said:


> This is clearly what happened.  And they shouldn't have apologised however they should never have run with such a tabloid non-story in the first place.  It seems that RTE are more concerned with pronunciation than with quality of their content.



I agree. Its a bit in the style of an  "And finally ... " type story usually seen on ITV news.


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## gillarosa (25 Mar 2009)

Maybe because they have gotten away with making him the butt of jokes for some time it was the straw that broke the camels back? for example you listen to 2FM and a DJ may refer to him casually as 'BIFFO' I'm not referring to the comedy sketches where it would not be gratuitious but just random throwaway remarks, its not his name and its not appropriate for the National Broadcaster to refer to our Leader in that way whatever any personal opinion they or any of us have about him or his administration we voted him into the position and it is a bad reflection on us collectively as a Nation to allow it, we end up being the joke. It may have been time for RTE Management to pull the reigns and they did pull them for the least innocuous but it is the most widely watched news programme therefore its not surprising. Personally I found the report a little ridiculous, that woman from the RHA smirked throughtout her interview, good grief they allowed someone to stroll in and to place a painting on their walls complete with descriptive notes undetected not professional or a smirking matter.


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## liaconn (25 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> Maybe because they have gotten away with making him the butt of jokes for some time it was the straw that broke the camels back? for example you listen to 2FM and a DJ may refer to him casually as 'BIFFO' I'm not referring to the comedy sketches where it would not be gratuitious but just random throwaway remarks, its not his name and its not appropriate for the National Broadcaster to refer to our Leader in that way whatever any personal opinion they or any of us have about him or his administration we voted him into the position and it is a bad reflection on us collectively as a Nation to allow it, we end up being the joke. It may have been time for RTE Management to pull the reigns and they did pull them for the least innocuous but it is the most widely watched news programme therefore its not surprising. Personally I found the report a little ridiculous, that woman from the RHA smirked throughtout her interview, good grief they allowed someone to stroll in and to place a painting on their walls complete with descriptive notes undetected not professional or a smirking matter.


 

I agree that it was probably not the most appropriate story for RTE news to be reporting, but I don't know how Eileen Dunne kept a straight face during the apology. I think the Dept of the Taoiseach should have just complained but not sought a public apology. They were only drawing more attention to the story.

And by the way we did not vote for Brian Cowen as Taoiseach.


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## Purple (25 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> Maybe because they have gotten away with making him the butt of jokes for some time it was the straw that broke the camels back? for example you listen to 2FM and a DJ may refer to him casually as 'BIFFO' I'm not referring to the comedy sketches where it would not be gratuitious but just random throwaway remarks, its not his name and its not appropriate for the National Broadcaster to refer to our Leader in that way whatever any personal opinion they or any of us have about him or his administration we voted him into the position and it is a bad reflection on us collectively as a Nation to allow it, we end up being the joke. It may have been time for RTE Management to pull the reigns and they did pull them for the least innocuous but it is the most widely watched news programme therefore its not surprising. Personally I found the report a little ridiculous, that woman from the RHA smirked throughtout her interview, good grief they allowed someone to stroll in and to place a painting on their walls complete with descriptive notes undetected not professional or a smirking matter.


 I agree completely. It was an attack on the office as well as the man. What you'd expect from the London Times on Sunday (remember what they called Albert?) but not from the public sector broadcaster.


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## Sherman (25 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> we voted him into the position


 
No we didn't. Brian Cowan has never been elected Taoiseach by the people of this country.


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## Purple (25 Mar 2009)

Sherman said:


> No we didn't. Brian Cowan has never been elected Taoiseach by the people of this country.


 That's the system. We don't elect our leader; we elect the people who elect out leader.


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## Ceist Beag (25 Mar 2009)

Purple said:


> I agree completely. It was an attack on the office as well as the man.



+1 to that.
I also sent the following email to the Ray Darcy show for their continuing with this supposed story.
"Ray, I stopped listening to your Beavis and Butthead style show a good while back but just heard your counterpart Will on The Last Word to confirm the continuing decline of your show. How you could dedicate so much time and effort into what some gob****e thought would be a good prank with the pictures of Brian Cowen is just pathetic. And to try and turn this around by saying it's a waste of Gardai time? Please grow up, this man entered a national gallery and took it upon himself to hang up his own work and we're all supposed to clap him on the back and say nice one? I hope the Gardai do pick him up and fine him as otherwise what sort of example does that set? Can we all throw our ****e up on the walls of the national gallery now?"


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## DavyJones (25 Mar 2009)

Ceist Beag said:


> +1 to that.
> I also sent the following email to the Ray Darcy show for their continuing with this supposed story.
> "Ray, I stopped listening to your Beavis and Butthead style show a good while back but just heard your counterpart Will on The Last Word to confirm the continuing decline of your show. How you could dedicate so much time and effort into what some gob****e thought would be a good prank with the pictures of Brian Cowen is just pathetic. And to try and turn this around by saying it's a waste of Gardai time? Please grow up, this man entered a national gallery and took it upon himself to hang up his own work and we're all supposed to clap him on the back and say nice one? I hope the Gardai do pick him up and fine him as otherwise what sort of example does that set? Can we all throw our ****e up on the walls of the national gallery now?"



What law did he break?

Our leader doesn't need help to expose him as the joke he is. He can do that all on his own with help from his merrymen in FF.


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## baldyman27 (25 Mar 2009)

Seemingly he broke 3 laws, only two of which I heard as I was laughing so much. Those two were;
Incitement to hatred
Criminal damage (hammered a nail into the wall to hang the pictures)

Just heard, indecency was the third.


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## Sherman (25 Mar 2009)

baldyman27 said:


> Incitement to hatred


 
Just shows the hubris of the man. Since when has (very mild) satire been an 'incitement to hatred'? He's throwing his toys out of the pram like a baby over this, meanwhile the country's going down the tubes.

Nice on Biffo, keep focussing on the important stuff.


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## Ceist Beag (25 Mar 2009)

DavyJones said:


> What law did he break?



Surely entering a national gallery and sticking your own work up there without permission is illegal? I know the story of the gardai is a bit sad (incitement to hatred, please!!) but the point is if we were all allowed to do what this lad did then where would you draw the line? And for RTE (and Today FM) to give further publicity to it is just lazy and sad.


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## baldyman27 (25 Mar 2009)

Wasn't there something about Islamic fundamentalists putting out a fatwah on some Dutch magazine editor a few years ago for publishing caricatures of some Islamic figure? Are we headed for Jihad?


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## DavyJones (25 Mar 2009)

baldyman27 said:


> Seemingly he broke 3 laws, only two of which I heard as I was laughing so much. Those two were;
> Incitement to hatred
> Criminal damage (hammered a nail into the wall to hang the pictures)
> 
> Just heard, indecency was the third.



I've heard it all now.

Good point made on the radio, It took the AGS 24 hours to come to today FM and investigate email from artist, while it took them months before they raided Anglo Irish.

Great country eh?


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## DavyJones (25 Mar 2009)

Ceist Beag said:


> Surely entering a national gallery and sticking your own work up there without permission is illegal? I know the story of the gardai is a bit sad (incitement to hatred, please!!) but the point is if we were all allowed to do what this lad did then where would you draw the line? And for RTE (and Today FM) to give further publicity to it is just lazy and sad.




Alot of things in this country disgust me. This is not one of those things. he left art in a public building, whats so wrong with that?


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## Ceist Beag (25 Mar 2009)

DavyJones said:


> Alot of things in this country disgust me. This is not one of those things. he left art in a public building, whats so wrong with that?



It's the publicity the media is giving it that is wrong, that is my point. Why they think this is soooo funny that they have to all give it credence is the problem I have. Darcy I can understand but RTE really should have better standards.


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## Madangan (25 Mar 2009)

Well,I saw the RTE report..yes it was a little tongue in cheek but are we seriously saying that RTE should not report a story because that story made fun of our Taoiseach! If the story had been that someone walked into a major art gallery in washington and put up a picture of the much maligned Geo Bush which was unflattering  and the US networks refused to report it we would   accuse them of all sorts.

The story WAS  about the humour and bare faced cheek(of the artist and his friends..not Mr.C) in walking into two art galleries and hanging up a picture without being seen..it was funny..RTE made a joke out of it..Now the story is that of an attack on the freedom of the press, the inability of people to laugh at themselves and Mr. Cowen( who may well not have instigated the fuss at all) has been made to look like a complete prat and that should be a much greater worry for him than being depicted as fat.

I find the apology of RTE to be quite shocking and worrying.


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## BillK (25 Mar 2009)

Re "BIFFO".  Forgive my ignoranance, but is BC from Offaly?


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## baldyman27 (25 Mar 2009)

BillK said:


> Re "BIFFO". Forgive my ignoranance, but is BC from Offaly?


 
He is, sure he's Obama's first cousin. And have you not read the thread? We're not allowed to call him Biffo!


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## sandrat (25 Mar 2009)

the rte news story was funny available here 
mr cowen is not thought to have posed for the portraits


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## baldyman27 (25 Mar 2009)

sandrat said:


> the rte news story was funny available here
> mr cowen is not thought to have posed for the portraits


 
Thanks for the link, I hadn't actually seen it. That was good alright, Eileen saying that its thought that Cowen didn't pose!! To be fair, they were absolutely ripping the p**s out of him, how many times did they focus in on the belly?!!I can understand their ire but the govt. have made an ass of themselves in the way in which they have dealt with it.


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## z103 (25 Mar 2009)

I detest FF. However, I do not believe people should criticise his personal appearance. There are plenty of other things people can make jokes about regarding FF and Cowan.

I'd love to buy prints of the pictures.



> Just heard, indecency was the third.


Indecency in an art gallery?


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## baldyman27 (25 Mar 2009)

leghorn said:


> I detest FF. However, I do not believe people should criticise his personal appearance. There are plenty of other things people can make jokes about regarding FF and Cowan.
> 
> I'd love to buy prints of the pictures.
> 
> ...


 
That's what they said!

By all accounts the paintings are 'worthless', so if you get in there fast you may not even have to pay for prints!


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## Smashbox (25 Mar 2009)

I thought he looked very handsome


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## Henny Penny (25 Mar 2009)

I used to respect RTE ... no longer. Why did RTE not report the riots in Belfast on St. Patricks Day? CNN/BBC/FOX/SKY etc. managed to squeeze it in ... what else is this government censoring? 
Any chance they'd censor Joe Duffy or Pat Kenny while they're at it????


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## S.L.F (25 Mar 2009)

I have risen from my sick bed to post the two terrible portraits, for those of you with weak stomachs look away now

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5971027.ece

I thought he looked better in the pictures  than he does in real life...

I understand his beloved isn't happy about her DH being ridiculed.

Last I heard the Artist (genius) had other works of art seized from his private home of other politicians.

Have the gardai not heard of free expression?

Don't they have purse snatchers or drug dealers to chase rather than oppressing artists with a sense of humour...


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## Brianne (26 Mar 2009)

I'll start by saying that I have never supported FF and I'm no fan of Brian Cowen. However I feel that the amount of criticism he gets about his personal appearance is not only wrong but it is hurtful. Yes, maybe he could do something about his size but he can't do much about his face. Yet smart-a...... journalists have nothing better to do than make very cruel remarks about every aspect of his appearance.
Yes, he is a politician and in the public eye but what level have we got to that he, who is the democratically elected Taoiseach, is subjected to this kind of personal , hurtful and humiliating abuse.
It is also hypocritical in that if he were a woman , would they attack him like this?
He is a human being first and this kind of humiliation serves very little purpose. How many of us would be able to cope with this? If many of the journalists and broadcasters who call him BIFFO and write about him in this way were doing their jobs properly when he was minister for finance, and had scrutinised FF budgetary policies, and their own papers love affairs with property, this economy might be in better shape. 
Instead it is easier to make remarks the like of which would never be made by anyone with any sense of decency about another person's personal appearance.It just lazy, tabloid journalism and one could compare it to the caricatures of Irish people that were in Punch magazine in the 19th Century.
In a time when no matter what one's policies, any thinking person must realise the need to unite to overcome the present economic horror, surely this kind of ridicule is unhelpful. If Churchill was constantly jeered for his girth, his lips, his cigar smoking and other eccentricities, would the British people have kept faith with him?


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## MrMan (26 Mar 2009)

Its funny how image does mean so much to us now in that we never took Cowen to our hearts partly if only slightly because he doesn't look the part. We mock him and enjoy making fun of his appearance but would be deeply offended and maybe even take legal action if an unflattering caricature of ourselves appeared on the work notice board. We call him fat, ugly, biffo all of which are deeply insulting and have no bearing on the mans abilities or qualities. 
Obama is the darling of the press he is athlethic, handsome(so they say!), and black very much the poster boy for success in the noughties and he is given a fairly free ride. Did nobody find comments like 'I look forward to coming to Ireland for a pint' condescending and feeding a stereotype? Could he not look forward to coming to see the beautiful country or any positive image? His latest gaffe about playing bowling at special olympic level would have made massive news if it came from Bush and if Cowen said it, it would have been the end for him.
 Do we still have school mentality whereby the good looking popular kid will get away with things while the geeky ugly kid suffers on?


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## Green (26 Mar 2009)

Sunny said:


> Apparently the Guards called into Today FM to get e-mails that they may have with regard to the artist. Is it against the law to leave a picture in a gallery? Cowan the muppet should have just laughed it off. Now it has made the international media because he has turned a trivial funny story into something newsworthy


 
I agree this has been very badly handled ...he should have laughed it off and said he has more difficult things to deal with ..what has happended is  that someone rang the gardai, who also have better things to do, and got them to go into Today FM, is sounds like somethings from a small African country...


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## DavyJones (26 Mar 2009)

MrMan said:


> Its funny how image does mean so much to us now in that we never took Cowen to our hearts partly if only slightly because he doesn't look the part. We mock him and enjoy making fun of his appearance but would be deeply offended and maybe even take legal action if an unflattering caricature of ourselves appeared on the work notice board. We call him fat, ugly, biffo all of which are deeply insulting and have no bearing on the mans abilities or qualities.
> Obama is the darling of the press he is athlethic, handsome(so they say!), and black very much the poster boy for success in the noughties and he is given a fairly free ride. Did nobody find comments like 'I look forward to coming to Ireland for a pint' condescending and feeding a stereotype? Could he not look forward to coming to see the beautiful country or any positive image? His latest gaffe about playing bowling at special olympic level would have made massive news if it came from Bush and if Cowen said it, it would have been the end for him.
> Do we still have school mentality whereby the good looking popular kid will get away with things while the geeky ugly kid suffers on?




I disagree.

If we were riding the crest of a high wave he would be loved...Bertie was no looker either.

The plan and simple fact is that Cowen was Minister for finance for the good years, Where is that money gone? He is the leader of a gorverment that is lost. The man could be very handsome and people would have a go at him because he has screwed up.


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## z103 (26 Mar 2009)

> His latest gaffe about playing bowling at special olympic level would have made massive news if it came from Bush and if Cowen said it, it would have been the end for him.


Obama made his special olympics gaffe. He phoned the chairman of the Special Olympics to apologise. So good was his apology and the subsequent handling of the incident that Tim Shriver said that President Obama's apology was 'very sincere'.

I doubt very much that Brian Cowan and his staff would have been able to patch such a gaffe up. A bit like bertie and his suicide 'quip'. Look at the situation of the pictures, where Cowan was the victim - how do you think Obama would have dealt with this? - Auction the pictures for charity? 

So, yes you are quite correct. It probably would have been the end for Cowan because he wouldn't have been able to handle the situation adequately.


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## Sunny (26 Mar 2009)

MrMan said:


> Its funny how image does mean so much to us now in that we never took Cowen to our hearts partly if only slightly because he doesn't look the part. We mock him and enjoy making fun of his appearance but would be deeply offended and maybe even take legal action if an unflattering caricature of ourselves appeared on the work notice board. We call him fat, ugly, biffo all of which are deeply insulting and have no bearing on the mans abilities or qualities.
> Obama is the darling of the press he is athlethic, handsome(so they say!), and black very much the poster boy for success in the noughties and he is given a fairly free ride. Did nobody find comments like 'I look forward to coming to Ireland for a pint' condescending and feeding a stereotype? Could he not look forward to coming to see the beautiful country or any positive image? His latest gaffe about playing bowling at special olympic level would have made massive news if it came from Bush and if Cowen said it, it would have been the end for him.
> Do we still have school mentality whereby the good looking popular kid will get away with things while the geeky ugly kid suffers on?


 
People would still laugh if it was Obama in the pictures holding his y-fronts. I don't think it was all to do with his appearance. I agree that making fun out of peoples appearance isn't fair but you have to be able to deal with it. I think his family have a right to be upset but politically Cowan should have laughed it off and stopped FF people going on the airwaves making a big deal out of the story.


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## Lollix (26 Mar 2009)

The issue is not about whether the pictures were in good or bad taste, or whether they might be hurtful to Brian Cowen. This is about freedom of speech, and about how the main government party consides the Gardai and RTE as weapons in an armoury that can be used to control the population.
We saw the supression of "scrap saturday" many years back, and an attempt to muzzle "nob nation" in recent weeks. Some of the core people in Fianna Fail (not necessarily Cowen, I reckon) consider themselves to be our masters, not our servants, and will do what they can to supress satire and dissent.
The question that people should be asking is this. How many other issues have been supressed by RTE at the behest of Fianna Fail, and how many times have RTE producers decided not to run with an item because they feared an intervention by their masters?


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## Yorrick (26 Mar 2009)

In the good old days in the Soviet Union some disgruntled citizen sent an anonymous  letter of complaint to good old Joe Stalin criticising the way the country was governed.

The KGB seized every typewriter in the town where the letter originated for forensic examination and the tracked down the author.

Another candidate for the Gulags.


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## Dreamerb (26 Mar 2009)

I agree with Madangan and Lollix. 

I'd also add that whether you think the paintings are tasteful is downright irrelevant - the political interference and attempts at censorship mean this is now about the much more profound issues of freedom of speech and freedom of political and artistic expression. It may have been inappropriate to hang the paintings in the galleries and I can see a reasonable argument that there _may_ have been criminal damage. But if we start yelling "indecency" and "incitement to hatred" for the paintings, should we lock Martyn Turner up and throw away the key? Ban satire because it might offend? 

The political reaction to the paintings and the reporting have imbued the whole affair with much greater significance than the original practical joke.


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## michaelm (26 Mar 2009)

Dreamerb said:


> The political reaction to the paintings and the reporting have imbued the whole affair with much greater significance than the original practical joke.


Yes, they handled this badly, although that would be consistent with how they handle most things.  Cowan always puts me in mind of a Gamorrean Guard from Star Wars.


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## Caveat (26 Mar 2009)

Purple said:


> ...  London Times on Sunday (remember what they called Albert?)


 
No - what was it?


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## gillarosa (26 Mar 2009)

Dreamerb said:


> I agree with Madangan and Lollix.
> 
> I'd also add that whether you think the paintings are tasteful is downright irrelevant - the political interference and attempts at censorship mean this is now about the much more profound issues of freedom of speech and freedom of political and artistic expression. It may have been inappropriate to hang the paintings in the galleries and I can see a reasonable argument that there _may_ have been criminal damage. But if we start yelling "indecency" and "incitement to hatred" for the paintings, should we lock Martyn Turner up and throw away the key? Ban satire because it might offend?
> 
> The political reaction to the paintings and the reporting have imbued the whole affair with much greater significance than the original practical joke.


 
But Martyn Turner is a Cartoonist which is entertainment which people viewing his work have clear knowledge of, the RTE Evening News is not a satirical programme, its an important broadcast which the majority of people in this Country who view news programmes view. Badly painted 'portraits' illegally placed on the walls of Galleries which are supported by our taxes are news to a point but only to the point of "how did you allow this to happen, do you have proper security measures?" or maybe "if you have gained some without noticing, is it possible you have lost some too?" The report was unpleasant and gratuitious in its tone, presentation and content to both the viewer and the person they were attempting to ridicule in an underhand manner, and they did the usual post-colonial Irish thing in the middle of it, ask a German Tourist what his opinion on the matter was. If they have the required credentials as Journalists why don't they have Cowan or any other Senior Politician on and ask them the questions which need answers?


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## Chocks away (26 Mar 2009)

Caveat said:


> No - what was it?


A penny   for your thoughts  gombeen man


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## Ceist Beag (26 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> But Martyn Turner is a Cartoonist which is entertainment which people viewing his work have clear knowledge of, the RTE Evening News is not a satirical programme, its an important broadcast which the majority of people in this Country who view news programmes view. Badly painted 'portraits' illegally placed on the walls of Galleries which are supported by our taxes are news to a point but only to the point of "how did you allow this to happen, do you have proper security measures?" or maybe "if you have gained some without noticing, is it possible you have lost some too?" The report was unpleasant and gratuitious in its tone, presentation and content to both the viewer and the person they were attempting to ridicule in an underhand manner, and they did the usual post-colonial Irish thing in the middle of it, ask a German Tourist what his opinion on the matter was. If they have the required credentials as Journalists why don't they have Cowan or any other Senior Politician on and ask them the questions which need answers?



My thoughts exactly. The representative from the gallery was embarassing with her attitude when the obvious question she should have been asked was how did you let this happen and are you not mortified that it was so easy - instead she chose to snigger at the portrait itself.


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## Chocks away (26 Mar 2009)

Imagine if John Major had tried to close down Private Eye over their longterm showing of him wearing a nappy over his trousers. Did anyone hear the guy from the Boston Globe yesterday? The gist was - that Dublin had a bigger homicide rate than most US cities and the cops are busting a Radio station over this. Drugs and guns imported by the container load, murder a mayhem on the streets and the Gardai are chasing a cartoonist. Whoever ordered this probe should be severely carpeted. Or at least have their salary halved


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## Dreamerb (26 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> But Martyn Turner is a Cartoonist which is entertainment which people viewing his work have clear knowledge of,


Do you need your satire to be clearly labelled as such before you accept its validity? Do you need to know something is satire in advance in order to know how to react to it? 

Some of the best satire works precisely because of its ambiguity. In any case, my point isn't whether the particular works are good, or important, or intrinsically valuable artistic or political commentary; it's that we should have that freedom of artistic and political expression. When we have constitutionally guaranteed freedoms we do not get to pick and choose who benefits from them on the basis of how good we think it is or isn't.


gillarosa said:


> the RTE Evening News is not a satirical programme, its an important broadcast which the majority of people in this Country who view news programmes view.


I confess I didn't see the RTE report, but there is room for light-hearted pieces on the news. And people are not so stupid as to be unable to distinguish between a fairly trivial news news report and the serious issues.

As for "usual post-colonial Irish thing"


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## Caveat (26 Mar 2009)

Chocks away said:


> A penny  for your thoughts gombeen man


 
So was he called a gombeen man or are you simply calling me a gombeen man?


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## Chocks away (26 Mar 2009)

Caveat said:


> So was he called a gombeen man or are you simply calling me a gombeen man?


Yup HE was. I only read about his spat with the Sunday Times (I ived in a far-away land in those days) and as far as I gather he was awarded the derisory sum of one penny. This, he labelled a victory (the costs were astronomical), but didn't say of which Phyrric type. After all his 'memory' was pretty dodgy there also and 2300 years was stretching it a bit.


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## Caveat (26 Mar 2009)

Thanks for that.  Well maybe he was one.  Maybe I am too.


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## gillarosa (26 Mar 2009)

Caveat said:


> No - what was it?


The title of the article was 'Goodbye Gombeen Man' and it referred to him as a Mr. Fixit who's career had been brought down by a fib or something along those lines, but I think he won his case both here (but without compensation for the legal costs) and the UK.


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## Sherman (26 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> The title of the article was 'Goodbye Gombeen Man' and it referred to him as a Mr. Fixit who's career had been brought down by a fib or something along those lines, but I think he won his case both here (but without compensation for the legal costs) and the UK.


 
Which was the courts' way of saying that while he had a case, he really should just grow up, get a thicker skin, and rise above that kind of name-calling.  Something our current tantrum-throwing Taoiseach should keep in mind.


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## Chocks away (26 Mar 2009)

Sherman said:


> Which was the courts' way of saying that while he had a case, he really should just grow up, get a thicker skin, and rise above that kind of name-calling.  Something our current tantrum-throwing Taoiseach should keep in mind.


Now if BIFFO was a HIPPO


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## Seagull (26 Mar 2009)

Chocks away said:


> Now if BIFFO was a HIPPO


You'd confuse him with Mary Harney.


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## gillarosa (26 Mar 2009)

Dreamerb said:


> As for "usual post-colonial Irish thing"


 
If you saw the News Report you are pontificating support for you wouldn't either need to ask or feel confused!


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## Dreamerb (26 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> If you saw the News Report you are pontificating support for you wouldn't either need to ask or feel confused!


I'm not "pontificating support" for anything; my comments were primarily about the political and official response which appears to have been startlingly heavy-handed and, in my personal opinion, inappropriate.

And I genuinely don't know what you mean by "usual post-colonial Irish thing". What in the world is "post-colonial" about asking a German tourist for his opinion? It might be _silly_ - but why invoke some sort of post-colonial syndrome for something so trivial?

I know, I know - I shall go find the footage and if I suddenly have an epiphany regarding our post-colonial vox-popping I'll report back...


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## MrMan (26 Mar 2009)

DavyJones said:


> I disagree.
> 
> If we were riding the crest of a high wave he would be loved...Bertie was no looker either.
> 
> The plan and simple fact is that Cowen was Minister for finance for the good years, Where is that money gone? He is the leader of a gorverment that is lost. The man could be very handsome and people would have a go at him because he has screwed up.


 
But if you feel that he is the cause or at the root of our current problems why can't that be that, why the need for childish name calling and sneering. I'm talking about the general 'you' I'm not havin a go, its just that it does bug me that this type of bullying is accepted as long as we are all in on it. Just look at the Biffo - Hippo post and the remark pointing at Mary Harneys size it really does make me wonder sometimes.


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## MrMan (26 Mar 2009)

leghorn said:


> Obama made his special olympics gaffe. He phoned the chairman of the Special Olympics to apologise. So good was his apology and the subsequent handling of the incident that Tim Shriver said that President Obama's apology was 'very sincere'.
> 
> I doubt very much that Brian Cowan and his staff would have been able to patch such a gaffe up. A bit like bertie and his suicide 'quip'. Look at the situation of the pictures, where Cowan was the victim - how do you think Obama would have dealt with this? - Auction the pictures for charity?
> 
> So, yes you are quite correct. It probably would have been the end for Cowan because he wouldn't have been able to handle the situation adequately.


 

his people might be very good at cleaning up his mess but the fact that it didn't make massive news in the first place would suggest that people do not want to burst the Obama bubble too soon. Many people I have spoken too weren't even aware that he made the quip.


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## Lollix (26 Mar 2009)

The bottom line I suppose is that this harmless prank goaded the government into letting their mantle slip, and what peeped out was not a pretty sight. Given a chance, this arrogant gang that surrounds the elite core of government would legislate on what we were allowed to think, not to mind what we were allowed to say. I found the entire episode frightening in a way; it just goes to show how fragile a thing is democracy and freedom of speech. If they got any encouragement, the jackboots would be on, and on our backs.
They've been there too long, and now they think that we are their servants, not their masters. We need to remind them as to whose country this is, and the sooner the better.


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## room305 (26 Mar 2009)

gillarosa said:


> Maybe because they have gotten away with making him the butt of jokes for some time it was the straw that broke the camels back? for example you listen to 2FM and a DJ may refer to him casually as 'BIFFO' I'm not referring to the comedy sketches where it would not be gratuitious but just random throwaway remarks, its not his name and its not appropriate for the National Broadcaster to refer to our Leader in that way whatever any personal opinion they or any of us have about him or his administration we voted him into the position and it is a bad reflection on us collectively as a Nation to allow it, we end up being the joke. It may have been time for RTE Management to pull the reigns and they did pull them for the least innocuous but it is the most widely watched news programme therefore its not surprising. Personally I found the report a little ridiculous, that woman from the RHA smirked throughtout her interview, good grief they allowed someone to stroll in and to place a painting on their walls complete with descriptive notes undetected not professional or a smirking matter.



I agree that the lack of concern the woman from RHA displayed about a serious breach of security in her gallery was frightening. However, Brian Cowan must learn that respect must be earned. The reason he has no respect among the populace is that he comes across as craven and cowardly. Whining and moaning about how nobody understands the depth of the trouble we are in but refusing to answer even basic questions about the country's finances. He talks about making tough decisions but balks at everyone of them. All the while denying he or his party had any part to play in leading the country into the fiscal abyss. 



Brianne said:


> If Churchill was constantly jeered for his girth, his lips, his cigar smoking and other eccentricities, would the British people have kept faith with him?



But he wasn't jeered because he commanded respect and the people knew he was no coward.



gillarosa said:


> But Martyn Turner is a Cartoonist which is entertainment which people viewing his work have clear knowledge of, the RTE Evening News is not a satirical programme, its an important broadcast which the majority of people in this Country who view news programmes view.



Are you not in the least bit concerned by the fact that the government sees fit to dictate to the media what they may or may not broadcast?

Don't forget, it was only through "technical error" that we discovered Primetime allows its political paymasters the opportunity to rehearse for what is supposedly a live segment of the show.

http://dansullivan.blogspot.com/2009/03/maire-hoctor-not-ready-for-prime-time.html



Lollix said:


> The bottom line I suppose is that this harmless prank goaded the government into letting their mantle slip, and what peeped out was not a pretty sight. Given a chance, this arrogant gang that surrounds the elite core of government would legislate on what we were allowed to think, not to mind what we were allowed to say. I found the entire episode frightening in a way; it just goes to show how fragile a thing is democracy and freedom of speech. If they got any encouragement, the jackboots would be on, and on our backs.
> They've been there too long, and now they think that we are their servants, not their masters. We need to remind them as to whose country this is, and the sooner the better.



+1

Perhaps Cowan should insist that interviewers genuflect and prostrate themselves before him just so he feels he is shown the appropriate amount of deference.


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## Firefly (27 Mar 2009)

This whole thing is nonesence...Mr Cowen, it's the economy stupid!


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