Giles Coren - racist restaurant writer?

how can it not be offensive ? being drunk and Irish was the common perception in the UK all through the 80s and ran through to the 90s - the only jobs over there were on building sites for the lucky few as plasterers and labourers. He needs this referencing as a comparison? it's distinctly offensive to Irish emigrants and racist to irish as a whole.
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There were more jobs than that available.
The 'drunk and Irish' perception wasn't a million miles away from the truth in many cases either. Of course, it would be wrong to generalise.
 
gongey said:
i've written to the Guardian Editor and asked him/her whether the piece would have been allowed were "Irish" dropped and replaced by Black or Asian".

is there an overall media regulator?
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I totally agree with this.

Could you complain here?

[broken link removed]
 
Who starts a new paragraph with the word 'and'? Isn't that bad grammar? :)

Honestly i never heard of this guy before but if he does this it is only to deliberately get it put in the paper to promote himself which is, I assume, what his intention was. It also shows how desperate he is to not die out, or even become famous. the saying "A drowning man will clutch a straw" comes to mind.

btw, by creating this thread you have now let me know who he is and have helped him become known in ireland, so you just helped him op.

Damn!
 
I dont find it offensive nor do I consider it to be brilliant. All it is is a silly little rant by a person who has an unjustified high opinion of themselves. He must be compensating for something.
 
Madangan said:
I dont find it offensive nor do I consider it to be brilliant. All it is is a silly little rant by a person who has an unjustified high opinion of themselves. He must be compensating for something.
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Agree Madangan. Don't find it particularly offensive but don't find the attitude/prejudice particularly surprising either.

Find it odd that someone who has such a stick up his a** about the English language would have such crap grammar tho...

"I am insulted enough that you think you have a better ear for English than me..."

Sprite
 
Dunno what's sadder - the email written by this pompous twat or the people getting offended by a casual reference to a drunken Irish labourer. I guess I'd plump for those getting offended.

Seriously, it was a private email which alluded to an ubiquitous global stereotype of "Oirishness", not a treatise on Anglo-Hiberno relations. Get a grip.

Anyone spot the typo in the same reference? I'm assuming there aren't too many "Christ and his pet bear" frescos knocking about the place. Guess the Guardian didn't want to add the appropriate "d" in case it prompted another diatribe.
 
well if you bothered following the instructions given you would see that they are trying to get you to identify which specific element of the code has been breached, it's quite simple really.

this is a fuss about nothing, i thought it was a funny enough diatribe which people should remember was not supposed to be published, it was sent as a private email
 
room305 said:
Dunno what's sadder - the email written by this pompous twat or the people getting offended by a casual reference to a drunken Irish labourer. I guess I'd plump for those getting offended.

Seriously, it was a private email which alluded to an ubiquitous global stereotype of "Oirishness", not a treatise on Anglo-Hiberno relations. Get a grip.

Anyone spot the typo in the same reference? I'm assuming there aren't too many "Christ and his pet bear" frescos knocking about the place. Guess the Guardian didn't want to add the appropriate "d" in case it prompted another diatribe.
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I have to agree, the guy is a twat no doubt but I think we are being a bit over sensitive here. Even if he meant it as a slur against the Irish and is a racist, so what - the email wasn't meant to be published, it was private correspondence and he's entitled to his beliefs, however wrong and misguided they are!. Don't give him any more thought he's an This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language!
 
Yes, I think I have to agree with nee001 - a private eMail that went public. And as a plasterer who likes the odd snifter or three, I found it faintly amusing. I'm sure we've all said little things in letters that were for the recipient's eyes only. I lived in London during all of the 70s and found some English people that didn't like the Irish and some Irish people that didn't like the English. People are people and have a right to like/dislike who they, er, like.
 
uiop said:
sorry Im too lazy/busy usually :eek:

It was a big effort just to complain.


So anyway I dont get it, why was it published ? saying its a private letter does not excuse this . Next week we'll have the guardian publishing excerpts from mein kampf and giving us all a free copy instead of the usual free dvd.
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Uiop, you are right.

It is nice to see some people in Britain still think it's ok to slag off the Irish a la Jim Davidson or Bernard Manning in the 70's.
 
If I am not mistaken did the same Giles Coren not cause a similar controversy 2 or 3 years back by using a disparaging word to describe the Polish people after he accused them of being complicit is assisting the Germans with the holocaust during the war years?
As far as I can remember he got his knuckles rapped that time but I can’t remember the actual gist of it.
 
He certainly caused uproar in Belfast with his description of restaurant clientele in this review. I heard him defending himself against angry locals on a BBC NI radio phone in show a few days later. Unfortunately, the clip no longer seems to be on the BBC website.
 
cobalt said:
He certainly caused uproar in Belfast with his description of restaurant clientele in this review. I heard him defending himself against angry locals on a BBC NI radio phone in show a few days later. Unfortunately, the clip no longer seems to be on the BBC website.
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Now that was brilliant. :D
 
fabulous,doesn't pull the punches,great to see it in this climate of political correctness.
 
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