Why does everyone hate kevin myers?

Kev_ps3

I hate him anyway because he is an arrogant anti-Irish west-Brit..

irish_bob

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

People hate journalists. Kevin Myers is a journalist.

People hate journalists who have opinions even more than they hate other journalists. Kevin Myers' job is to express minority opinions.

People hate journalists who have an opinion different to theirs. Kevin Myers' job is to publish minority opinions which, of necessity, are different to most peoples.

While I disagree with most of what he says, he performs an important function by disagreeing with what he perceives as the majority opinion, or at least the majority opinion of the media.

you are mistaken in thinking he represents minority opinion , the media in ireland is not representitive of most irish peoples views , its is disproportionatley left wing and most irish people are not left wing

irish_bob

Joey the lips wrote: »

Nahh Eammonn Dunphry is disliked because the truth hurts. Kevin Myers is disliked because when he tells you something you get the feeling that his comments come with a " Well if you dont like that you can shove it...." line!

dunphy is a populist of the highest order , a phoney ,an insider posing as a rebel , he idolised the likes of mc creevy during the boom yet now all of a sudden , hes the voice of the working man , dunphy puts myers in the happeny place when it comes to seeking attention , i have yet to see dunphy on the opposite side of mob mentality

Ziggurat

Myers is little more than a polemicist and like all polemicists he thrives off of manufacturing controversy.

Especially when he tries to paint himself as some sort of underdog voicing the truth the rest of the media won't tell. As someone else said above, he'd fit right in at Fox, what with their incessant squealing that there is some supposed liberal bias in the media.

Nodin

irish_bob wrote: »

the media in ireland is overwhelmingly liberal so kevin myers sticks out like a sore thumb , he isnt afraid to bring up sacred cows like immigration or feminism etc , the man is a national treasure

The Sindo...liberal bastion....?

OldJay

Ziggurat wrote: »

Myers is little more than a polemicist and like all polemicists he thrives off of manufacturing controversy

Exactly. An attention seeking contrarian.
Only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about would be his motto, I'd guess.

OldJay

Nodin wrote: »

The Sindo...liberal bastion....?

Doesn't write for the "Sindo" which is of course, the Sunday Independent as we all know.

eightyfish

He lost me in 07 when he salivated with praise over a book by old-Earth creationist Harum Yahya. In the article Myers demonstrates a total lack of basic understanding of science and evolution, but talks with ignorant authority about both. Could never take him seriously after reading that.

johnnyskeleton

irish_bob wrote: »

you are mistaken in thinking he represents minority opinion , the media in ireland is not representitive of most irish peoples views , its is disproportionatley left wing and most irish people are not left wing

I appreciate that the majority media opinion may not be the opinion of the majority of Irish people (I think I said so in my post). However, I don't think that the media is disproportionately left wing. I think overall the Irish media is centre-right with a healthy does of liberal attitudes, much like most things in Ireland.

Kevin Meyers' opinion can't properly be described as right wing either: some times his views could be considered extreme right wing, others fairly left wing. Usually though, I think he just shoots from the hip and disagrees with what he perceives as accepted wisdom.

Agricola

I think hes abit like Declan Ganly in that if he had an Irish accent he'd be more accepted. Its because of his middle class Brit twang and the fact he likes to batter republicanism at least once a week in his column, thats hes widely disliked.

Personally, I think hes usually on the money. Its just alot of his pieces are wrapped up in such hyperbole and long winded english that I cant be bothered to get to the point most times!

population

Agricola wrote: »

I think hes abit like Declan Ganly in that if he had an Irish accent he'd be more accepted. Its because of his middle class Brit twang and the fact he likes to batter republicanism at least once a week in his column, thats hes widely disliked.

I do not care what accent anyone has. But his article last year on Africa was about the closest thing to incitement to hatred I think I had ever read in an Irish newspaper. I spoke to a very high ranking member of the Garda about another matter on the day that article came out, and he was genuinely shocked by it's content and it's potential to lead to pockets of violence towards members of the immigrant community.

Myers got a rap on the knuckles from the press complaints commision and rather than take his medicine tried to blame it all on the Sub in the Indo who wrote the title. Noble brave man indeed.

Nodin

Justind wrote: »

Doesn't write for the "Sindo" which is of course, the Sunday Independent as we all know.

Well, Sindo/Indo...they both wear the same blue coloured shirt....

Nodin

Agricola wrote: »

I think hes abit like Declan Ganly in that if he had an Irish accent he'd be more accepted. Its because of his middle class Brit twang and the fact he likes to batter republicanism at least once a week in his column, thats hes widely disliked.

Personally, I think hes usually on the money. Its just alot of his pieces are wrapped up in such hyperbole and long winded english that I cant be bothered to get to the point most times!

Well for one thing, most of us who ever read any of his crap didn't read it out in his accent. Secondly, his remarks about Africans and immigration are by and large related to race

“What most struck me while watching BBC television news reports of the Christmas sales in the West End of London, was firstly obvious, and secondly, it was something that no one with the BBC would ever have remarked on. It was this. The shoppers — and there were thousands of them — were overwhelmingly of Asian or African origin. In the vast throngs of faces, there was barely a Caucasian face to be seen; and when there was, of course, that was no guarantee that it was British.”

(my bold)
http://bnp.org.uk/tag/kevin-myers/

Why he's here on this side of the water when the BNP and Stormfront are so keen on him I don't know.

thebman

Nodin wrote: »

(my bold)
http://bnp.org.uk/tag/kevin-myers/

Why he's here on this side of the water when the BNP and Stormfront are so keen on him I don't know.

Yeah exactly what I remember about him. He can fook right off with opinions like that IMO.

Even if that is playing to that crowd, I don't think they should be played to.

FlutterinBantam

I read him an odd time and most of the time he is dead right.

In my opinion he speaks it as he sees it, and doesn't give the usual mealy mouthed platitudes so beloved of the liberal left who don't give Jack Schidt as long as they have some flyblown cause to rattle on about.

He shines a light on the the shady dealings of the flat capped merchants in the Border areas and doesn't hesitate to adopt the unpopular view when the situation deserves it.

We need more people like him, in my opinion, who are not afraid to face down the bleeding heart liberals who would have us funding every frikken jackass who is too lazy to help him or herself in any part of the globe and who get involved in causes that they have nothing to do with or have no need to get involved in.

He is not the worst by a long shot.

djpbarry

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

I read him an odd time and most of the time he is dead right.

Is he? Take the article quoted above by Nodin (full text here); he kicks off by complaining about the fact that there are apparently too many non-white faces in London for his liking, but then he goes on to say...

London had always attracted immigrants, who have generally become assimilated into the population around them.

So what exactly is his point? What is he ‘dead right’ about in this instance? Because it looks to me as though he has completely contradicting himself. London has indeed attracted many immigrants in the past, but of course, from the 20th century, a large portion were non-white and such people can never fully ‘integrate’ as far as Myers and his ilk are concerned. It’s also worth remembering that the vast majority of immigrants in London are from former British colonies, dominions, etc., so a comparison with Dublin/Ireland isn’t really valid.

I also have to draw attention to this comment:

Perhaps a majority of players in any good English team will be of at least part-African origin. This is surely worth commenting on, for many reasons, not the least of them being the rapid disappearance of role models for white working-class boys...

So he’s essentially implying that a black footballer could not possibly act as a role model for a white boy? I simply cannot believe that he is serious in making such a statement.

Nodin

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

In my opinion he speaks it as he sees it, and doesn't give the usual mealy mouthed platitudes so beloved of the liberal left who don't give Jack Schidt as long as they have some flyblown cause to rattle on about.

So he has no "causes" that he likes to "rattle on about"...?

Nodin

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

We need more people like him, in my opinion, who are not afraid to face down the bleeding heart liberals who would have us funding every frikken jackass who is too lazy to help him or herself in any part of the globe and who get involved in causes that they have nothing to do with or have no need to get involved in.

..yet twas he that supported the Iraq war...or is that 'different'?

Rebelheart

irish_bob wrote: »

the man is a national treasure

Yeah, but which nation?

Rebelheart

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

The Indo is a rag.

The Sunday indo is a bigger rag.

I buy neither so Kevin Myers is long forgotten in my world.

Where the hell did he get that accent? Was it inserted up his hole in Trinity?

The good Mr Myers is a born and bred Englishman:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Myers

He has finally found his spiritual home in the rags, as you accurately term them.

irish_bob

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I appreciate that the majority media opinion may not be the opinion of the majority of Irish people (I think I said so in my post). However, I don't think that the media is disproportionately left wing. I think overall the Irish media is centre-right with a healthy does of liberal attitudes, much like most things in Ireland.

Kevin Meyers' opinion can't properly be described as right wing either: some times his views could be considered extreme right wing, others fairly left wing. Usually though, I think he just shoots from the hip and disagrees with what he perceives as accepted wisdom.

how anyone could deny the media in ireland is not left wing is beyond me , evidence is everywhere , joe higgins when he lost his dail seat in 2007 was just as big a feature on tv and radio afterwards , richard boyd barrett who only got elected to town council level this year has been a regular contributor on tv and radio this number of years despite being nothing but a proffessional protestor , both theese men represent a tiny minority of public opinion , if you watch vincent brownes show , he has academics like ciaran allen make regular appearanced in which they call for bolshevism from the irish public and more or less brand certain business people as being criminals , the poverty industry seems to have someone on brownes show at least once a week , telling us how unequal a society we have , i have yet to see anyone on brownes show make the case for an all out privitisation of the health service , the narrative in irish media is quite obviously liberal to me and many others

irish_bob

population wrote: »

I do not care what accent anyone has. But his article last year on Africa was about the closest thing to incitement to hatred I think I had ever read in an Irish newspaper. I spoke to a very high ranking member of the Garda about another matter on the day that article came out, and he was genuinely shocked by it's content and it's potential to lead to pockets of violence towards members of the immigrant community.

Myers got a rap on the knuckles from the press complaints commision and rather than take his medicine tried to blame it all on the Sub in the Indo who wrote the title. Noble brave man indeed.

what did he say that was inaccurate in that piece , he mentioned the fact that sexual mores was different in africa than in europe and that ethiopia despite having a famine every decade is heading for a population of 140 million by 2050

Rebelheart

irish_bob wrote: »

how anyone could deny the media in ireland is not left wing is beyond me , evidence is everywhere , joe higgins when he lost his dail seat in 2007 was just as big a feature on tv and radio afterwards , richard boyd barrett who only got elected to town council level this year has been a regular contributor on tv and radio this number of years despite being nothing but a proffessional protestor , both theese men represent a tiny minority of public opinion , if you watch vincent brownes show , he has academics like ciaran allen make regular appearanced in which they call for bolshevism from the irish public and more or less brand certain business people as being criminals , the poverty industry seems to have someone on brownes show at least once a week , telling us how unequal a society we have , i have yet to see anyone on brownes show make the case for an all out privitisation of the health service , the narrative in irish media is quite obviously liberal to me and many others

You have got to be ****ting me: Anthony O'Reilly is running left wing newspapers?

The "Irish" media is desperately at the service of capitalism, particularly of capitalism connected with that knight of the British crown, Anthony O Reilly.

The only intelligent, thought-provoking, newspaper in Ireland is The Irish Times, although that has declined since it took on Miriam Lord from the Independent rag. The Sunday Business Post was good last time I read it, about five years ago. The Sunday Tribune was also refreshing when JJ Lee and Joe O Connor were writing for it.

FlutterinBantam

Indeed, and you have Fergus Finlay who seems to me anyway to be practically on the staff out in RTE, banging the poverty drum day in day out!!

Stand back and listen for a minute. The bould Fergus doesn't give a wet asswipe where his money comes from, as long as he gets it. He doesn't care if Joe and Annie can't pay their mortgage as long as his sector is catered for.
He doesn't care if the Flutther is on his uppers, business gone to the wall, as long as his vested interest is supported.

Always look BEHIND the person folks, you could learn a lot, always see where they are coming from;)

Ziggurat

irish_bob wrote: »

how anyone could deny the media in ireland is not left wing is beyond me , evidence is everywhere , joe higgins when he lost his dail seat in 2007 was just as big a feature on tv and radio afterwards

He's a well known politician, what do you expect?

richard boyd barrett who only got elected to town council level this year has been a regular contributor on tv and radio this number of years despite being nothing but a proffessional protestor , both theese men represent a tiny minority of public opinion

But they're well known to the public (at least I assume they are). People who are more well known are, obviously, going to be reported on much more. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease", after all.

if you watch vincent brownes show , he has academics like ciaran allen make regular appearanced in which they call for bolshevism from the irish public and more or less brand certain business people as being criminals , the poverty industry seems to have someone on brownes show at least once a week , telling us how unequal a society we have , i have yet to see anyone on brownes show make the case for an all out privitisation of the health service , the narrative in irish media is quite obviously liberal to me and many others

I wasn't aware that Vincent Browne constituted the entirety of Irish media.

starbelgrade

“What most struck me while watching BBC television news reports of the Christmas sales in the West End of London, was firstly obvious, and secondly, it was something that no one with the BBC would ever have remarked on. It was this. The shoppers — and there were thousands of them — were overwhelmingly of Asian or African origin. In the vast throngs of faces, there was barely a Caucasian face to be seen; and when there was, of course, that was no guarantee that it was British.” (Kevin Myers)

I honestly can't see anything wrong with this statement - it is merely an observation without any real intent as far as I can see, unless you read your own opinion into it.

I am well aware that Myers is an advocate of open discussion on immigration, but surely this cannot be a bad thing.

djpbarry

starbelgrade wrote: »

“What most struck me while watching BBC television news reports of the Christmas sales in the West End of London, was firstly obvious, and secondly, it was something that no one with the BBC would ever have remarked on. It was this. The shoppers — and there were thousands of them — were overwhelmingly of Asian or African origin. In the vast throngs of faces, there was barely a Caucasian face to be seen; and when there was, of course, that was no guarantee that it was British.” (Kevin Myers)

I honestly can't see anything wrong with this statement...

If taken in isolation, there is nothing wrong with it, in the literal sense. However, when taken in the context of the entire article, there is something wrong (see my post above).

Or let’s look at it another way; suppose we do take the above statement in isolation – what do you think he’s trying to say?

FlutterinBantam

djpbarry wrote: »

If taken in isolation, there is nothing wrong with it, in the literal sense. However, when taken in the context of the entire article, there is something wrong (see my post above).

Or let’s look at it another way; suppose we do take the above statement in isolation – what do you think he’s trying to say?

Eh ? I suppose he was remarking on the factthat he noticed that the majority of the shoppers were non white!!

If similar footage of similar scenes from Xmas shopping in Nairobi were shown and the majority of shoppers were Caucasian, it might engender a similar observation.

MikeC101

djpbarry wrote: »

If taken in isolation, there is nothing wrong with it, in the literal sense. However, when taken in the context of the entire article, there is something wrong (see my post above).

Or let’s look at it another way; suppose we do take the above statement in isolation – what do you think he’s trying to say?

Given the amount of hotels, embassies, international organisations, tourist attractions and shops in the West End, it might not be all that surprising to see the majority of shoppers "overwhelmingly of Asian or African origin". Especially if it was filmed during office hours, then the vast majority of those shopping would be tourists, no?

His statement though, I assume is referring to immigration, and he's trying to insinuate there has been too much in London? Or immigrants from certain geographical areas are over represented?

Of course, if you're of a certain...political persuasion... it could be taken to mean the immigrants done took all the jobs and benefits and so on, and thus are the only ones who can afford to shop.

I don't know, it's a bit of a nothing statement in my opinion - just trying to stir up some controversy on Myers behalf.

For the record, I don't mind him really. I don't often agree with him, but he does occasionally have a good point to get across, and even when I disagree with him it's always interesting to read about a different viewpoint.

starbelgrade

MikeC101 wrote: »

Given the amount of hotels, embassies, international organisations, tourist attractions and shops in the West End, it might not be all that surprising to see the majority of shoppers "overwhelmingly of Asian or African origin". Especially if it was filmed during office hours, then the vast majority of those shopping would be tourists, no?

His statement though, I assume is referring to immigration, and he's trying to insinuate there has been too much in London? Or immigrants from certain geographical areas are over represented?

Of course, if you're of a certain...political persuasion... it could be taken to mean the immigrants done took all the jobs and benefits and so on, and thus are the only ones who can afford to shop.

I don't know, it's a bit of a nothing statement in my opinion - just trying to stir up some controversy on Myers behalf.

For the record, I don't mind him really. I don't often agree with him, but he does occasionally have a good point to get across, and even when I disagree with him it's always interesting to read about a different viewpoint.

You can read into it whatever you may... is it about immigration? Quite possibly, but I've heard Myers saying that we do need a proper open discussion on this issue, and as I said, an open discussion on this (and any issue) can surely not be a bad thing.