Youâre right, we as a society should stand back and allow journalism die. Because once you allow everyone access it for free thatâs where it will go.
Irish journalism is a toxic silo, if you think there is something sacrosanct about it you are greatly mistaken
I was referring to all journalism. We should not encourage theft of it or we certainly will end up with the media we deserve
You are welcome. I also think the article is excellent. A friend of mine was involved in editing a book Stephen OâNeill just published with Liverpool University Press.
Dublin Review of Books is probably the only Irish outlet that would publish the same piece.
46% of people in Galway west want radical change in how the country is run but seem set to return a Govt TDâ:person_shrugging:
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Doesnt noel thomas not believe in the state itself
Whatâs your issue here? Thereâs nothing particularly interesting or contradictory about those polls. Whilst the c. 50% of want âchangeâ in Ireland continue to vote for an alphabet soup, then donât be surprised about these numbers.
Thicko paddies smug in their heads that theyâre smart voters
Political illiterates
And then the former uachtarĂĄin of Fianna FĂĄil told her: âI voted AontĂș before.â
A number one vote?
âYes.â
The latest scribe to cross to the dark side from journalism to politics is the vastly experienced Larissa Nolan, who left her job as features editor with the Irish Mirror earlier this month to take up a role as national director of communications for AontĂș.
With two byelections in full swing, she has pitched in with the partyâs canvassing effort, knocking on doors in the Dublin Central constituency when time permits.
On Wednesday, Larissa, who is not from the northside, found herself in a rather fancy estate in Drumcondra with the team. When they approached one particular house, a garda emerged from his little hut to talk to them.
And then the penny dropped. The team was in Beresford.
Larissa asked the garda if they could canvass the householder but before they got to the door, Bertie Ahern was already on his way out to them.
Mad to chat.
Larissa â who worked for the Sunday Independent during the Bertâs Celtic Tiger era when he did his utmost to make sure âthe boom timesâ were âgetting even boomierâ â said her natural instinct was to whip out her phone recorder âbecause in the years I dealt with him, Bertie was box officeâ.
But now she is on the other side of the fence.
They talked for over 20 minutes with the former taoiseach shooting the breeze on all sorts of things from the Belfast Agreement to his time as minister for labour, to the recent fuel protests and how he would have dealt with the protesters.
He also gave his views on the controversial candidacy of Gerry Hutch and his prospects in the constituency: âHe doesnât have a chance.â
After 30 years in journalism, the freshly minted political adviser told us she is fully aware of Bertieâs chequered legacy but, on her first canvass, she wasnât expecting to come across a former taoiseach on the doorstep.
He was engaging and generous with his time. When she told him about the new job, he fondly recalled two former press advisers â PJ Mara and Mandy Johnston. He said he very much admires Peadar TĂłibĂn, the AontĂș leader.
But he would, wouldnât he.
And then the former uachtarĂĄin of Fianna FĂĄil told her: âI voted AontĂș before.â
A number one vote?
âYes.â
But this time he will be giving the Fianna FĂĄil candidate his first preference, with his second preference going to AontĂș. After decades spent successfully pounding the pavements of Dublin Central, if anyone knows what canvassers like to hear on the doorsteps, itâs serial poll-topper Bertie Ahern.
âI voted number one because I didnât fancy the Fianna FĂĄil candidate,â he rather unkindly divulged. But then, the Ahern camp and its notoriously territorial election machine was never terribly fond of the very capable Mary Fitzpatrick, who had the misfortune of going up against it on a few occasions.
Naturally, Larissa was keen to hear more about when he voted for AontĂș. Exactly which election was this?
âIt was either the last one or the one before that.â
2020 or 2024?
âI canât remember,â said Bertie.
Fancy that.
âItâs not every day you meet a former taoiseach like that. I would have got a two-page spread out of him for the Mirror,â said Peadar TĂłibĂnâs new spindoctor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/galway/s/HZms4MSvW5
Questions for Noel Thomas
If Noel Thomas was in Britain would he be running for Farageâs crowd of headbangers or for Rupert Loweâs rival âRestore Britainâ crowd of headbangers?
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Which is more extreme
Like none of them dont recognise the state in britain
Iâd say theyâre as extreme as each other and itâs purely a battle of egos that theyâre separate entities?
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