Joe Brolly taken to task by snarling nobody

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You’re not familiar with the class fool? He’s the one who will do anything – make farting sounds, punch the smallest boy in the class, write moronic vulgarities on the board, all with the hope he’ll be noticed. He (it’s almost always a he) will say or do anything so that people will see he exists. And even, in the case of some half-wits, admire him.

That first paragraph has been prompted by a link I’ve just been sent to a sports article in this morning’s Indo by someone I’d never heard of and frankly will be happy not to hear of again, one Tommy Conlon. His piece is headed ‘Joe Abu Hamza al-Brolly clings to vicious past as world tries to move on’.  Brolly’s sin, in Conlon’s eyes, is that he wants to retain the tricolour and the national anthem at GAA games. Hurling insults and absurdities as he goes, Conlon contrasts Brolly’s stance with that of Aogán Ó Fearghail,  the head  of the GAA, who’s said that ‘in the context of an agreed Ireland’, he could see GAA games without the flag and anthem  (or ‘rag and dirge’ as Conlon refers to them). He also contrasts Brolly with Jarlath Burns, who also feels the GAA could do without the flag and anthem.

I’m bitterly disappointed he didn’t include me  in the Ó Fearghai-Burns grouping, because I too think the GAA could survive very well without them and that it might even encourage a few Protestant/unionists at present hostile or indifferent to the GAA to participate in those marvellous games. It might. The difference is, I don’t refer to those who differ in view from me as ISIS-type psychopaths. Because Brolly mentioned the killing of the Reavey brothers and not the Kingsmill massacres, he’s denounced by Conlon as dragging everyone back to the swamp of sectarianism. You don’t remember the Reavey brothers? Maybe that’s because they haven’t been talked about much. The reason being, perhaps, that if they were mentioned by someone, it could provoke an avalanche of insults such as Conlon thinks fitting.

I know as well as the next person that if you write a piece, you need to get and hold your reader’s attention. But that’s not quite the same as saying you should use any means available to get and hold your reader’s attention. If you read Conlon’s piece, it’s fairly certain that you’ll read to the end. But only as you might give your full attention to a newsreel clip of a hawk eating a rat.

Don’t follow that last comparison too closely. Joe Brolly is no helpless rat. He knows how to take care of himself in an argument, even as he once knew how to round an opposing full-back before planting the ball in the back of the net. He’s also a man who knows that life is short and we need to use our time well. Which explains why a couple of years back, he donated a kidney to a man he happened to be coaching alongside, and why today he’s a passionate ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland in their fight against ruthless drug-companies. Conlon’s frenetic assault on Brolly succeeds only in reminding me of Brolly’s stature and impressing on me the kind of grubby little name-caller the Sindo likes to employ.

If you’re sure you can keep your breakfast down, here’s the link to Coo-Look-At-Me Conlon.

 

I’ve tried to put the link to the article up but it isn’t , as Sammy has kindly pointed out, working. So here’s the full frontal Tommy…

Tommy Conlon: Joe Abu Hamza al-Brolly clings to vicious past as world tries to move on

Attack on president a tour de force of prejudice, tribal tub-thumping and emotional blackmail

The Couch: Tommy Conlon

PUBLISHED11/12/2016 | 17:00

  • 35COMMENTS
Joe Brolly1
Joe Brolly

One day the GAA president is talking about a hypothetical future in which the tricolour and national anthem might be stood down as conspicuous symbols of the association.

His piece in last week’s Sunday Independent was a tour de force of historical prejudice, tribal tub-thumping and emotional blackmail. His former Belfast neighbour, the late Rev Ian Paisley, would surely have been proud.

Aogán Ó Fearghail had merely floated a notional prospect that in some sort of distant “agreed Ireland”, the GAA would be “open-minded about things like flags and emblems”. Of necessity, his thinking on the matter was entirely speculative. It was interlaced with all sorts of caveats and qualifications.

Yet it was a red rag, a Danish cartoon to Abu Hamza al-Brolly. He spent the day slapping his head with both hands and whacking a picture of Ó Fearghail with his shoe. Later that evening he was spotted on top of the Sperrin mountains chanting “Padraig Pearse Akbar! Padraig Pearse Akbar!”

Then he calmed down and the self-pity flowed out in torrents. Somehow from the president’s gentle comments, the Dungiven Wahhabi made a psychic leap back to the sectarian massacre in January 1976 of three South Armagh brothers.

Sez you, what has that got to do with the GAA and the flag and anthem? Well you might ask. But seeing as he dragged the debate back into that rancid swamp, it would be remiss not to acknowledge another few terrible spectres from that barbaric time and place.

Ten Protestant workmen were subsequently murdered by the IRA at Kingsmills in South Armagh. They were taken out of their van and mowed down by machine guns where they stood. This atrocity happened within 24 hours of the murder of the Reavey brothers. Joe somehow forgot to mention it.

In July 1972 our heroes planted bombs outside three Protestant businesses in the village of Claudy, then fled to Dungiven, 10 miles away. A mere nine people were murdered on this occasion: four Catholics, five Protestants, including Kathryn Eakin, aged eight. Joe’s buddy, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, was deputy leader of the IRA in Derry at the time.

Kevin Lynch played underage hurling for Dungiven before he moved on to greater things. He decided to do a bit of killing for Ireland and, after that, a bit of dying for Ireland. He didn’t join the IRA, on the grounds presumably that they were a bit slack in the depravity department. Instead he joined the INLA, which happily had an even more bestial disposition. Lynch died by suicide in 1981. He hadn’t eaten any grub in Long Kesh for a few months.

Dungiven GAA subsequently named their hurling club after him. Abu Hamza al-Brolly thinks it’s a great idea altogether to name his hurling club after a chap who had no problem with the killing of men, women and children. Sure he was one of our own, after all, and a “good Gael” to boot.

Croke Park should have stepped in long ago and banned this practice.

What’s to stop a club from naming itself after Dominic McGlinchey, the psychopath from south Derry who founded the INLA and boasted of his involvement in 30 murders? Maybe Brolly’s football club could be re-named the Dungiven Mad Dogs, in fond memory of McGlinchey. Or maybe he was a soccer man, in which case it would be unthinkable.

Unfortunately the GAA at national level was too deferential for too long when it came to Ulster nationalism during the Troubles. Admittedly the Association was placed in an almost impossible position during that era.

These were the years when it didn’t know whether it was primarily a sporting or cultural organisation. It claimed to be both. But its cultural identity was the anchor that pulled it down into the morass of atavistic conflict. It never set solid boundaries. It allowed itself to be hijacked by forces that cared little for the GAA’s wider mission in Irish society. Like any sports body it should have been all-inclusive: non-tribal, non-sectarian, non-political.

A prime example was Rule 21, the law which prohibited Northern Ireland and British security forces from joining the Association. Rule 21 made bigots of the entire GAA membership. But time and again the Association’s leaders deferred to the Ulster hardliners. They abdicated their responsibility to the organisation nationwide. The tail wagged the dog.

Nowadays the GAA is a lot clearer about its remit. It is a sporting organisation doing magnificent service for the community. But it will take generations to shake off its tribal baggage.

Ó Fearghail’s comments should be seen as the beginning of that journey. Or maybe it began with Jarlath Burns’ civil and decent intervention last year. The former Armagh captain is a GAA man to his core. He grew up in the tradition – all “the sacramentals” of flag and anthem and culture.

“It wouldn’t cost me a thought,” said Burns, when asked if he would contemplate getting rid of the old emblems. “They are divisive. All they say is, this is me, this is what I am. It’s not about reaching out to anybody else. People are more important than flags and anthems and all those things.”

You would think that this much, at least, should be obvious, after all the damage done. But no: we’ll damn well cling to the rag and dirge, even if it kills us.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/tommy-conlon-joe-abu-hamza-albrolly-clings-to-vicious-past-as-world-tries-to-move-on-35283989.html

 

46 Responses to Joe Brolly taken to task by snarling nobody

  1. Sammy McNally December 12, 2016 at 9:27 am #

    Jude,

    Dont think that link is working.

  2. jessica December 12, 2016 at 9:32 am #

    We really need a clear message as to how much of this is overindulgence of journalistic freedom and how much is what people truly feel on the ground.

    This is not an Ireland I want to be part off and clearly the feeling is mutual for some at least.
    The question is how many feel this way.

    I would be as content with the tri colour representing a new northern Ireland consisting of the 12 or more northern counties as I would for it to be the flag of all of Ireland.

  3. Patrick McDermott December 12, 2016 at 10:52 am #

    Jude, I never buy or read Indo or Sindo newspapers as I find their political columnists biased,and without a factual understanding of their brief and, more to the point, engaging in unbridled, personally abusive and vituperous journalism. I would imagine Joe is getting this personally vitriolic abuse soley because he is the son of northern Shinners. If it had been a stalwart of Dublin or Kerry GAA establishment voicing same opinions as Joe, would any criticism, never mind abuse, be targeted at them ?

  4. Bridget Cairns December 12, 2016 at 11:17 am #

    This type of journalism is up there with “Freddie Starr ate my hamster” in that it will draw attention to Mr Conlan, however, this gutter type of “journalism” attracts ” negative attention. I expect Mr Conlan will make a career out of denigrating anything Irish. The GAA are at risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water and Mr Conlan will surely help them in that.

  5. Mark December 12, 2016 at 12:54 pm #

    When was the last time Tommy Conlon did anything ballsy on behalf of another?

    • Jude Collins December 12, 2016 at 1:30 pm #

      Come, come, Mark. He is a fearlessly outspoken employee of Denis O’Brien…

      • Mark December 13, 2016 at 9:40 am #

        True but, how many kidney’s has he?

  6. Perkin Warbeck December 12, 2016 at 2:24 pm #

    There is a phrase popular in Australia, Esteemed Blogmeister, which is self-explanatory: ‘The Cultural Cringe’.

    It forms no part of the public debate, oops, conversation downunder here in The Free Southern Stateen. The reason for this is possibly because its Media, amen, is akin to that which pertained in Uganda during the reggae-regaled regime of Idi Amin. Though the FSS media is, of course, even more mono, both monoglot and monochrome, and anal-retentive in the Anglo-Irish meaning of that term.

    Mention of Idi Amin reminds one that for years -honest / and fhirinne ghlan ! – in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim there was a farrier (a daarlin word for a blacksmith, Joxer) whose big boast was that he once outpointed Idi Amin in the roped square of a boxing ring. This happened when both were in the King’s African Rifles when Uganda was still goose-stepped as part of the Empah (British).

    Luckily, for the farrier he had turned harrier and ran all the way home to Lovely Leitrim before Idi Amin Dada became the Father of an Independent Uganda.

    One mentions this because Tommy Conlon is a native of Independent Leitrim about which no ballad has been composed, unlike, say, Lovely Leitrim. One mentions in back-passing that Paul Williams, Grime Correspondent Extraordinaire, is also a nativist of Independent Leitrim. One wonders if both were, or wor (as they say in Leitrim) in the same history class?

    They both share a similar profound understanding of the British chapter of ‘Wor and Peace’ in Ireland.

    One is, alas, unable to access Conlon Online where he snaps like a melancholy border collie at Joe Brolly. Now, Joe B. is by no means Mr. Perfect – his lack of knowledge of the finer points of C. and W. Music is lamentable (it is anything but CAW, Joe !) – but in this instance, as indeed in most instances, he rings the correct trolley bell.

    Uncle Tom Conlon has form in this matter of blissful prig- ignorance where the ancient topic of the Auld Enmity is concerned: gormless form.

    Take this vomit-flecked splurge which he regurgitated like a comet out of the street-side window of the Sindo on 23/6/2013 and down upon innocent passerbys far below, and through which he gives his inner urgings towards the cultural cringe a rare old gob-gallop:

    -Foreign hurling almost became our game of choice.

    (Those of a sensitive disposition in Dixie are advised to look away, look away).

    -Cricket in Ireland is a neglected tale despite its rich political and social history.
    Eh?

    -In pre-famine rural Ireland the landed gentry educated locals in its mystical skills and civilizing protocols. They were pushing an open door.

    (Is is still not too late for those of a s.d. in D. – see above).

    -The History of Cricket in County Kilkenny covers one county only, and yet it contains a wealth of detail.

    (Wealth of detail. Hmmm. See’ rich political and social history’ above. Is there a subliminal trend emerging here, sor?).

    -And it leaves the reader pondering a question: would cricket have become our national sport if the GAA had not entered the national scene in 1884?

    (See under Aunts, Uncles and Balls, Uncle Tom and other dunder-headed readers who may be prone to pondering).

    Michael Cusack gets namechecked : oddly enough, the widely read, always right and erudite Uncle Tom Conlon doesn’t mention M.C.’s alter ego The Citizen who gets a chapter all to himself in ‘Ulysses’ by the cricket-loving J. Joyce.

    This is back-passing strange as Uncle Tom C. is very down on r for racism and the racist bliggarding of Michael Cusack as The Citizen is the bench-mark of political correct racism in the rarefied world of , erm, Irish Letters in the German Queen’s English.

    If one had a tune to this one could actually sing it. As it happens – caramba ! – there is one, and to hand too:

    -Be the old Bogoak Monolith, looking lazy at the sea
    There’s a Burma pump attendant, who worships Tommy C.
    For the wind is in the Psalm Trees, the C of I bells seems to say
    ‘Come ye back, ye British Soldiers, come ye back down Leitrim way’.

    Back to the chirping Tommy and his fascination for Cricket:

    -An 1869 edition of The Kilkenny Moderator describes a scene that is as much garden fete as sporting occasion.

    (Oy ! Pass the cucumber sandwiches and the elderberry wine there , Uncle Tom).

    The Sindo hack who likes to take the Long View and to look back through the Window of the Past looks back to The Kilkenny Moderator of 1869. He might have gone back a tad further, to, say, the Kilkenny of 1366.

    This is the year of Our Lords and Masters when the 35 acts aka The Statutes of Kilkenny were enacted to stamp out and dampen down the past times and patois of Paddy Stink and Mickey Muck (see under J. Joyce above). Maybe they have been moved from the sightlines of Uncle Tom Conlon’s rear-view mirror to the Past, bhlast it. ?

    Call them The Moving Statutes (with three t’s).

    (Curiously enough, Kilkenny have 36 All-Ireland Hurling titles. Latest Score : Kilkenny: 36 – Statutes: 35).

    Uncle Tom Conlon loves to use the G for Gael word. Much in the same way with all the warmth and affection as the natives of, say, The Windward Isles talk about, obviously, going forward, the G for Gale word.

    Uncle Tom Conlon referred to a certain Nordie who is obviously naff fore and aft, apart from being as daft as a Brussells sprout as:

    -Joe Abu-Hamza al-Brolly.

    Hmmm.

    Loath as The Perkin’s inner Nicely Nicely is to dabble in the dark art of mud-throwing nonetheless Knoblesse Oblige: Conlon rhymes with Anlann, which is leprechaun for sauce.

    And so, the immutable logic of what is s. for the Goose-stepper must also be automatically s. for the Propagandist, so reluctantly, one is compelled to call Uncle Tom Conlon by the sauciest and most nut-crunching name possible:

    -Tomás O Conluain.

    O Conluain is of course the original (gulp) Gael-name of the klan in question, and is what the ancestors of Sindo’s window to the Past were called before they got bats in the belfry and bats in the hand, though not necessaily in that o.

    O Conluain actually means in the lingo of the leprechaun (gasp):

    -A term of endearment (!); a pet name for a (gulp) sprout (see under Brussells above).

    To conclude: one started with the term ‘The Cultural Cringe’. Curiously enough, Uncle Tom Conlon calls his column by the twee title of :

    -The Couch.

    Not inappropriately , come to think of it, for one who likes to go on on Sindo-sponsored sallies into the realm of Psycho Analysis (sic).

    The Perkin, not known to look the old Gift Shergar in the mouth, can hardly avoid this opportunity to propose the following rebranding of the Uncle Tom Column:

    -The Cultural Crouch.

    Ouch !

  7. Ryan December 12, 2016 at 3:45 pm #

    Wow, Tommy would fit in well in the TUV. Even Ruth Dudley Edwards would blush after reading that. I never heard of Tommy before in my life and I don’t think I will again because that article really is pathetic. One thing I will say is that Joe Brolly will rip him to shreds for this piece when he replies.

    “because I too think the GAA could survive very well without them and that it might even encourage a few Protestant/unionists at present hostile or indifferent to the GAA ”

    As Joe himself points out Jude, is that really the right way to go about attracting unionists/protestants to the sport? To hide any sign of Irish culture? (no MT, we decide what represents us, not you) I think that’s the worst thing we could do. What next? renaming GAA clubs? renaming Cups? At a time when there is no sign of Irish culture in government buildings here and where nationalists are demanding equality, its wrong and contradictory to then say we should remove more emblems of Irishness from society whilst the opposite should be happening.

    How would the GAA know if a person is a protestant or unionist anyway? Do they ask the religion/politics of all their members?

    Don’t take this the wrong way but….why would we want to specifically attract unionists/protestants into the GAA anyway? I’m not saying none should be welcome but why go to such drastic measures to utterly change (most would say destroy) the GAA just to suit a small amount of people, who most likely will never step foot into a GAA club anyway?….if these changes went ahead (which they definitely wont, the vast majority in the GAA, players and fans, utterly oppose it) would it actually attract more protestants/unionists? I seriously doubt it. The equivalent of this would be Loyalist bands suggesting stripping away anything Protestant/British in order to attract Catholics. Obviously that would never happen because they despise Catholics but its a suggestion that simply wont work, no Catholic would want to join a Loyalist band.

    In truth, all removing the Tricolour/Anthem would do is cause a massive uproar from nationalists (and rightly so), embolden extremist Unionists and be completely counter productive to the equality nationalists want in symbols in our society.

  8. MT December 12, 2016 at 7:15 pm #

    “As Joe himself points out Jude, is that really the right way to go about attracting unionists/protestants to the sport? To hide any sign of Irish culture? (no MT, we decide what represents us, not you) I think that’s the worst thing we could do. What next? renaming GAA clubs? renaming Cups? At a time when there is no sign of Irish culture in government buildings here and where nationalists are demanding equality, its wrong and contradictory to then say we should remove more emblems of Irishness from society whilst the opposite should be happening.”

    Again, an ultra-nationalist conflates Irish nationalist culture with Irish culture.

    This is a problem.

    • Mark Mitchell December 12, 2016 at 8:23 pm #

      Sorry if you’re feelling under siege but everyone can see through your ‘moderate’ act so don’t try to be pretendfully reasonable when sounding like being around in 1641.

      • MT December 12, 2016 at 8:28 pm #

        I’m not feeling user siege.

    • Ryan December 13, 2016 at 4:24 am #

      “Again, an ultra-nationalist conflates Irish nationalist culture with Irish culture.

      This is a problem.”

      The politics/history of every country effects the culture of that country MT, Ireland is no exception. But what I find ironic is someone who quite obviously identifies as British trying to lecture on what is or is not Irish culture.

      I’ll be blunt with you MT. Your one of the extremist Unionists I refer to before. I know this because I’ve read enough of your comments to know you wouldn’t be out of place amongst the likes of Tom Elliot. You don’t want to engage in Irish culture, you only want to destroy it, hence why you refer to a “problem”. The problem is the one in your head that Martin McGuinness referred to as a “Psychological problem”.

      • MT December 13, 2016 at 7:32 am #

        “The politics/history of every country effects the culture of that country MT, Ireland is no exception.”

        Obviously.

        “But what I find ironic is someone who quite obviously identifies as British trying to lecture on what is or is not Irish culture.”

        I’m not lecturing anyone on what is or is not Irish culture, but merely pointing out your worrying conflation of Irishness and Irish nationalism. It is you who are offering a narrow and exclusive view of ‘Irish culture’, and it is this narrowness that is a problem. A form.of racism that seeks.to exclude from Irishness those who don’t conform.to the old-style D.P. Moran narrow exclusive identity.

        “I’ll be blunt with you MT. Your one of the extremist Unionists I refer to before. I know this because I’ve read enough of your comments to know you wouldn’t be out of place amongst the likes of Tom Elliot.’

        I’m not.

        “You don’t want to engage in Irish culture, you only want to destroy it, hence why you refer to a “problem”. The problem is the one in your head that Martin McGuinness referred to as a “Psychological problem”.”

        And here you demonstrate the problem again. In trying to deny that you conflate Irish culture with Irish nationalist culture, you actually do so again. And the most worrying aspect of this is that you appear not even to realise that you are doing it.

        • MT December 13, 2016 at 8:28 am #

          “I’ll be blunt with you MT. Your one of the extremist Unionists I refer to before. I know this because I’ve read enough of your comments to know you wouldn’t be out of place amongst the likes of Tom Elliot.’

          Actually this passage is perhaps the most disturbing of all for what it reveals about the extreme nationalist mindset. Assuming the view expressed is genuine, it reveals a belief that those who confront and oppose extreme nationalism and exclusive not ons of identity must be extreme themselves. It reveals a binary view of politics in which only extreme forms exist. If one is not am extreme nationalist one must be an extreme unionist. Even expressing the most liberal anti-violent views and advocating inclusivity is deemed to be ‘-extreme unionism’.

          This too is a problem.

          • Mark Mitchell December 14, 2016 at 5:52 pm #

            I’m not the one with the problem you are but too dim to see it.

          • MT December 14, 2016 at 7:33 pm #

            “I’m not the one with the problem you are but too dim to see it.”

            I never said you were. My comment was in response to Ryan. Maybe you should be a bit less hasty in name-calling.

  9. Pointis December 12, 2016 at 8:08 pm #

    This attitude by Conlon is based on innocence, ignorance and a willingness to judge others based on a very poor background appraisal. The fundamental tenets of this condition is the inability to empathise with others or as we would say “to walk in another man’s shoes”.

    It really is the sign of a very shallow personality and a person if they had any integrity would in normal circumstances spend a considerable amount of their time apologising to others for misjudging their character.

    I once knew 2 girls from Monaghan studying something or other at Queen’s University in Belfast. The 2 girls had to stay in Belfast over the Summer and proposed one day that they would like to go down to the 11th night bonfire on the Donegal Road for a bit of craic.

    My brother and I were of the opinion that their Southern brogue and Irish names might mark them out for a beating or worse from some of those who might be attending the 11th night bonfire. They were having none of it and refused to believe there was a threat. When we cited many occasions of sectarian instances in those loyalist areas including the case of the Dublin man who wandered into the Jubilee Bar on the Shankill Road and was beaten up and dropped head first from a 3 or 4 storey block of flats all because he had a southern brogue they were dismissive.

    The girls just refused to believe the instances happened and accused us of making the stories up. We told them that they were headline stories in the Irish News. They said the Irish News was a bigoted paper read by bigots and that made us bigots!

    I am not saying the story with the 2 Monaghan girls and Mr Conlon are identical but I think the mindset is the same. The inability to believe that a group of people would inflict serious harm or death on another human being based purely on their perceived religion or Nationality. Just like those who came up to watch that match on that cold night in November, my message to Mr Conlon would be the same as to the 2 lassies, “welcome to the North girls”! (Where being perceived as Irish/Catholic/Nationalist in the wrong area seriously damage your health).

    • MT December 12, 2016 at 8:23 pm #

      “I once knew 2 girls from Monaghan studying something or other at Queen’s University in Belfast. The 2 girls had to stay in Belfast over the Summer and proposed one day that they would like to go down to the 11th night bonfire on the Donegal Road for a bit of craic. My brother and I were of the opinion that their Southern brogue and Irish names might mark them out for a beating or worse from some of those who might be attending the 11th night bonfire. They were having none of it and refused to believe there was a threat. When we cited many occasions of sectarian instances in those loyalist areas including the case of the Dublin man who wandered into the Jubilee Bar on the Shankill Road and was beaten up and dropped head first from a 3 or 4 storey block of flats all because he had a southern brogue they were dismissive. The girls just refused to believe the instances happened and accused us of making the stories up. We told them that they were headline stories in the Irish News. They said the Irish News was a bigoted paper read by bigots and that made us bigots! I am not saying the story with the 2 Monaghan girls and Mr Conlon are identical but I think the mindset is the same. The inability to believe that a group of people would inflict serious harm or death on another human being based purely on their perceived religion or Nationality. Just like those who came up to watch that match on that cold night in November, my message to Mr Conlon would be the same as to the 2 lassies, “welcome to the North girls”! (Where being perceived as Irish/Catholic/Nationalist in the wrong area seriously damage your health).”

      I’m struggling to understand the relevance of this to the criticism of Brolly.

      And as an aside, who was proved right: you or the girls? Were they assaulted at the bonfire?

  10. Pointis December 12, 2016 at 9:31 pm #

    Well MT, the relevance I was trying to make here is Conlon has never experienced pure sectarian hatred so just cannot comprehend it and instead tries to blame someone who quite possibly has experience of sectarianism as being the bigot.

    He simply refuses to believe that such sectarianism exists very much like the two girls.

    In relation to the two girls, eventually my brother and I got fed up trying to keep them out of harms way and told them to go ahead and see how you get on. I think they would have gone too but for another girl who lived in the student house and happened to be a Protestant explained to them that they probably wouldn’t be safe given their accents. So on her advice they decided not to go but like Conlon there was no apology for their hurtful remarks.

    • MT December 12, 2016 at 9:38 pm #

      “Well MT, the relevance I was trying to make here is Conlon has never experienced pure sectarian hatred so just cannot comprehend it and instead tries to blame someone who quite possibly has experience of sectarianism as being the bigot. He simply refuses to believe that such sectarianism exists very much like the two girls.”

      And what’s Conlon’s assumed lack of experience of sectarianism got to do either with Brolly or the GAA and the Southern flag and anthem?

      • Ryan December 13, 2016 at 4:42 am #

        “And what’s Conlon’s assumed lack of experience of sectarianism got to do either with Brolly or the GAA and the Southern flag and anthem?”

        MT, this isn’t rocket science mate, I’ll explain the connection Pointis quite clearly explained:

        Pointis is explaining that Tommy Conlon, you know the guy who wrote the newspaper article above? is naïve just like the two female students from Monaghan. He doesn’t understand the sectarianism in the North and how violence broke out. Hence his pathetic article. The main thrust of Jude’s article today isn’t really Brolly/GAA or the Irish flag (oh yes, its the Irish flag MT) but Tommy’s article. That is what Pointis has quite clearly focused on in his comments. This is what Jude has quite clearly focused on in his blog article. Its what most others focused on too. Its not about any flag, anthem or GAA but Tommy’s article, how its wrote, whats said and how Tommy will most likely never get to write another newspaper article again in his life. As I said before, even by Irish Independent standards, this article is truly pathetic. I’d expect better from the likes of Jamie Bryson and I’m not even joking there.

        I hope all is now clear for you MT.

        • MT December 13, 2016 at 7:39 am #

          “Pointis is explaining that Tommy Conlon, you know the guy who wrote the newspaper article above? is naïve just like the two female students from Monaghan. He doesn’t understand the sectarianism in the North and how violence broke out. Hence his pathetic article. The main thrust of Jude’s article today isn’t really Brolly/GAA or the Irish flag (oh yes, its the Irish flag MT) but Tommy’s article. That is what Pointis has quite clearly focused on in his comments. This is what Jude has quite clearly focused on in his blog article. Its what most others focused on too. Its not about any flag, anthem or GAA but Tommy’s article, how its wrote, whats said and how Tommy will most likely never get to write another newspaper article again in his life. As I said before, even by Irish Independent standards, this article is truly pathetic. I’d expect better from the likes of Jamie Bryson and I’m not even joking there.”

          No I’m afraid you haven’t explained the point either. At least not very clearly. Are you saying that Brolly’s hoatile and angry reaction to the suggestion that maybe one day in the future the GAA might change its symbols, is because Brolly has experienced sectarianism?

          • gendjinn December 13, 2016 at 11:37 am #

            No. Try again.

      • Pointis December 13, 2016 at 12:45 pm #

        MT,
        I think Ryan gave a very eloquent explanation but for the purposes of clarity let me explain it to you once again.
        Joe Brolly is speaking from a position reflecting his own experiences and his views are shared by many people living in the North.
        Tommy Conlon has probably never experienced sectarianism or the suppression of his political or cultural beliefs by a section in the community with the tacit support of the state.
        He has probably never perceived the fear that people living here had that people in their community would willingly extinguish their lives if they were discovered or perceived to be a Catholic/ Nationalist. I have no doubt that there are Protestants/ Unionists who felt the same way.
        To label Joe Brolly as some type of backwoods man or indeed a bigot when he has not shared any of the experiences which Joe Brolly and many like him have experienced in the North is arrogant indeed and reflects a personality that would seem incapable of sharing empathy with others.

        • MT December 13, 2016 at 7:53 pm #

          “Joe Brolly is speaking from a position reflecting his own experiences and his views are shared by many people living in the North.”

          But the GAA is an all-Ireland organisation. Members from.the South have as much right to express a view than does Brolly.

          “Tommy Conlon has probably never experienced sectarianism or the suppression of his political or cultural beliefs by a section in the community with the tacit support of the state. He has probably never perceived the fear that people living here had that people in their community would willingly extinguish their lives if they were discovered or perceived to be a Catholic/ Nationalist. I have no doubt that there are Protestants/ Unionists who felt the same way.”

          So you’re saying Brolly has embittered views as a result of his (presumed) experiences of sectarianism. That may well explain his views but it doesn’t mean others aren’t entitled to criticise them.

          “To label Joe Brolly as some type of backwoods man or indeed a bigot when he has not shared any of the experiences which Joe Brolly and many like him have experienced in the North is arrogant indeed and reflects a personality that would seem incapable of sharing empathy with others.”

          One might have more sympathy with Brolly if his righteous anger about loyalist terrorists hadn’t been undermined by his praise of the honouring of nationalist terrorists.

          • Pointis December 14, 2016 at 11:31 am #

            Thought I would try a wee bit of copy and pasting like yourself MT.

            “One might have more sympathy with Brolly if his righteous anger about loyalist terrorists hadn’t been undermined by his praise of the honouring of nationalist terrorists”.

            It all depends where you are coming from!

          • MT December 14, 2016 at 7:30 pm #

            “It all depends where you are coming from!”

            Indeed. And it appears clear where Brolly is coming from, hence the response by Conlon and others coming from a place that is opposed to all terror.

  11. Argenta December 12, 2016 at 10:45 pm #

    Many posters on this blogspot continually denounce Independent Newspapers and in particular the Sunday Independent.But Joe Brolly writes a weekly column for the Sindo!Is he to be condemned for doing that?

    • ceannaire December 13, 2016 at 12:17 am #

      Gene Kerrigan also writes for the Sindo. A diamond in the rough.

      I read The Sunday Times now and again – I disagree with a lot of the stances it takes but it also has a few good stories/columnists.

      Your point?

      • Argenta December 13, 2016 at 9:53 am #

        Ceannaire
        I agree with you about the Sunday Times.My point was that most of the posters on Jude’s blogspot (not discouraged by Jude)paint the the Sindo as the lowest of the low in journalistic terms.Yet in the current blog ,Joe Brolly is portrayed in glowing terms.Yet ,he pens a weekly column for the Sindo as he is entitled to do.Is there not an element of doublethink here?

  12. giordanobruno December 12, 2016 at 11:30 pm #

    I am mighty glad to see Jude unequivocally denounce grubby name-calling.
    It is reassuring to know that name-calling will no longer be tolerated on this site.
    Now no more ‘nutty Willie Frazer’ please Ryan.
    No more ‘sweaty Betty’ wolfie.
    And Donal…well you know yourself.

    • Wolfe tone December 13, 2016 at 7:52 am #

      Gio, I am sure sweaty Betty has a thick enough skin that you don’t need to defend her honour so much. Again, it’s what you don’t say that resonates, especially as you claim to be a ‘republican’ lmfao!

      • giordanobruno December 13, 2016 at 9:23 am #

        wolfie
        It’s not Betty I’m worried about it’s you!
        Resorting to childish name calling (which Jude does not approve of) only diminishes you in the eyes of others and is also bad karma.

        • jessica December 13, 2016 at 9:34 am #

          It isn’t WT that is giving me bad karma gio, we may differ in opinion on many things but I still respect his opinion. I have little respect for yours however

          There are plenty of views in the media and online who’s intentions are far more deliberate and nefarious and do effect karma and equilibrium

        • Wolfe tone December 13, 2016 at 4:25 pm #

          ‘Bad karma’? Wow that’s a new one even for this blog.

          Don’t you worry your wee head about me. If you were any sort of republican you’d be encouraging others not to tolerate or believe in such entities as ‘Royal’ cabals. I for one will make no apologies for showing disrespect to those who view themselves as more equal than others.

          • giordanobruno December 13, 2016 at 5:15 pm #

            It is very very simple wolfie.
            You can disagree with the idea of a monarchy without having to indulge in name calling towards individuals.
            Silly name calling only weakens your argument (such as it is).
            Also Jude doesn’t like it, he thinks it grubby. So stop it!

            And what is wrong with the notion of Karma? It makes as much sense as any of the other religious mumbojumbo spouted around here.
            Now you wouldn’t want rebirth as a unionist would you?

          • Wolfe tone December 13, 2016 at 6:44 pm #

            Gio, I find ‘sweaty betty’ rolls off the tongue better and indeed the keypad so I’ll stick with it if you don’t mind. If it weakens my argument then so be it.

  13. DMCL December 13, 2016 at 7:07 pm #

    Kevin Lynch didn’t kill anyone. Yer man Conlon deserves *************** and a history lesson.

    • MT December 13, 2016 at 8:02 pm #

      “Kevin Lynch didn’t kill anyone. Yer man Conlon deserves *************** and a history lesson.”

      Not that we know of, but he did support murder and joined a terror gang that carried out many murders.

      • Pointis December 14, 2016 at 11:28 am #

        Yes MT,

        Murder, Extra Judicial killing, Assignation, Execution, Taken out, they all mean the same thing and the Governments around the world including the British and American Governments have used them routinely to extinguish the lives of people they don’t like. Anyone who fought in any type of war or supported a war effort agrees with them.

        My description obviously doesn’t include genocide or war crimes.

        • Pointis December 14, 2016 at 11:33 am #

          Assassination – Spell checker sorry!

        • Pointis December 14, 2016 at 11:34 am #

          Assassination!

        • MT December 14, 2016 at 7:28 pm #

          “Murder, Extra Judicial killing, Assignation, Execution, Taken out, they all mean the same thing and the Governments around the world including the British and American Governments have used them routinely to extinguish the lives of people they don’t like. Anyone who fought in any type of war or supported a war effort agrees with them. My description obviously doesn’t include genocide or war crimes.”

          I’m not sure how this makes it appropriate to honour a terrorist like Lynch.

  14. Hoboroad March 5, 2017 at 7:33 pm #

    Seamus Costello and Ronnie Bunting founded the INLA. Dominic McGlinchey joined the INLA a bit later.

  15. Ernesider April 26, 2017 at 1:45 pm #

    “You’re not familiar with the class fool? He’s the one who will do anything – make farting sounds, punch the smallest boy in the class, write moronic vulgarities on the board, all with the hope he’ll be noticed. He (it’s almost always a he) will say or do anything so that people will see he exists. And even, in the case of some half-wits, admire him.”

    That would be Eamon Dumbphy ..!!!