Gerry Adams on Andrew Marr show this morning. Oh, and another thing…

I was watching the Andrew Marr show on BBC ONE   about half an hour ago – or part of it. They had Gerry Adams on. It was a good example of how the north is dealt with by the English media.

I knew Adams was going to be on, which was why I made a point of catching the programme. (I rarely watching morning television – it always strikes me as a bit like drinking whiskey before lunch.) For some reason, I’d assumed he would be appearing in the London studio alongside Marr. Uh-uh. He was coming in a link with Belfast, which always has a distancing effect. In addition, while Marr’s questions were sensible they were few, and Adams’s answers covered ground we here in our NE nest have known for some time – RHI was the key cause of the recent election, Sinn Féin are happy to go into an Executive with the DUP again when matters that have been agreed to but not fulfilled have been addressed, Brexit demands a special status for NE Ireland.

Marr was far from hostile in his questions but it was still mildly depressing. The exchange can’t have lasted ten minutes, and there was no follow-up in the studio with other guests. In short, it was like the traditional British attitude to here: pay attention if there’s a full-blown crisis, otherwise say a few civilized words and leave it at that. Maybe as the months go by, they’ll see that Brexit has all the ingredients for a full-blown Irish crisis.

The other thing I found interesting is that Owen Jones, who was on reviewing the newspapers,  is giving up his online blog. Actually I hadn’t been aware he had one, but I’ve checked since and it’s called ‘Owen Jones’ Ramblings’, with a subtitle ‘Stuff I haven’t whacked in my Guardian column.’ He’s giving up the online stuff, he says, because he  doesn’t see the point in online exchanges. Some of these exchanges are rational and reasonable, but there are enough which are venomous and spiteful, in ways that people aren’t in face-to-face encounters. He figures walking the dog or hanging out with one’s mates makes more sense.

I must confess those are views which I find myself increasingly sharing. On this blogsite there are some contributors in the comments section – people like Perkin Warbeck, Paddykool and Am Ghobsmacht – who, through their form of engagement, make reading  a pleasure and often thought-provoking experience. However, there are enough people commenting here whose only motivation seems to be the undermining and sometimes insulting  anyone they disagree with. Punch and Judy stuff. I find it increasingly time-absorbing to keep track of this latter group, and have begun to wonder if it mightn’t be better to have a blogsite where the blogs go up and that’s it – no comments section. It might be a more worthwhile and less time-consuming way of spending my day. And yours.

I’d be interested in the views on this of those commenters who actually like to think about things.