Stephen Nolan: the colourful and the thoughtful

About a decade ago I wrote an article in the Belfast Telegraph defending Stephen Nolan. (That’s back in the day when the Belfast Telegraph accepted articles from me.) Ed Curran had written a critical article about Nolan’s radio show, saying that it was bear-pit stuff and a sad decline from David Dunseith’s Talk Back. I disagreed and compared Nolan’s style to that of a tabloid newspaper as opposed to a broadsheet. The fact that the Sunday Life  has a more in-your-face approach than, say, the Irish Times doesn’t mean that it isn’t engaged in worthwhile journalism. Ditto Stephen Nolan and more elegant programmes like David Dunseith’s.

I still believe that. However, there can be too much of a good thing. Nolan is now the magnet for public discussion of issues here and his tough-knuckle style clearly draws audiences. But does it sometimes get so absorbed in colourful detail it misses the big picture? It has on at least two occasions this week.

The first involved myself. I was on Stephen’s radio programme on Monday where I was discussing with Alex Kane the cosying-up of the Tory party to the DUP. I made the point that the DUP, in the event of a hung parliament, were less likely to squeeze from the Conservatives concessions of value to all here and more likely to squeeze concessions on parading. In short, I believed the DUP would return with a prize for an organisation, among whose members were those who urinated on Catholic church walls, rather than a prize that might benefit everyone. Stephen immediately told me I’d said something “overloaded”, that the urination I was referring to had been a “single isolated case” and besides, the urinator had been a bandsman, not an Orangeman. My comment that Orangeman/bandsman distinctions would be lost on many got swallowed up in the verbiage that followed.

The second  instance involved Pat  Sheehan on the Nolan TV show last night. The Sinn Féin man contended that Peter Robinson had failed to issue a statement condemning the UVF for involvement in East Belfast disturbances. Jeffrey Donaldson said no, no, his party leader had always been opposed to violence. (No, Virginia, Clontibret was not mentioned.) It then emerged that Peter Robinson the previous day had issued a statement condemning the UVF for any part it played in disturbances. Stephen waved the statement at Sheehan and urged him to  “be a man and apologise” to Peter Robinson for his false claim.

The case of the urinating Orangeman/bandsman was a colourful example that then led into a discussion cul-de-sac. The difference between Orangeman and bandsman is lost on many of us as they thunder past. As to the “isolated case”,  a photograph of two bandsmen relieving themselves outside a priest’s house in Limavady recently, along with a Belfast Telegraph article on the leaking duo seem to suggest it’s not too isolated. But rather than addressing the sectarianism behind such crude conduct, or exploring whether the DUP were likely to exact something of benefit to the whole community or just one part,  Stephen focused on the man with the  open zipper.

Likewise with the Peter Robinson condemnation last night. Rather than call on Pat Sheehan to man up and apologise to the First Minister, it would have made more sense to consider whether the DUP leader had condemned UVF violence from the start, as did his counter-part Martin McGuinness when faced with dissident republican violence. Stephen’s call for Pat Sheehan to man-up  made for jollier television but it did little to shed light on the issue.

I’ve no problem with using particular examples – they can often point us to bigger and more general truths. But with his ability to attract large audiences Stephen also has the responsibility of dealing with the issues, rather than taking them up some thrilling cul-de-sac for an irrelevant punch-up.

As to that periodic boast of yours, Stephen –  “We’re the biggest show in the country!” – apart from its crassness, it chips away  at the good will of the tens of thousands of your listeners who believe their country is Ireland.