How many republicans, would you say, would be happy to talk to Jim Cusack of the Sunday Independent? And during the conversation drop the odd little in-party tidbit, such as the fact that Gerry Adams was getting ready to resign? Or that Pat Doherty, the West Tyrone MP, was likely to succeed him?
I ask because Jim has an article (doesn’t he always?) in today’s Sindo headed ‘Speculation mounts over Gerry Adams’s future as SF leader’.
So where is this speculation coming from? Well, from here: “Sources say Mr Adams (68) is considering stepping aside as he continues to be linked to IRA-related controversies”. And that’s not all. “There are also Sinn Féin TDs and others who privately feel it is time for a change”. What’s more, “There has been growing speculation among republicans in Belfast that Mr Adams is about to announce he is stepping aside”. “An increasing number of his own party in the Republic”, Jim says, “see Gerry as a liability to the party’s electoral hopes”. He then tosses in the possibility of Pat Doherty succeeding Gerry. “Sources say, however, it would be more likely that Mary Lou McDonald would succeed him”. Finally, Jim has another tip-off: “One source also said that it could suit Adams’s longer-term objectives significantly to step down either before or after the election as this could leave him in a position where he could run for President in two years’ time.”
You’ve probably noticed the recurring theme in this particular piece: ‘sources’. “One source” , “Sinn Féin TDs” – every single claim is supported by this phalanx of anonymous tipper-offers who tell Jim that Gerry is going to resign, Pat Doherty may succeed him, Shinners in the south want rid of Gerry. At no point is there a direct quotation from a named source.
Sorry – I tell a lie. There is one bit of hard evidence adduced about Sinn Féin and Gerry Adams: “Last night a Sinn Fein spokesman said: “Gerry Adams will be contesting the next election as leader of Sinn Fein to represent the people of Louth and to lead a progressive government to deliver a fair recovery, end the chaos in health and housing and promote Irish unity.”
Now that’s what I call journalism.
Gerry Adams is a saint amongst men.
It is his steady hand that gives Sinn Fein the patience they do among such arrogant opposition both north and south.
He is a man of the people of Ireland and that is what sets him apart and makes him the one politician all of the parties fear.
I also think Mary Lou would make a great Taoiseach and put some respect back into the chieftains position here which has for too long been London’s patsy and at the same time endorse the efforts from the women of Ireland who have played their part in making Ireland what it is today.
Jim Cusacks credibility as a “Journalist” is below ZERO !
He never seems to relate to reality , but I suppose as long as DO’B pays his wages in The Endapendent, he may as well milk it , for what it’s worth ???
The Endapendent has virtually no credibility either, with one credible political Journalist and the rest just Government Propaganda Hacks !
Yes , Jude ….it’s a quiet month. The pundits are left to their own thought-schemes . In other words …what stuff will I make up today to fill a few column inches before deadline looms…..I know …i’ve got it ….! it’s so improbable but it’ll get the few dogs barking….Gerry is bailing out !!!
just to remind us all of the many sins, real or imagined, of GA. The last thing the Sindo would want is the resignation of GA, who would they write about, who can they place the sins of the world on. No, the so called journalists in the Shinndo have made their living attacking GA, who would be their new bogeyman, I wonder………..
Surely if these “sources” existed within SF, Cusack would be only too keen to name them, to create an internal rift and divisions within the party. Sounds like jounalistic desperation to me – but must have been a good week for SF, if this is what Cusack is having to revert to!
Jude, you seem to think this is a news story.
The Indo/Sindo/BelTel have this story on file and they take it out, dust it and sub it to give it a fresher look every year, secure in the knowledge that one year the story will be true.
Can you really blame them for wanting to bring you the news years before it happens?
You know how the world loves an exclusive, and if you have it five years before the opposition – wow!
Appalling, there is no other word to describe the use of anonymous sources in a newspaper article.
Michael Nicholson, set out to write a Famine novel to restore England’s reputation but the facts confounded him.
“My mindset was that we English had been badly judged, that both England and Scotland were also suffering from the ravages of the blight, that communication between London and Dublin was slow and unreliable, that transporting food aid to the hinterland was a massive problem. In short, I thought there was good reason to reduce England’s blame.
Nothing in my pages, not the people nor the lives they lived, is wholly fictional. Almost all I have written happened in real life. I have exaggerated nothing. There was no need. The truth is appalling enough and if the reader finds the descriptions of people, events and their outcome hard to believe, then go to the history books and be convinced.”
Actress Perdita Weeks, has said it is “no wonder” students in the UK are not taught the events of 1916 through the school syllabus.
Speaking about her role in ‘Rebellion’, she said,
“I read up about the events and, honestly, I knew very little about it to begin with… It wasn’t something that they cover in English schools at all…I mean, it is no wonder we don’t really learn about it or why they don’t teach it in English schools…it doesn’t paint the English in a very good light…The English treatment of the Irish was appalling, it was absolutely appalling.”.
The.mans.a.fool.don’t.read.that.paper..
paddy powers a better source of whats going to happen.
I think Evelyn Waugh described journalists perfectly….
” If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with a stranger at a bar, they can conscientiously describe him as a source that has hitherto proved unimpeachable. It is only when the journalist is reporting a whim of his own, and one to which he attaches minor importance, that he defines it as the opinion of well-informed circles. ”
Personally , I seldom buy a paper or listen to mainstream news….I think I’m intelligent enough to get all the information I need from the internet….I certainly don’t want inane opinions or propaganda thrust in front of me , and pay some egotistic imbecile for the privilege
There’s the Cusack Stand, Esteemed Blogmeister, and then there’s Jim Cusack’s inner stand-up comedian.
Curious how little the distance the Stooperage have to travel in order to conquer, i.e., just south of the Black Sow’s Dyke. This is particularly conspicuous in the compatible communications racket. Any Nordie who makes it BIG there down in Southie is stamped with the mandatory Stooperage Brand.
Funnily enough, this weekend Mr. Cusack had to share the spatlight with another barrel of laughs who bears the same brand marking. That would be Mr. Chucklehead himself, aka Barry Devlin, who was a guest (honoured, indulged, not infrequent) on the Dame Dosh Finucane show on RTE Radio 1.
The subject for discussion was the Easter 2016 (Commemoration / Celebration) thingy; with, surprisingly enough, particular emphasis on Mr. Chucklehead’s take on the Rising business – a musical show called, erm, ‘The Bloody Irish’.
Now, Barry Devlin’s views on the Irish partisans of the modern era, and its political expression in particular, are such that he is one of the go-to gasbags with a nice turn in bullet-proof reproof. On the hoof, as it were. So, one was particularly keen to take on board Mr. Chucklehead’s take on the Irish partisans of a hundred years ago. The revelation, it turns out, would scarcely be filed away under a for ambush.
-I wanted to stay away from the standard interpretation of 1916 and so, I aimed for something which wasn’t thuddingly trite.
Eh?
Standard interpretation. Like, say, the gospel according to Congo Crisis O’Brain for the past two score years and more? Well, not exactly; turns out that it is actualy the 1966 edition of the gospel which Mr. Chucklehead had in mind.
-My show is entertainment.
As General Maxwell is the narrator of the piece, this might have seemed to indicate the opposite. After all, a moustachioed chap with a baton in one hand and a pen and a penchant for signing death warrants in the other is not normally what floats Barry Devlin’s ever peaceloving dreadnought. But soft you, a word or two: our piecewriter put his own distinctive, quasi-Joycean twist on things by naming his narrator in the round: General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell.
One almost expects the narrator to burst into a Sandhurst version of: ‘Pad Rag, don’t do that !’. In the somewhat unlikelihood of ever getting to see the show, one shall, perhaps, alas, never know whether the two humorous Grenfells are related.
– It’s meant to be enjoyable and it’s not trying to rewrite Irish history or anything.
God forbid, as the show of biz is occasionally about the green dollar, and as ‘The Bloody Irish’ is currently on a coast to coast tour of the Land of Uncle Sam and Aunt Samantha where the target audience is the Hyphenated Hibernia, this is a crafty decision, even an art and crafty decision. That particular culturally illiterate cohort is not much au fait with the three Rs ( Revisionism, Rewriting or Redmondism itself) and besides, there is no particular question about just how green their dollar is.
On the surface, this stage strategy of Mr. Chucklehead would appear to be contradictory, i.e., not to stage something which is ‘thuddingly trite’ for the ‘culturally illiterate’.
And they don’t come much more culturally illiterate than a favourite place of Mr. Chucklehead: ‘Moose Droppings, Idaho’ which is seemingly on the itinerary. One is left to conclude that even Dame Dosh Finucane Show does not have a great listenership in the potato state of Idaho. Unlike, say, the potato county of Tyrone, if one is to go by Barry Devlin’s slick and glick avoidance of any reference to Cow Dung, Tyrone.
Oh, did one mention it is also going on in the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway? Well, Mr. Chucklehead did, at least 26 times during the hardhitting interrogation by Dame Dosh Finucane. Everytime there was pause for breath on the part of the hostess as she cherry-picked her next cliché, the guest comedian was in like a shot with: ‘the Neil Simon Theatre’. Timing being an essential part of a funny man’s arsenal. Knowing when to trouser cough, and when not to. Hardly coincidental that larf rhymes with barf.
-But my show is trying to making a make an distinction from the standard reiteration of the 1916 story. And I always think that is worth doing.
One bets he does.
So, what is one to make of this duality in the Devlin thinking on partisans of the distant past, and partisans of the recent past? Could be the best way of looking at it is through a show biz prism, specifically through the entertaining part of that prism.
And they don’t come much more thigh-slappingly entertaining that the movie franchise called ‘Chucky’. So entertaining indeed has this series become that there is another fillum due out this year, no doubt to mark the year that is in it, this latest to be called, not inappropriately, ‘Chucky 7’.
‘Chucky’ is a ‘Good Guy’ doll who is the titular antagonist of the franchise. On the surface he seems, at the onset of the series, to be a harmless plaything who says, if shaken if not stirred, ‘Hi, I’m Chucky ! Wanna play?’. Accompanied always by a cluster of chuckles.
Think 1966.
But, in reality, the, erm, real Chucky is anything but a harmless plaything. Listen closely to his chuckles, chuckles mechanical, chuckles mirthless. In reality and in real time, going forward, he is actually inhabited by the soul of a serial killer, called Charles Lee Ray. (Geddit? Think Manson, Harvey Oswald and James Earl).
-HI, I’m Chucky ! And we’re friends till the end, remember. Hidey ho!
Think (again) 1969.
Funny how B.D. always sounds A.D. on air, once the Red Light/ Dearg Doom goes on. A.D.standing, ar ndoigh for Absolutely Delighted. With himself, of course. Every uproarious utterance of Mr. Chucklehead comes upholstered with a bundle of chuckles, each even more mechanical and mirthless than the last.
One always assumed that this propensity to o.d. on the chuckle involuntary was an affliction peculiar to musicians (e.g. Paddy ‘Ha-ha’ Moloney of The Chieftains) and it may well be that this is the case. And there could be another factor.
As Mr.Chucklehead was the youngest of a family of five daughters and one son (a tale he tells, often and anon) and as older sisters are much given to taking turns in tickling the youngest of the clutch, especially is such is a male of the species, the rest is history. A history of hysterical chuckles.
There is already one OBE in the family; what are the odds on another OBE?
Singing Polly-wolly-doodle all the day.
The Cusack queue just gets getting longer, going backwards.
Just the same old gutter journalism from a West Brit rag that even a century ago in 1916 was bashing Irish Republicanism. Even the great Michael Collins was sick of this rags articles, so sickened that he even went and held their Editor at gun point while volunteers dismantled and destroyed the printing press.
Now, I don’t want to be accused of what Gerry Adams was accused of a while back but I wouldn’t be surprised if people deliberately took my comment out of context. I’m not advocating what Michael Collins did. I’m merely pointing out the fact this Pro Brit paper hasn’t changed in a century and I think its about time Irish people put it out of business by boycotting its disgraceful articles because their hard earned money could be far better spent instead of funding this rag.
Gerry Adams is a great leader and great asset to Irish Republican politics, hence maybe the reason why this rag wants him to resign, many Unionists want him to resign too. They say Sinn Fein could get more votes if Gerry Adams resigned and they got a new leader. Are the Unionists and this rag genuinely concerned about Sinn Fein’s performance? Well….yes and no. No, they couldn’t care less if Sinn Fein was losing votes, in fact they would be popping open the champagne (paid for by London, no doubt). And yes, because the last thing they would want is Gerry Adams as Taoiseach or Tanaiste. Ruth Dudley Edwards eyes would be popping and her head would be doing 3-60’s at the sight of Gerry sitting the Taoiseach’s seat in the Dail. There would also be a lot of squeaky bums up at Stormont on the Unionist benches if Sinn Fein was ever part of the Irish Government.
Gerry Adams is no spring chicken, he’s certainly not as young as he was but I still see potentially another decade or more in him.
You only have to note the furore over the Irish daily star printing nude photos of benefit scrounger Kate Middleton a couple of years ago, to realise who really controls the Irish print media. The editor of that paper was unceremoniously sacked by the papers owner due to the ‘offence’ he caused to the Royal cabal. The owner is English by the way. Wow, an Englishman deciding what the Irish should and shouldn’t read. Somethings never change.
Yes Wolfe you got the key point the owner can fire and employ at his discretion his nationality doesn’t really matter
Neill, you can ignore my point all you want but you got it allthesame.
Who controls the British media well I would start with an American…
I thought it was an Australian? Either way two cheeks of the same colonial ass.
Squeaky bums at Stormont????…. The northerners are praying for SF success in the South, for selfish reasons.
As for Jude, he is still doing …’the time warp again’. Sycophancy personified.
William – if you’re just into name-calling, don’t bother – it’s not going up. But if you want to contribute to th debate, failte romhat – you’re welcome.
No idea if there is any truth in this or not but as I have said before it is time he spent more time with his teddybears. I have thought for a while that he would go after all the centenary oneupmanship is over.
How frustrating it must be for the younger generation of SF to watch Gerry trying to shove all the skeletons back in the cupboard again.
As for ‘sources’ Jude is not above using them to make his point,although I accept he makes no claim to be a journalist
Gio – I accept that journalists (and lesser breeds) have to protect their sources. But when you have an entire article, clearly pushing a particular (negative) line regarding SF and GA, without a single specific named source (excluding the SF assertion that GA retiring is tripe), then you really have plumbed the depths. As to your feeling GA should spend more time with his teddy bears – that’s a bit contemptuous, don’t you think? Do you think that way because you want to see SF prosper? Or flatline?
jude
I was being a bit facetious. I know we cannot make jokes about Gerry (a saint among men).
I agree the article seems purely speculative.
As for Sinn Fein I honestly don’t know if I want them to prosper or not. Their past has always been a problem for me as a voter and I doubt their honesty in regard to it.
But I would be interested to see what kind of party they become when the generation with bloody hands moves aside.
Maybe a party I would vote for.
Ah no, gio – I think jokes can be made about Gerry – frequently are – given that he’s made jokes about himself repeatedly. As to shunning SF until all the blood-stained hands are safely underground: are you expecting a radical change in SF policy then? Surely the rational thing to do is vote for the platform a party offers, not for the person who constructed the platform? Next you know it’ll be judging our politicians on whether we’d like a beer with them…Not like you, gio, I have to say.
Jude
Yes it should be about policies you are right, but SF is still too much about personalities.
I don’t really feel comfortable with a party that reveres men like Slab Murphy and names playparks after violent men.
That is on one side of the scale while some good policies are on the other.
For me the scale needs to swing further from the cultish reverence of the past,and that can only happen under a new generation of leaders.
And yes Unionist parties are no better but that is not relevant to this exchange.
(And yes that is just my personal opinion and I realise many disagree.)
OK gio – you have every right to the view you have. But I don’t know if it’s logical to criticise SF for a cult of personality and then say they would merit support if only some personalities were removed…
“How frustrating it must be for the younger generation of SF to watch Gerry trying to shove all the skeletons back in the cupboard again.”
Why don’t you sign up since you are a republican, you can perhaps do more from within than swiping from the side-lines?
And yourself jessica?
“And yourself jessica?”
Oh, id be of the generation you want rid off gio.
jessica
As Argenta says, you surely have much more affinity with SF than I do,so rather than me, it ought to be you signing up
Jessica
Though you frequently disavow any membership of Sinn Fein,your postings and blogs would suggest otherwise .Surely you’re not ashamed of your Republican credentials .Is is not the next logical step to join the party rather than advising Gio how he should chart his political life?!!
I’m not sure I would be deserving the accolade of having republican credentials argenta.
Certainly if there was something I could do to help Sinn Fein I most certainly would consider it, but you are giving me too much credit where it is not due.
I do appreciate the compliment however.
One of Jims tipperoffers must be Malachi O Docherty. He had the same story in the telegraph only it was Martin McGuinness was the subject. Great Minds must really think alike !!!!