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It’s 2008.
At least I think it’s 2008 in most of the country.
Unfortunately it looks like some parts of Mayo are stuck in some kind of time warp.
I’m usually proud to be Irish, but when I see the kind of junk being pumped out by the Mayo Echo I cringe. If this were supported by any part of government I’d probably switch my citizenship without any further ado. I don’t want to be Irish if that’s how Irish people behave.
Seriously
What am I ranting about?
The Mayo Echo carried a story on its front cover recently with the title: Castlebar Lake Attracts Hundreds of Perverts
Charming.
Castlebar.ie‘s main page tells most of the woeful and embarrassing story of how the site has been shut down due to legal threats from the idiots in The Mayo Echo. Idiots.
While the comments on the Castlebar.ie site are not visible this explanation is:
The comments that Mr Geraghty complained about arose from a highly controversial article written and published by Mr Geraghty in his newspaper covering what were termed “gay perverts” in Castlebar. Moderators judged the comments that resulted from this to be fair comment – many expressing strong disapproval of the article and including some of the opinion that it was likely to incite hatred against the gay community. The article included, for example, a clearly identifiable number plate of a car belonging to those that were allegedly some of the “hundreds” of “gay perverts” or even “drooling perverts” (to use the actual phrases in Mr Geraghty’s article) that allegedly frequent a car park in Castlebar every week
The paper is also promising to publish photos of men involved in homosexual acts – charming! (Though that might get them shut down completely, so it may not be such a bad thing …. )
So while it seems “just” for the newspaper to publish articles that are basically inciting hatred against the homosexual community, it’s a major “no no” to criticise them?
Sorry guys, but freedom of speech is a two way street.
If the Mayo Echo want to be Neanderthals in their choice of editorial that is their prerogative, but they have no right to demand that other people’s sites be taken off line since they disagree with the “journalism”.
This is a joke. I can’t believe them for 1) publishing the article, and 2) threatening legal action that closes castlebar.ie. It case 2) are they trying to bury something? Maybe we should get this discussion going on as many sites as possible – that’ll teach them for trying to suppress peoples opinions and the right to free speech, etc.
Watch out Michele, you might get threatened by legal action if you’re not careful!
“I’d like to seem them try” – I hear you say 🙂
Dave
I was listening to the debate on Joe Duffy yesterday between members of the Gay community and Mr Geraghty.
The impression I got from the entire debacle was
that
1) Joe had not even seen or read the article and spent most of the time quizzing Mr Geraghty on some of the text ,out of context of the article
2) Mr Geraghty was not pressed hard enough at what appears to be racial hatred undertone
3) A pervert is a pervert. Listing them as Gay perverts infers that they are perverts for being Gay.
Good journalism takes an unbiased view of a set of facts and presents them to the General Public for futher debate or discussion.
This attempt by the Mayo Echo at Fox News Bill O’Reilly journalism will fall flat on its face.
I am disgusted that the faces of those involved in the story were published. I do hope that legal action is taken against the Mayo Echo and its Editor.
We do have free speech but it is about time that codes of practice are imposed on these shock jock tabloid types. This type of behaviour by those who deliver the news is comparable to Neo Carthyism
I cannot believe that Castlebar.ie caved in so easily – I’d have dug my heels in.
Oh, for sure this is going to be written about.
What a crowd of gobshites.
Is there only one guy writing this “Mayo Echo” freesheet? that’s the impression I’m getting…
@Paul – I get these kind of legal threats all the time. Demanding the details of users who post on a forum is illegal and would be in breach of the users’ privacy
Just how stupid _is_ Mr. Geraghty, exactly? This story will no doubt now be splashed all over the Irish Internet.
For sure the Mayo Echo have acted completely stupidly here, but that point is well made already.
Also acting stupidly here is castlebar.ie. It’s a completely over-the-top reaction to a silly legal threat that I’m sure many here would agree would go nowhere, fast. It’s bordering on childish, and playing the “poor me” card to all that will listen doesn’t change anything; the community users are still at a loss.
So if a site admin/mod thinks an email threatening legal action is enough to pull the plug on all the user contributions (his/her own included) and on the community built up over time (now a valuable asset), then good luck to him. Hopefully someone with a bit of competence will get to take charge of the domain.
None of this, of course, should detract from the silliness of Mayo Echo!
County councils are terrified of controversy, and the threat of legal action would almost guarantee their withdrawal from the project. They probably had little enthusiasm for it in the first place, and it’s no surprise they pulled the plug. Somebody should set up an independent site to replace it.
Welcome to Ireland, people!
Seriously though, it’s totally amazing that a paper like that can write such an article and get away with it. Seeing as the West of Ireland seems to be hanging onto the Catholic religion in a far tighter grasp than the rest of the country, it seems rather unusual for the Mayo Echo to refer to gay people as perverts.
No doubt that editor probably has his local priest round for tea and cake every Saturday. And no doubt this very priest is either an actual pervert in the real sense himself – the child molestation sense – or he knows of a colleague that is.
This is typical Irish small town crap, and makes me ashamed to call myself Irish – anyone looking at stories like this from afar would be right in taking a standard issue view of us as hairy, narrow minded neanderthals.
I’ve shitloads of gay friends, none of whom are perverts, and we need to sort out the gay rights issues here asap… so instead of the hoojas gay bashing, they and the rest of us can resort to hooja bashing!
Jees- what a series of generalisations Hugh!!!
Small-town Ireland???? can assure vast majority of folk in Cbar are extremely pissed off with the homophobic/xenophobic/gereral racist themes of the ‘Echo’ and have acted to prove this…
Also the priest-pervert???? Not a church-goer, surprise surprise Hugh, but come on- you’ve got as big a brush for tarrin’ as the editor of the afore-mentioned rag!!!!
@ big red
Jesus that took way too long to come, I thought nobody’d pop in and get the wrong end of my deliberately take the piss with generalisation comment and stick up for lovely Mayo … which proves my point perfectly that people hate generalisations 😉
The Mayo Echo ‘generalised’ gay people, and people in the west hate being ‘generalised’ too – I should know, my Dad grew up on the side of the Ox Mountains pretty much on the border between Sligo and Mayo! With sheep, cows, and streams, and all that sorta stuff 😉 Also, i’ve fished in heaps of lakes and rivers up there when visiting relatives and not seen any ‘gay perverts’!
If the Mayo Echo get away with ‘generalising’ gay people and calling them perverts, the uninitiated citizens of the rest of Ireland will get the generalised impression the West of Ireland is full of thick old sods. Which it isn’t, cos my Dad’s a bit of a legend and far from a thicko, but if Mr. Mayo Echo editor gets his way, he’ll have half the country thinking Mayo is back in the Iron ages.
hi michelle- love the site- well done on the Echo story-
if my last post has gone thru and u wish to post it can u take off my name and replace it with the above- if poss!!!
thanks
@big red – the only name that appears is “big red”
Michele
Hi Michele- had written another post and thought it had sent….but had name on it…..wasnt sure whether it went….sorry 4 confusion!!!
Just needed to say that when one studies the ‘Echo’ its v easy to work out its exploitative and cynical nature- it features one sensationalist lead story usually aimed at minorities…. exploitaing concerns by blowing up issues out of all proportion.Unfortunately this seems to work as it seems to have drawn more advertising-
Really is time 4 folk to take a stand- by not accepting the rag and by informing advertisers that their businesses will not be supported..
Hardly ML King…but a start….
Keep up the good work M!
Castlebar.ie is back online, but it doesn’t seem to have a forum at present
I think myself that the Mayo Echo’s approach is grossly irresponsible. It’s just a poor attempt to get people to read their ad-sheet!
Personally I wouldn’t even give it the dignity of being called a proper newspaper. You’d find grittier journalism in the buy and sell..