The Irish Times - A Loyalist Rag for a Loyalist People?

[Gabha Óir]

I was prompted to start this thread in the Media Forum after reading today's archive article about the orphanage and the thread on here.

Anti-Treaty IRA burn Protestant orphanages to the ground in Galway - The Irish Times - Mon, Jul 27, 2009

http://www.politics.ie/history/88792...nd-galway.html

Funny how the Irish Times has changed over the years. Check out this other entirely objective headline from today's edition

Nationalist gripes and recession 'threat' to peace - The Irish Times - Mon, Jul 27, 2009

And then read the article.

Similarly here's another gem from their headline writer, Sammy McFiveyearold a couple of weeks back. Are they getting this stuff on a syndicated basis from the UVF's 'Combat'?

Half a million Orangemen mark Boyne anniversary - The Irish Times - Tue, Jul 14, 2009

Do people really swallow this cr@p? I took the opportunity to trawl through the archive when it was free a few months back. The paper seems to be more Unionist/Loyalist than pre-partition.

Of course they'll publish some drool from Gerry's beard or Eoin Ó Broin and call it balance. They'll be plenty of room for those attacking PSF from within the nationalist/republican community, something which is very necessary, but it's always in a way designed to paint the nationalist/republican community in the worst possible light. There's one of those today too.

Radical group seek republican ground lost by Sinn Fein - The Irish Times - Mon, Jul 27, 2009

Accompanied by recruiting for the British Army in their puff pieces , it's a sad excuse for an Irish newspaper.

There was some great stuff in the archive , written with a pride in our history, and not just celebrating the Irish victories, but today it's how can they retell Irish history in the most fawning defeatist manner possible.

And what do we have in the Opinion section today just to put the cherry on top,....how Seán Donlon saved the world from the provos

NI policy with Haughey in power - The Irish Times - Mon, Jul 27, 2009

And don't get me started on Lisbon...

Rant Ends.

[ActuallyYourWrong]

tis the same rag that called for the 1916 heroes to be executed.

I lived in London and used to read that rag for Irish news to keep in touch on events back home. But I stopped reading it as it was full of reports on what was going on in Britain.

They are a bunch of Loyalists imo.

[disgruntledcitizen]

though its history and origins are protestant / unionist and many of its editors have been from the protestant community (Brady being the first RC i believe) it is was (and still is though madam has not helped there) the preeminent newspaper in this country (or on this Island), to call it a rag, esp a loyalist rag is just inaccurate.


it is also head and shoulders above the Indo and the examiner (though that does seem to be improving), not to mention the redtop rags

[ActuallyYourWrong]

though its history and origins are protestant / unionist and many of its editors have been from the protestant community (Brady being the first RC i believe) it is was (and still is though madam has not helped there) the preeminent newspaper in this country (or on this Island), to call it a rag, esp a loyalist rag is just inaccurate.

i believe that a newspaper reflects broadly the positions and believes of its readers as well as its writers / editors, those readers would have no time or tolerance of the IRA or its actions as noted in the 1922 piece you referred to

Wrongs were done on both sides for sure, but the IT likes emphasizing the republican wrongs a lot more.

It's a rag. Make no excuses.

[SlabMurphy]

Well, it's all part of the baggage from the early 70's when Conor Cruise O'Brien, Eoghan Harris etc went on to the attack against Irish nationalism and promoting the orange order and unionism as some quaint, harmless, sort of folk tradition. Back then the excuse was that people had to "understand" the unionists and their "fears" etc, etc. Then after the Anglo Irish agreement it bacame a case of "embracing all traditions on the island of Ireland" and so on to the GFA. Besides Harris and co. some of the great champions of this nonsense was Uncle Tom ( John ) Hume, Garret FitzThatcher ( Fitzgerald ) etc

But still, since Gerry and co. signed up to the GFA and all it's baggage of " equality of all traditions " etc, well, the Irish Times and the rest of them have been giving the green light to promote this suprmacist anti nationalist bigotry as previoulsy mentioned - as some quaint, harmless, sort of folk tradition. Sure didn't Gerry himself say he supported the right of the orange order under the guise of Love Ulster to march down O'Connell St ??

[arcadeparade]

Is there any paper in this country that's worth reading these days? Or is it all the same old bull...

[disgruntledcitizen]

Wrongs were done on both sides for sure, but the IT likes emphasizing the republican wrongs a lot more.

It's a rag. Make no excuses.

assuming that your right and that its more negative on republican act's than it is on loyalist ones (something i don't notice as a regular reader), whilst that may show a certain basis of the editorial team and board, does that alone suffice for it to be deemed a rag ?

surely the Indo with its sycophantic fawning on Bertie and FF via the likes of Harris et al as well as its poor standards of journalism would be far more accurately classified as a rag

[SlabMurphy]

though its history and origins are protestant / unionist and many of its editors have been from the protestant community (Brady being the first RC i believe) it is was (and still is though madam has not helped there) the preeminent newspaper in this country (or on this Island), to call it a rag, esp a loyalist rag is just inaccurate.


it is also head and shoulders above the Indo and the examiner (though that does seem to be improving), not to mention the redtop rags

Well it's London editor was/is Frank Millar Jr who was the General Secretary of the UUP for a time. Frank Millar Jr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And I agree, as bad as it is, it's still better than Sir Anthony O'Reilly's Independent newspapers. And still, most people insist that ' Ireland ' acheived ' independence ' in 1922

( BTW, I'm from our great little ' independent ' republic - sadly)

[st333ve]

RTE’s enduring partitionism | O'Conall Street

A good story about RTE's pro-partition nonsence.

"RTE is a partitionist broadcaster.

There is no evidence that it is anything else..."

[Gabha Óir]

though its history and origins are protestant / unionist and many of its editors have been from the protestant community (Brady being the first RC i believe) it is was (and still is though madam has not helped there) the preeminent newspaper in this country (or on this Island), to call it a rag, esp a loyalist rag is just inaccurate.


it is also head and shoulders above the Indo and the examiner (though that does seem to be improving), not to mention the redtop rags

I did put a question mark in the thread title, you know. I didn't actually call it a rag even though it is. It's not inaccurate to state that opinion.