This Richard Boyd-Barrett character

[Mitsui]

I've heard this guy's name mentioned in various contexts but tonight on Vincent Browne was the first time I actually saw & heard him.

He came acrosss to me as a dilletante bourgeois w*nker who thinks the whole world is all about his right to Have His Opinions Heard, to the extent that he doesn't waste his valuable time listening to anyone else before disagreeing with what he thinks they've said.

I'm perfectly willing to accept it if I'm wrong, but can someone clue me in? Should he be on my radar?

All I saw on screen was someone who could be in the Irish Green party but chose doctrinaire socialism instead. What is this man's background and what has he done that I should listen to his "opinions" (aka a mishmash of quotes from dead people who actually thought while they were alive).



And the way he talked across his 'lesser' fellow panelists was plain rude!

[Herodotus]

He runs in Dun-Laoighre and nearly won a Dail seat. He got more first preference votes than the green candidate who got in in that constituency. He is a charismatic and passionate bloke. I met him once and although I disagree with his far left policies, he is a nice and intelligent character.

[DeathKnell]

I've heard this guy's name mentioned in various contexts but tonight on Vincent Browne was the first time I actually saw & heard him.

He came acrosss to me as a dilletante bourgeois w*nker who thinks the whole world is all about his right to Have His Opinions Heard, to the extent that he doesn't waste his valuable time listening to anyone else before disagreeing with what he thinks they've said.

I'm perfectly willing to accept it if I'm wrong, but can someone clue me in? Should he be on my radar?

All I saw on screen was someone who could be in the Irish Green party but chose doctrinaire socialism instead. What is this man's background and what has he done that I should listen to his "opinions" (aka a mishmash of quotes from dead people who actually thought while they were alive).



And the way he talked across his 'lesser' fellow panelists was plain rude!

Amen, the worst kind of left wing professional protestor type who really gets on my wick. A real obnoxious bourgeois kant who thinks the world owes everyone a living. He gives socialism a bad name.

[Mitsui]

He was still very bloody rude on Vincent Browne. Especially when put together with that peculiar redheaded woman who has a weird attitude to womanhood. When I find myself rooting for Constantin G. (as I did tonight) I have to ask myself what's going on.

Sigh! Maybe it's just old age!

[20000miles]

I was once at a debate with him. He came across as pretty well spoken. If only the policies he advocated we're catastrophic. That is all.

[draiocht23]

I've heard this guy's name mentioned in various contexts but tonight on Vincent Browne was the first time I actually saw & heard him.

He came acrosss to me as a dilletante bourgeois w*nker who thinks the whole world is all about his right to Have His Opinions Heard, to the extent that he doesn't waste his valuable time listening to anyone else before disagreeing with what he thinks they've said.

I'm perfectly willing to accept it if I'm wrong, but can someone clue me in? Should he be on my radar?

All I saw on screen was someone who could be in the Irish Green party but chose doctrinaire socialism instead. What is this man's background and what has he done that I should listen to his "opinions" (aka a mishmash of quotes from dead people who actually thought while they were alive).



And the way he talked across his 'lesser' fellow panelists was plain rude!

Your radar? What kind of cataclysmic events happen when someone is added to that?

I heard him speak at a Forum on Europe debate last year and he was very articulate and reasonable. I think he seems like a nice bloke.

It was all a bit shouty this evening on telly though. I blame that rabble-rouser Daly person.

[TommyO'Brien]

Actually RBB is a very decent guy. I have known him for years. I disagree with almost every opinion he has, but he is totally genuine. He is very intense and focused, and that can come across as rude, but I never found the guy rude or nasty or anything. He does however have his grandfather's intensity and as was the case with his grandfather, Cyril Cusack, that intensity can be intimidating. But I never found it deliberate. Indeed when told he was making someone uncomfortable with his intensity he would get embarrassed. It wasn't deliberate. On a personal level I liked him.

[seenitallb4]

I know him. He is a good guy with bad ideas but humane instincts. I'll say one thing for him though- if he were my TD, I'd be pretty sure that he would do all in his power to deal with any problems his constituents may have. Although I would think hard of voting for him (I'd give him a transfer maybe), I think people who challenge the consensus are needed in Irish politics. We are where we are today because of consensus- the consensus that allowed both Gov and Opp to sing from the same hymnsheet at the last election when they were trying to bribe us with money that they knew we wouldn't have.

[lostexpectation]

watch your back for the 'nice' ones

i don't understand how anyone who's come across him politically could not call him a backstabber.

eta;

if you're on the right you can ignore him as a nice commie, if your on the left you have to watch your back (and your feet)

[Mitsui]

Your radar? What kind of cataclysmic events happen when someone is added to that?

Well, gosh, nothing happens, really.

Nor, I think, does the mere use of the phrase suggest that anything cataclysmic might occur.

But that's a semantic debate. Genuinely sorry if the phrase offended you in some way. Certainly wasn't meant. I thought it was a pretty normal way of saying "should I pay attention if his name crops up as a participant in some upcoming debate/tv show/...whatever."

The original post was entirely genuine - not hoping to offend anyone. If this phrase offended you then no doubt I phrased it wrong.