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NewsTalk 106 Transcript: Sunday Indo v. Indymedia.ie on Dublin Riots

category dublin | arts and media | news report author Thursday March 02, 2006 12:51author by redjade & saoririseoir Report this post to the editors

NewsTalk 106's Kathy Sheridan interviews Jim Cusack of the Sunday Independent and Indymedia.ie's Chekov Feeney about the Dublin Riots

What follows is a transcript of the exchange that took place.

Interviewer:
• Kathy Sheridan, NewsTalk 106
Guests:
• Jim Cusack, Sunday Independent
• Chekov Feeney, one of Indymedia Ireland

Listen for yourself: dublin_riot_newstalk_106_march_1_06.mp3

—————————————————————————————————————————

NewsTalk106: We're back to the Breakfast Show on NewsTalk 106 where the time is 23 minutes past 7. And we return again to last Saturday's Dublin Riots where recriminations continue to rumble

We are joined by Jim, Jim Cusack, a freelance journalist for the Sunday Independent, and Chekov Feeney an Indymedia editor for their considered take on who or what contributed to the mayhem.

But first have a listen to what was said yesterday in the Dáil:

Voice of Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern: There is proof that it was organised, in my view, Ceann Comhairle, is that you don't move from the Parnell Monument to the far side of town in a matter of minutes unless somebody is calling the shots.

Voice of Justice Minister, Michael McDowell: …that Republican Sinn Féin actually declined to engage in a meaningful manner with an Garda Siochána who were preparing to police the demonstration; or to give any advance information as to their intentions in carrying out their counter-protest. On any view, that non-cooperation was despicable.

NewsTalk106: Jim, Jim Cusack, does that tally with your view of events now?

Jim Cusack: uh, what, the eh...

NewsTalk106: What Bertie had to say...

Jim Cusack: No, it doesn't really, no, no it was a cock-up by the Garda management basically and they just weren't paying attention to what was going on. They didn't know what was going on, so they weren't ready…and they allowed it to happen.

NewsTalk106: On the other hand Bertie Ahern listed 3 superintendents, 10 inspectors, 23 sergeants, over 300 Gardaí, air support units, dog units, 58 detectives for 350 demonstrators - how could they have got it so wrong?

Jim Cusack: There was more than a thousand people involved in that riot. And, Gerry O'Carroll wrote in the Herald the other day it was Lions led by Donkies. To coin the phrase from the First World War.

It was let get outa hand completely - they had no idea - they weren't interested in what was going on and the thing about it was...

NewsTalk106: Jim, what do you mean they weren't interested?

Jim Cusack: Just, they weren't up to it. They really weren't focused on what was being prepared – and it wasn't a riot against that little march. Incidentally, it wasn't a Loyalist March or it wasn't a... these are people, these are families of victims...(of the IRA)…

NewsTalk106: We'll get back to that in a moment, Jim. Chekov Feeney is in the studio, as you know...

Jim Cusack: There was a small... 100 or 200 people who marched down
O'Connell Street and over to the Dáil.

NewsTalk106: Yes, yes but, yes...

Jim Cusack: And they... the Gards got it completely wrong, and it wasn't the Gards on the ground it was the Garda management. They didn't plough resources at all; they just didn't manage that situation at all. And, as I say, they’re incapable of doing it, by the look of it.

NewsTalk106: Well, Chekov Feeney good morning to you - it is fair to say that you are a veteran of many a demo, and you know many of the regular protestors and agitators by sight - you were actually there: and gave a detailed political analysis on your Indymedia website - which in many ways tallies with the first report of the Assistant Garda Commissioner.

Who do you think were the protestors and rioters in Dublin on Saturday?

Chekov: Well, good morning for a start!, the protestors and rioters that I saw did not appear to be connected with any particular political organisation or political party. Essentially, what I saw was the underbelly of the Celtic Tiger. Large numbers of angry young men who appeared to mainly come from the deprived working class estates around Dublin. These are young men who essentially have been excluded from the opportunities and the wealth that has come from our economic boom - and, are quite angry about it.

A large number of them gathered together in the same place and these people being excluded and disenfranchised from our society are volatile. Essentially this turned into a major riot, I think, the reaction from much of the political class has - essentially they have been clutching at straws.

They have been attempting to find somebody or some organisation to point a finger at. For example, Bertie Ahern's claim there that it is inconceivable that what was essentially a mob can move across a city at speed - I don't think that tallies with how riots work.

I do think that this was essentially unplanned and actually for once I would agree with the analysis of the Gardaí - it was very unexpected because something like this hasn't happened before in Dublin. We haven't seen big riots like this in general. We can assume or one assumes that if there is a large political event it is organised by somebody and I do not think this was the case.

NewsTalk106: Jim, do you accept that, that these people had no real political point other than an expression of their rage? at society generally?

Jim Cusack: I agree. I absolutely agree with Chekov up to a certain point, but...there was organisation went into this, it definitely was. I mean, I have email traffic here from em, December…when this was planned...

NewsTalk106: Who are you saying planned it Jim? Are you saying it was the geriatric Republican Sinn Féin or...

Jim Cusack: Hopefully you can read that in the Sunday Independent. Well, I’m not going to say, but there certainly was planning went into it. I mean, Chekov is absolutely right, there is a big element of disaffection - disaffected youth here, as they say - but no, no it was planned. Disaffected youth does not plan, does not organise, does not…(turn out in numbers)…

NewsTalk106: It is the degree of planning, Jim, we are trying to get to the root of - how much planning went into this riot?

Jim Cusack: There was a fair a bit of planning. Absolutely, a fair bit of planning. There was 2 or 3 groups involved here, it wasn't just them. And also, it wasn't just Republican Sinn Féin, there was other groups as well. There was the political wing of the Real IRA and there was almost certainly in collusion with other groups and Sinn Féin people were there in the background.

NewsTalk106: Jim, where is your evidence for that?! You are the only person I've heard saying this.

Jim Cusack: No I'm not...

NewsTalk106: Yes you are! Who else is saying this? The Gardaí are certainly not saying this, Bertie Ahern isn't saying this.

Jim Cusack: What Gardaí aren’t saying this?

NewsTalk106: The Gardaí are saying they still don't know.

Jim Cusack: Well y…Ask the Gards. Why don’t you ask the gards, (well, you know what I mean but the gards, oh sorry, the gards [?]broke an[?])…

NewsTalk106: They are still saying they are not sure if the riot was orchestrated - they actually don't know, as we speak.

Jim Cusack: No, no, no, you’re quoting official spokesmen (you know) and they don't say anything that’s any significance whatsoever The Garda management made a mess of this here - whether or not they had the intelligence and I believe they did have the intelligence. They just didn’t act on it and this got out of hand.

NewsTalk106: If they had the intelligence, Jim, why would they not act on it?

Jim Cusack: Well, there's all sorts of reasons for that there (I mean), they don't want to over-spend on overtime and stuff like that. There’s resource and human resource led management in the police force which really doesn't tally with the needs of what's going on in the city sometimes.

NewsTalk106: But Jim are you suggesting that the Real IRA and Sinn Féin were involved in this protest on Saturday and Garda management deliberately ignored this in their intelligence?

Jim Cusack: No, they didn't ignore their intelligence, they ignored it in their resource management. In other words, there was only 300 Gards there and there was over a thousand rioters, so, em, they just didn't get it right.

NewsTalk106: Well they didn't get it right, but what you are saying is they
knew what was coming down the line and chose to ignore it.

Jim Cusack: No I am not saying that - I am just saying that...

NewsTalk106: Yes! you are saying they knew they had the intelligence that there was going to be Real IRA involvement.

Jim Cusack: No, I’m not sayin’ they had inte…What I am saying is that, they may or may not have had the intelligence, but whatever they did they made a mess of it. They got it wrong, completely. You know what I mean, Garda management got this completely wrong.

NewsTalk106: Well we know they got it wrong,

Jim Cusack: Yeah.

NewsTalk106: But it is the root of where they got it wrong is what I am trying to get at here.

Jim Cusack: Well then, don't ask me, ask the Gards.

NewsTalk106: Well, I'm asking you for your evidence, Jim. You're talking here in quite a inflammatory situation about Real IRA and Sinn Féin involvement, where is your evidence for this?

Jim Cusack: em.. I have my sources. And I’ll stick by them, you know, (eh, I beli…).

NewsTalk106: Nobody has seen these people.

Jim Cusack: They were on the street.

NewsTalk106: Did you see them on the street?

Jim Cusack: Some of them, yeah. Hold on a second those are Teddy Bears who were throwin’ the stones in eh…(in Dublin)?

NewsTalk106: No, there were no Teddy Bears, Jim. I am simply trying to determine if these were alienated youth or members of Sinn Féin and the Real IRA - and I think it is a fair question to put to you.

Chekov what did you see on the streets on Saturday - did you see, did you recognise individuals?

Chekov: I did not. Well, obviously at any demonstration like that there is going to be members of political parties and so on, but they certainly weren't people who were involved in any of the fighting. In general most of them were there as observers, as far as I could see.

I think basing or making great claims like that on the basis of what a Garda might have told you in the pub is a little bit irresponsible, to be honest. The Gardaí have come out with their report and essentially it sounds to me a fairly accurate appraisal what their intelligence would have been - and certainly that was my understanding, I was very surprised that events panned out the way they did.

Some other points, most of the anger on the day seemed to be directed at the Gardaí - even more so than towards the Love Ulster march. To some extent, that would not be consistent with a protest which was organised by Republican groups.

That is symptomatic, to some extent, of the hatred that many young men in deprived areas have for Gardaí as a result of very common instances of heavy handed Garda tactics in dealing with these places or in dealing with youth - it is very very common to hear stories and reports of young men being beaten in custody in these areas. And I think all these things came to the surface.

NewsTalk106: Jim, time just for a final comment from you, and all that...

Jim Cusack: Like what?! I mean, just he’s…He's a silly boy, you know I mean. There was a very major riot in Dublin, Dublin has been portrayed...(as the capital of a…).

NewsTalk106: Jim, Jim, hold on now, he was there, he was there...

Jim Cusack: Bully for him…

NewsTalk106: Not bully for him Jim. That's not respectful talk about a gentleman who was there and knows what he saw.

Jim Cusack: Dublin is the capitol city of a country and it can't have a small demonstration by the victims of IRA violence in Northern Ireland march down the city centre without a thousand YOBs basically coming out and smashing the place up - and that's it. It's just a desperate desperate indictment on our country. And it was allowed to happen because of incompetence by someone - I don't know exactly who. But it was definitely incompetence and those people out there who were throwing stones and wrecking the city centre were horrible horrible people altogether.

They beat up two Bangladeshi...(workers in a shop)

NewsTalk106:You are getting no argument about that, as you know - there is no argument about that…

Jim Cusack: oh no, what’s your problem with…

NewsTalk106: We’re trying to determine who these people were, but we have no more time to talk about it, sorry to say...

Jim Cusack: They’re aliens! they came down from Mars! They are the young people from Dublin...

NewsTalk106: No, that's exactly what Chekov said - nobody is arguing about that either.

Jim Cusack: Exactly. Chekov is absolutely right, they are young disaffected youth and they are being led by the noses by people like Republican Sinn Féin, by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and by Sinn Féin - there were Sinn Féin people there on Saturday...

NewsTalk106: OK, we are back to the evidence thing again, I am afraid, Jim.

Thank you, very much indeed, for joining us this morning, Chekov Feeney, Indymedia editor, thank you, very much indeed for coming into studio. We'll take a break now for the headlines....

author by Elainepublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 13:43author address author phone Report this post to the editors

... damn, wish I'd got a photo of them. Could'a sold it to the Indo to back up their arguments. Maybe they were Tellytubbies? Or a whole load of those little Teddies in Ireland jumpers, the kind you get in the tourist shops? Cue Sky One Documentary ... When Stuffed Animals Attack!!!

author by pat cpublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 13:52author address author phone Report this post to the editors

some of the cops looked cuddly... but their batons werent. a few odd looking cops as well. no sign of the giant inspector who we fondly named bigfoot (whats happened to him?) but there were some monsters about.

author by Jo Takepublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 14:50author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Fu*k me this stutterin', mutterin' gibberin' Cusack really comes across as a semi-literate puffed up ignoramus.

I already knew that most hacks working for the Sindo/Indo shitrags (Gene Kerrigan being the honourable exception) would have a steep climb ahead of them to reach parity with the gutter. After listening to this specimen I suspect my opinion was actually flattering the likes of Cusack.

author by Tomas Painepublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 15:15author address author phone Report this post to the editors

It is clear from Indymedia's coverage of the riot that it is now the best source of news of what is happening in Ireland. The above shows what an appalling rag the Independent and the Sindo are. The stupid, sputtering rage of Cusack when confronted with the cool, eyewitness analysis of Chekhov, speaks volumes. The paid hacks of 'sir' Tony are not interested in the truth, but in promoting the political objectives of their employer-and these aims are the same as those of O'Reilly's predecessor, William Martin Murphy.

author by Eoin Dubskypublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 15:15author address author phone Report this post to the editors

NewsTalk is always an easy ride, but I think Chekov came across particularly well. Jim's "I have my sources" reminded me of McD's "I know what I know" crap last year. Hard to take him seriously.

Its a shame though that the discussion was limited to only the riots, and not more about possible reasons for the riots, and how to stop them happening again. Both guests agreed that the folks involved were mostly disaffected youth gathered in a large group. And that it was a rare glimps of the celtic tiger's underbelly.

Now for some the task to prepare seems obvious: Make new anti-civil rights laws (like the UK's Criminal Justice and Public Order Act) to keep the underbelly out of sight! :-/

author by guydebordisdeadpublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 15:37author address author phone Report this post to the editors

bigfoot was leading a dog unit over on sth. frederick street.

author by Michael Rpublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 18:54author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Well on ya Chekov. Superb stuff!! Thanks to Redjade too for the transcript. Very handy. And there was me thinkin Chekov was a pseudonym : )

Whats the story with the interview being mainly being directed at Jim Cusack? A nice bit of equality right there.

"What I saw was the underbelly of the Celtic Tiger".....Ahhhh like that one.
Thanks too Chekov for the stats on how this underbelly arose in the main debate on the riots on this site. Will be holding onto them.

Going by this transcript and Elaine's transcript of Conor Cregan's interview with Bertie Ahern (aka Gantanemo the gay - translation: Guantanemo Bay) it seems that one's degree of stuttering parallels one's degree of lying!! Another 450 jobs announced today in Cork by Michael Martin. Amazon setting up there. Superb! But at what cost??

Great to see Indymedia getting good wider public exposure. Indymedia continues to rise......

author by Big Mac McCiffrey - The Haraldpublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 19:06author address author phone Report this post to the editors

What if the Herald reported Jimbo's interview .....

Sindo Journo acts surprised

In an interview with Newstalk 106, Sunday Independent journalist Jim Cusack refused to back-up his claim of Sinn Fein involvement in the riot in Dublin last Saturday. When asked “What is your evidence”, Cusack said, “I have my sources”.
Another interviewee, Chekov Feeney, noted that a conversation with a cop in a pub hardly constitutes reliable evidence, if that was Jim Cusack’s source.

Cusack retorted that all would be revealed in the Sindo, where he could write what he wanted, unchallenged by a sceptical interviewer. It is likely that, after the interview, Cusack listened to his police informant console him by telling Jim what he wanted to hear.

When it was pointed out to Cusack that Feeney was there and did not notice these shadowy SF figures, first claimed by paisleyite DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson and his garda “source”, Cusack was heard to mutter “He’s a silly boy”. He appeared exposed as someone who was not there. Cusack started to rant about “victims”, in reference to the loyalist parade, a parade that branded those not loyalist ‘victims’ as guilty dead republicans. “Well, bully for him” said Jim when the interviewer pointed out that Chekov Feeney was actually there.

Another curious related Cusack claim is that the gards knew about the plans to disrupt the march but decided to do little or nothing about it, because of staffing resources, overtime concerns, and so on. “Lions led by donkey's”, said Cusack, who carefully cultivates middle ranking, chip-on-the-shoulder, and reactionary gardai. Their fantastical murmurings are the freelance journo's bread and butter. ‘Radical’ Jim has it sussed.

Garda “management” are “not up to it”. This was Cusack's refrain. The fantastic claim means that garda “intelligence” knew what was going to happen but decided to ignore the consequences. This is not a 'cock-up' in terms of the logic of establishment politics; it is treasonous and criminal behaviour. But, who cares when SF can be put in the frame?

An obvious link with the march organisers is that some had justified the 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bombings and had claimed as 'victims' dead UVF members who were implicated. After the bombings Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, and ministers Cooney and O’Brien, blamed the provos and then seemed to lose interest. The Irish Government's Barron report had found little or no garda interest in pursuing the guilty, who were directed by British military intelligence, and some of whom were also in the RUC and UDR. Barron also found the then Labour-FG government, like the gards, uninterested in pursuing the matter. Garvey, the top cop, was sacked by FF in 1977. They didn’t say why. Cusack rubbishes the notion of British involvement in the Dublin Monaghan bombings. Jim knows better, his security force sources tell him so.

Is this another dereliction of police responsibility - or did they plan on some mayhem on the day (but got more than they bargained for when inner city youth erupted)?

These questions must be asked, but the fearless Sindo crime corr will not be doing the asking.

Jim who had an unhappy few years in the old Irish Times has found his niche in the Sindo, contentedly reading “email traffic”, in other words private correspondence. Is he reading yours?

Another Herald is possible
Another Herald is possible

author by John - dunaree2000publication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 20:17author address author phone Report this post to the editors

All this stuff about the riot being due to the anger of the working-class at being excluded from the Celtic Tiger is so much claptrap. Likewise when its applied to riots in Northern Ireland. How come the anger of the 'downtrodden working-class' in Ireland only ever boils over when members of the rival tribe come into view? There have been a thousand riots in Northern Ireland in the past decade, some loyalist, some republican. I can't recall one that was about economic or social conditions. Every one of the riots was a 'protest' against permission either being granted or refused for a march. If permission is granted for one side to hold a march, the other side riot. If its refused, the side refused riot. Its entirely tribal. There are no Orange marches planned in Dublin this weekend. I'll make a prediction and am willing to take bets. My prediction is that there will be no riot by the 'downtrodden working-class' in Dublin this weekend. From which we can only conclude either that economic and social conditions have improved so much in Ireland in the past week that their 'anger' has abated or that their 'anger' was purely tribal and had nothing to do with economic and social conditions in the first place.

author by chekovpublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 22:40author email chekov at indymedia dot ieauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

1. How many wealthy folk riot?

2. Many of the people who rioted might well be involved in fighting this weekend, they just won't be all on the same side and in the same place.

3. There will probably be a lot more people fighting on paddies day (700 public order arrests last year versus only 42 at the riot).

4. The sectarian nationalism just concentrates existing problems.

author by eeekkkkkpublication date Thu Mar 02, 2006 23:09author address author phone Report this post to the editors

is generated by state and party nationalism

and is a convenient identity to hand to people who feel their identity under constant attack

just like sectarian loyalism or 'unionism'

the riots in dublin were very like the recent loyalist riots

no positive opportunities for alternative identities being given to people

by anyone

the identities handed to them by their social betters constrain the 'contents' of their actions

and so it goes

and so it goes

i saw it go

i saw it go

i saw it going nowhere

author by Jim Cusack (not really) - UFO Watchers Irelandpublication date Fri Mar 03, 2006 05:30author address author phone Report this post to the editors

The truth is out there...

Related Link: http://static.flickr.com/53/106029381_09da4cfa83_o.jpg
author by skankipublication date Fri Mar 03, 2006 17:57author address author phone Report this post to the editors

>Whats the story with the interview being mainly being directed at Jim Cusack? A nice bit of equality right there.

Number of times they spoke and wordcount: (a quick grep and word count - may not be 100% accurate)

Newstalk: 32, 714
Jim: 28, 864
Chekov: 2, 495

When Chekov, (who was bright and awake) spoke, he spoke clearly, informatively, and so he was left to speak, on the other hand, Jim Cusack on the phone, who sounded like he downed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and finished off 40 major last night, (like any self-respecting journalist would) was incoherent, and avoided the questions, forcing the interview hostess to interject and push him for a response.

Jim got in over 850 words, and chekov just under 500, but when listening to the stuttering of Jim Cusack, especially in the parts when he gets frustrated about being asked for evidence, one can feel the strain, and you yourself can count the words that don't count.

I think Kathy Sheridan handled it well.

author by Paulpublication date Sat Mar 04, 2006 00:48author address author phone Report this post to the editors

I am always glad when my prejudice against the Sunday indo and most of its journalists is confirmed as a correct attitude. While I am at it the Ireland on Sunday is equally as bad but opinionless

author by redjadepublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 13:45author address author phone Report this post to the editors

There are many grave reasons for the victims' groups to march upon Dublin
by Jim Cusack

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...ter=1

———

other articles in today's Sindo - but not by Cusack

Truth was first casualty in the aftermath of the riots
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...ter=1
by Eilis O'Hanlon

Riots expose shame of our bigotry and ignorance
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...ter=1
by Ruth Dudley Edwards

And the Sindo reminds us...

We are the top Sunday paper with the Irish nation
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...ter=1

author by Ms Jonespublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 14:27author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Links don't take you to the stories, only to a page where you can register. JD, you could quote the juiciest sections!

author by Seamus Smullenpublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 15:51author address author phone Report this post to the editors

As far as I can see in the Sindo, no great expose from Jim Cusack of the hidden Sinn Fein hand, despite his confident predictions on Newstalk - just a load of space filling tosh about a breakaway from RSF and chunks of text taken from internet chat sites. I’m sure that was hard work. In future of course this kind of problem (no evidence for pet theory I mean) could be easily circumvented by writing in contributions yourself, that fulfil your own prophesy. It is easily done, and could get around the problem of failure to connect with reality.

Another piece was about how wee Willie Frazer is not such a bad bloke. As for Klu Klux Klan connections, nonsense says Jim, just an accidental linking by a US Kluxer. Perhaps Jim is not aware of it, but The Kluxers were virulently anti Catholic as well as racist. In huge swathes of the US in the early part of the 20th Century, where there were no blacks, there were hundreds of thousands of Kluxers determined to prevent the spread of Romanism. The Orangemen in the North still fight that lonely battle - the Kluxers relented and admitted the romanists a few years ago. Obviously a US Kluxer who pines for the old days thought he had found kindred spirits.

Perhaps the news about Willie's sidekick, Jim "civilised white rule for the Africans" Dixon, came too late for Jim to include it. That might might have led to second thoughts, but I doubt it. Jim doesn't do them.

Then again maybe Jim’s, and Jeffrey Donaldson’s, story of Sinn Fein organising the riot was too tall a tale even for the Sunday Independent – unlikely, but perhaps the prospect of universal ridicule was a factor. Newspapers like to preserve some degree of credibility.

No one likes to look silly, now do they?

author by Chekovpublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 17:01author address author phone Report this post to the editors

In an article entltled: "Vicious plan to ruin 'Love Ulster' march began last December" Jim Cusack reveals his promised evidence. http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...13767

His evidence was entirely garnered from scraping comments from internet bulletin boards by anonymous posters. Or, to put it another way, his evidence is laughable. It is an iron law of reporting that as soon as a journalist stoops to using anonymous comments on the internet as evidence of devious plots, the audience should respond by pointing and laughing. Internet communication is a funny thing and you will find that, no matter how tame the subject or the group running the board, a fair proportion of participants in discussions will lose their temper and make outlandish claims and / or threats against others. So, for example, there are a large number of comments on sites like ireland.com, boards.ie and politics.ie which advocate extra-judical executions of rioters. It would be dishonest - to say the least - to claim therefore that the Irish times or any of the other groups which run these websites back assassinating people in Celtic tops.

Cusack's evidence of the vicious plan boils down to the following quote from the 32CSM internet forum ""If this happings [sic] which would be in its own way. Every street in Dublin should be bombed on the route. These people are the enemy to our nation. We are fighting to get them out. Not further in". This comment could have been made by a 13 year old Irish American, a journalist trying to generate some quotes for a story, a lunatic or an idiot who nobody pays any attention to. The chances of it being 'evidence' of a 'vicious plan' are pretty close to zero. How many vicious plans are announced on publicly accessible internet sites in the form of a semi-coherent, mis-spelt, and grammar-free anonymous posting? It's almost a waste of time to point out that the events that happened bear no resemblance whatsoever to the content of this message, since it should suffice to simply point and laugh at such idiocy presented as evidence.

The rest of the comments that are quoted basically tell us that some dissident republicans don't like Love Ulster and were happy that they didn't get to march down O'Connell Street, which one can hardly describe as a scoop.

The other evidence of riot planning is presented in the following (hilarous) passage:

Aside from young republicans, gardai believe the riot preparations also involved young men associated with extreme left-wing and 'anti-globalisation' groups, men nvolved in previous violent demonstrations in the city - including the 'Reclaim the Streets' march in May 2002.

Again, members of these 'anti-globalisation' groups were present taking video footage of the riots, and when the Progressive Democrats' headquarters was attacked.


What this translates into in honest language is "indymedia was there and videod the riot". Now trying to pass this off as 'intelligence' or evidence of a 'vicious plan' is almost more laughable than the bulletin board quotes. In the mind of a typical Sindo hack, the reasoning must go something like the folowing:

Truly Independent Media = extreme-left wing violent anti-globalisation maniacs
An indepedent media organisation taking videos of an event = indymedia did it.

He also appears to be making the claim that indymedia was responsible for the RTS Mayday police-riot. Again, he seems to be applying the bizzare rule that distributing media about an event is equivalent to organising and taking part in an event. By the same logic, one would be able to claim that the state organised the riot. For example, it would be just as true to say that "members of state-controlled groups (RTE) were present taking video footage of the riots".

Although clarity is hard to find in Mr Cusack's embarrassingly bad evidence, one thing that is clear is that he doesn't like the threat that indymedia presents to his ability to make up whatever rubbish he wants and to present it as fact.

Elsewhere in the Sindo, Eoghan Harris has a particularly amusing piece. He starts off with a triumphant look back at his analysis of the riots last week and highlights how he got it right. He somehow fails to mention that he was the only commentator in the country to publicly claim that the Love Ulster march was attacked by protestors. No apology, no retraction, no mention of the fact that he wasn't there and was just making stuff up. He instead goes for the age old scoundrel's defence of simply claiming the exact opposite of the truth and claims that his uniquely inaccurate account of the riots was in fact uniquely accurate. Goebbel's would have been proud.

Elsewhere, he extends the scope of blame for the riot from Newstalk 106 to also blame Indymedia for stoking the sectarianism that was behind the riot. Huh? Taking a step into the wacky mindset of a Sindo hack for another brief moment, the reasoning goes something like this:

Allowing people to express opinions that questioned the sectarianism and political connections of the Love Ulster organisation = whipping up sectarianism.

The Sindo journalists, on the other hand, offer the masses no such sectarianism. Again and again they state (from Cusack to Harris, to Ruth Dudley Edwards) that Love Ulster is a protestant victims group and nothing else. They offer no reasons why this organisation was not allowed to march in Belfast, why this organisation committed to peacable demonstrations is headed by a man who was found by the Northern authorities to have "links to paramilitary organisations". Why moderate Unionism and even the Orange Order has distanced itself from this organisation and why such a peaceful victims group would choose to be led by a man who seems to believe that loyalist paramilitiaries should never have been put in prison. Even to ask these questions is to be guilty of whipping up sectarianism in the uninquiring mind of the Sindo hack.

author by Gaz B - -(A)-publication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 17:29author address author phone Report this post to the editors

if its not bird flu one week ,it's republicans or anarchist leaders with video cameras the next.

Next weeks scare tactics - Islamists
"Renegade republicans can bring our capital to its knees in minutes. And under the blind gaze of our surveillance chiefs, radical Islamists have turned Dublin into a major terror haven." - Mark Dooley SIndo

author by iosaf mac diarmada - @ .:. + * / ($ % €)publication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 17:42author address barcelona.author phone Report this post to the editors

Congratulations and Thanks for the down to earth use of your intellect.

As an activist of reclaim the streets in London in the 90s and then in Barcelona in the XXI century, I (and others) were very interested in the reaction to the first rts! gig in Dublin in 2002. It prompted me to publish using my real name on indymedia ireland space. this was a letter hand delivered by one of indymedia ireland to the cops the following rts! party http://www.indymedia.ie/article/12739 I learnt from contacts in the Irish state in 2002, that northern militants were blamed for the Dame street riots. In the last weekend the same contacts in the Irish state told me garda management was to blame. It is general knowledge that many individuals who were involved in rts! events and other incidents with similar confrontations in Genoa 2001, and Seattle [c/f http://indymedia.ie/article/69934&comment_limit=0&conde...08719 http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=61950 were "blacklisted" losing employment, suffered harassment, pressured to leave the UK and USA, and had passports marked, thereon carrying handle with care orders . Every time the worldwide movement against neoliberal imperialist globalisation and its associated destruction of the planet meets to protest a non-democratic institutional meeting of the powerful, be it G8, WEF, WTO, World Bank &c.., the commercial media wheel out the same slurs and rumours. http://indymedia.ie/article/64909 . My personal experience of all this began in the mid 90s in London before and after the June 18 rts! when the Daily Mail and Telegraph blamed everyone from "a cabal of shadowy anarchist" to n.b. "irish dissident republicans". On the other side of the commercial media trollfest, The Guardian offered the opinion "if Jesus was in London on J18 he would have been blacklisted". Of course in the years after, all those newspapers airbrushed their original reactions to the first forays of the movement. And The Guardian set up several special reports to cover lots of people involved and redress the balance. "the troublemakers went mainstream". But it was too late for many individuals, the damage to their lives had been done.

we now know that this website has a larger readership than many Irish or British commercial newspapers. We now know that RTS! and other similar bunches of people following the model and template of street protest begun in the 90s are not met with repression C/f
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69655


We face in a few years, shortage of water, climate change, new mutations of pandemic viruses, a fresh generation of war children right now being conditioned to hate all that is western, we live in a time of continual and un-ending war on humanity in the name of Capitalist profit and the agrandisment of the egos of a narrow band of "those who would be mortal leaders".

If the rioters had counted amongst their numbers people of the direct action calibre and capability to disrupt which both Irish republicanism and Anti-globalisation have proved to have, then Saturday 25/2/06 would have really been worth talking about .

well done Chekov again. You are a journalist. & a very good one. You lead by example.
everyone please read his update again & appreciate what this site and the people behind it have achieved click this link-

Related Link: http://indymedia.ie/article/74602&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false#comment141189
author by redjadepublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 18:30author address author phone Report this post to the editors

I archived the Sindo articles on Google Groups - just in case they become Soviet Historians...

No username/password/etc required - just click and read.

Jim Cusack articles:

Vicious plan to ruin 'Love Ulster' march began last December
By Jim Cusack
Sunday March 5th 2006
http://groups.google.com/group/miscrandometc/browse_thr...bc010

There are many grave reasons for the victims' groups to march upon Dublin
By Jim Cusack
Sunday March 5th 2006
http://groups.google.com/group/miscrandometc/browse_thr...49d07

———————————————

Other March 5th 2006 Articles

Truth was first casualty in the aftermath of the riots
Sunday March 5th 2006
By Eilis O'Hanlon
http://groups.google.com/group/miscrandometc/browse_thr...9f64e

Riots expose shame of our bigotry and ignorance
Sunday March 5th 2006
By Ruth Dudley Edwards
http://groups.google.com/group/miscrandometc/browse_thr...e88fb

We are the top Sunday paper with the Irish nation
Sunday March 5th 2006
http://groups.google.com/group/miscrandometc/browse_thr...ea38b

author by Seán Ryanpublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 20:40author address author phone Report this post to the editors

6, 7, 8 and 9. On a google search for "jim cusack" - straight to Indy, or the case of one of them to anarkismo. :O)

This will be an interesting addition to his curriculum vitae.

Well done Chekov and friends. Not only are ye the best, you're re-inventing how to do it.

When will the spotlight be on RTE?

author by redjadepublication date Sun Mar 05, 2006 22:07author address author phone Report this post to the editors

NOTE: username and passwords for Unison.ie are available at http://bugmenot.com/view.php?url=unison.ie

Taoiseach was told of IRA return to 'war'
By Jim Cusack (Jan 30 2005)
'The Taoiseach was given reports by Garda and Army security chiefs in the first week of the New Year outlining the IRA's plans to return to "war" and detailing a new recruitment campaign that was already underway on both sides of the border.

[....]

The Taoiseach was also told that the IRA is recruiting teenagers, some as young as 14, as well as students from third-level education institutions in the Republic. Teenagers are also being trained in firearms. The four punishment shootings in Belfast this month were carried out by youths believed to be aged between 16 and 19 and it is believed that they are being "blooded" in preparation for worse attacks.
'
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...12013

———

MI5 quiz Gardai on Islam terror network
By Jim Cusack (Jul 10 2005)
'Gardai are analysing the movements of up to 40 suspected Islamic terrorists and sympathisers in Dublin in the months before the attack.

About 15 al-Qaeda sympathisers living in this country, mainly in the greater Dublin area, are known to Army Intelligence. One of them, in fact, is believed to be very close to Osama Bin Laden's number two.

They have known links with extremists in Britain, Spain - and previously with al-Qaeda in the US and Canada - and are helping to raise finance, provide fake identities and, it is suspected, safe houses for terrorists.
'
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=...12713

———

America's influential conservative magazine The National Review says:
'Jim Cusack, Ireland’s foremost journalistic expert on Irish paramilitarism' and 'Cusack’s thesis, which is becoming widely held on both sides of the Irish border'

and The National Review quotes Jim Cusack: “the IRA now licenses all professional criminal activities in Dublin. But it generates even greater income from investing its criminal assets — it is now the largest pub owner in the state.
Sicily without Sunshine (March 15, 2005)
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/cullinan200503150...3.asp

———

Jim Cusack is listed on the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism's 'Terrorism Knowledge Base'
http://www.tkb.org/MoreResources.jsp?groupID=122

———

He also wrote: The UDA: Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror
By Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1844880206/202...19812

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