ABOUT A DOZEN protesters turned up outside Channel 4′s headquarters in London today to protest against a sitcom about the Irish Famine.
Two republican prisoner campaigners were part of the protests, as were others who were there after organisation by the Campaign for the Rights and Actions of Irish Communities (CRAIC)
Austen Harney, chair of CRAIC, had told The Irish Post that the broadcaster was “making a joke of the millions of people who died”.
A counter-protest organised through Facebook was held at the same time today with organiser Josh Clarke saying they brought banners with them calling the objectors ‘No Craic’.
The sitcom is being developed by Channel 4 along with Dublin-based production company Deadpan Pictures, it is to be titled ‘Hungry’.
A petition was launched against the project with one Fianna Fáil councillor describing the show as “ignorant” and “insulting”.
But speaking to TheJournal.ie from outside Channel 4, Clarke said that he wanted to organise a counter-protest to show that not all Irish people were against the idea of the show.
“We didn’t really want to make much of a thing of it,” he explains. “It’s so daft we didn’t want to stand in the street for too long. But we said we’d come down here for an hour to show that there are some Irish who aren’t opposed the whole thing.”
Clarke says if Channel 4 were to “make a programme that degrades an already degraded people, like those from the Famine”, then it would be right to protest.
He adds though that the broadcaster has a good record of comedy and it is unlikely they would do something so disrespectful.
“It’s not up to me to decide who gets offended about something and why, but if they (Channel 4) make it and it is racist and offensive then we’ll protest.”
Clarke is an Galwegian from Tuam living in London who DJs at the Hackney Irish Social Club.
He says there are many aspects about the Famine that a ripe for lampooning, the British aristocracy for example, or the transcript from the House of Lords which blamed the Famine on the Irish people.
“They just don’t know about it here,” he says. “A lot of it comes from a lack of education. If I mention the Famine I get a, “what?”, in response…This could open up a dialogue about it and help a few more people understand.”
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