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Jonathan Irwin Jack and Jill Foundation

My favourite speech: CEO of The Jack and Jill Foundation Jonathan Irwin

Continuing our summer series on TheJournal.ie of public figures’ favourite speeches, Jonathan Irwin picks a speech by a former Senator who was influential during the Northern Ireland peace process.

THE AUTHOR AND former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan once said: “A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep!  A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart.”

One can not underestimate the power of a good speech or the effectiveness of a speech’s key line.

With that in mind, over the course of the summer TheJournal.ie is asking some of the most prominent figures in Irish society from politicians to sports stars to nominate their favourite speech of all time and tell us why they like it so much.

Today: Jonathan Irwin CEO Jack and Jill Foundation. He writes:

I have selected one of George Mitchell’s many fine speeches as one of my favorites. This was one he made at the Ireland Fund Gala dinner in Boston in November 2008.

As usual, I find his message erudite, clear and simple – the foundation of a good speech the trademark of George Mitchell, the Pioneer.

What I particularly like and find so refreshing is that this senior politician and statesman of international repute can be so self-effacing and view the world of politics in such a wry, humourous, honest and down to earth manner. For me, it is a lifeline of integrity and suggests that somewhere in the cynical body-politic a flickering candle is still to be found.

I hope the Mitchell style of getting things done is contagious and his candle reflected on Irish shores, particularly in relation to our health system and delivering on that promise to protect the most vulnerable in society.

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

George Mitchell is a Democratic politician and businessman. Following his retirement from the Senate, Mitchell played a leading role in the negitiaions for peace in Northern Ireland serving as Chairman of the International Commission on Disarmament in Northern Ireland and as Chairman of the subsequent peace negotiations, which culminated in the historic Good Friday agreement. President Obama appointed George Mitchell to serve as his Special Envoy to the Middle East in 2008. Mitchell tendered his resignation from the post in 2011.

The full speech by George Mitchell at the Ireland Fund Gala dinner in Boston in November 2008 can be read here:

I want begin by telling a couple of stories of how I got to the Senate and my first days there. I was serving as a Federal judge in my home state of Maine when Ed Muskie-one of your Senators -was appointed Secretary of State. The then-Governor of Maine, Joe Brennan, was a great friend and a great Irish-American. He announced that because it was in the middle of a legislative session he did not want the people of Maine to be under-represented in the Senate. So he was going to make the announcement the following Monday at a press conference at the state capital in Augusta.

We had a former Governor, a former Senator, and a former Congressman, all of whom were well qualified. I had just been appointed a Federal judge the year before, so it did not occur to anybody, me included, that I might be considered. And I wasn’t mentioned in any of the press speculation. On that Sunday evening I went to bed like everyone else in Maine wondering what the Governor was going to do the next day.

Later that night, the phone rang. It was the Governor calling. He said, “I’d like you to come down to the state capital tomorrow so that I can announce that I am going to appoint you to the United States Senate.”

I said, “Well Governor, this is a surprise. It is a big decision as I just became a Federal judge last year and I need some time to think about it. I need to talk to my family and I have to consider that this is a big career decision. He said, “I will give you one hour.” I protested. He said, “If you call me in one hour and say you can’t do it, it will be midnight and I will only have twelve hours, most of them in the middle of the night, to find someone else. So no, that’s all the time that you get.”

So I hung up and I called my three older brothers. I grew up in a small town in Maine and they were very famous athletes. Not just in Maine but all across New England.  Then I came along and I was not as good an athlete as my brothers.  In fact, I was not as good as anyone else’s brother.

So at an early age I began to be known around my hometown of Waterville Maine as “Johnny Mitchell’s kid brother, the one that is not any good.” Well, as you might expect I had a massive inferiority complex. I had a very competitive attitude towards my brothers.  So when I called them that Sunday evening obsessively seeking their advice, I confess there was a note of triumph in my voice.

I informed them that the Governor wanted to appoint me to the United States Senate, and what did they think about that? Well, they responded with predictably negative comments. My brother Johnny began and said, “Look, everybody knows you are a born loser. Nobody can understand how you got to be a Federal judge and you could not possibly win a statewide election.”  My two other brothers said much the same thing in less polite terms. So I hung up the phone and called the Governor.  I said, “Governor, I don’t need an hour. I have already received all the reassurance I need. “

And so I went down to Augusta the next day, the Governor announced the appointment, and I flew in to Washington. The swearing in ceremony was scheduled for Tuesday morning and on the flight down I wondered whether all three television networks would carry it live.

I was worried that the Senate chamber might not be big enough for the thousands of people that I knew would want to come to be there for the swearing in. When I landed it was late afternoon, so I took a taxi up the Capitol instead of going direct the hotel. I thought that I would go and introduce myself to the Senate majority leader who I had not met. So I went up and the Senate was in session. A police officer took me into the Senate chamber introduced me to the Senate majority leader where a debate was going on regarding a bill.

The Senate majority leader looked at me vaguely and I could see his mind racing saying, “Who is this guy?”   So I told him who I was and he said, “Oh fine, we will swear you in right now.” I protested and said, “But there’s a big ceremony tomorrow.” He said, “Listen young man, we are very busy around here and we are going to swear you in right now.”  So he interrupted the debate to swear me in.  It took about 8 or 9 seconds and nobody was aware of it.  There were two senators standing not ten feet away and they did not know what had just gone on.

And then, the Senate resumed its session almost immediately and a vote occurred. For those interested in political trivia, I hold the all-time record in American history for having cast a vote in the shortest time after becoming a Senator: two minutes. And that’s the first of many informed judgments I have made on your behalf.

The debate resumed and I stood there not knowing what to do. A young man came rushing up to me all out of breath and he introduced himself.  He was now my new Chief of Staff. He had been Senator Muskie’s Chief of Staff and now he was mine.  He began by criticising me for permitting myself to be sworn in early. And then he pulled a card out of his pocket and he said, “We have a list of things for you to do here.”

He read off the list of instructions of what I was to do that day and he concluded by saying, “We just got a call right after you were sworn in, they must have seen it on C-SPAN. There’s a group that would like you to speak to them. They are a convention of certified public accountants – 3000 of them -meeting here in Washington. They want you to come down tonight and give the keynote address at their convention.”

I said, “Gosh this is amazing!  What a great bunch of guys. Until yesterday I myself didn’t know I would be here. And these guys held this important post open!”  He said, “No, it’s nothing like. They’ve had four last minute cancellations and you’re the only member of Congress they could think of that might not have anything to do tonight.”  I asked what they would want me to speak about and he said, “The tax code.”  I said, “Wait a minute, there will be 3000 people in the audience and every one of them will know more about the subject than I will…I can’t do that.”

He looked at me with disgust and said, “With that attitude you will never get anywhere in politics. You are now a United States Senator and you will be regularly called upon to speak in public on subjects of which you know nothing about. You might as well begin to act like a Senator and get down there to talk to the certified public accountants.”

So I went down to tell the certified public accountants what’s in the tax code. And here I am tonight to tell a bunch of Irishmen all about Ireland.

But before I do that, I want to tell one other story. John Kerry was here earlier tonight at the reception and when I told him that I was going to tell this story, he left. If any of you drive through the Ted Williams Tunnel, you might wonder how it got that name. There are very few people that know the true story. The true story is that Tip O’Neill, one of the greatest guys I have met in or out of politics, got this big project funded. Then, a few years later, there was an effort to cut it out of the budget.

I was on the Senate subcommittee that had jurisdiction and we were dealing with the budget for that year. One of my colleagues on that committee was John Chaffee, a Republican Senator from Rhode Island. He was one of the most wonderful people I ever known. Every morning at 7am I would get a call from Ted Kennedy. He’d ask, “What are you guys doing on the project today?” And at 7:15 am I would get a call from John Kerry asking, “What are you guys doing on the project today?”  I would tell them both, and before 8 am they would have a press release out about all that they were doing on the project that day.

Well Chaffee and I worked hard because he had to drive to Boston from the South and I had to drive in from the North. We kept the project in the budget were able to save it. There were a lot of stories about Ted and John. After all the press came out, I went to see Ted.  I said, “Ted, I believe that the new harbor tunnel should be named after me.” He said, “That ridiculous you’re from Maine.”  I said, “I know, but I did all the work.”  He said, “What’s that got to do with it?”  So I tried another argument.

I said, “All over Massachusetts you drive down the Kennedy Highway, you go to the Kennedy Park, then you go to the Kennedy Center, and if you’re smart you get into the Kennedy School.  There’s nothing named after John Kerry and he is going to be very insistent if this project goes through that this tunnel will be named after him. You’ve got to have some equity here.  So Ted, you have a choice:  either the Kerry Tunnel or the Mitchell Tunnel.”  He looked out the window for a while then he said, “I like the sound of the Mitchell Tunnel.”

Then I went to go see John Kerry and I made the same argument in reverse. He said, “It’s got to be the Kerry Tunnel.”  I said, “ Wait a minute, you have all these Kennedy monuments all over the state. I’ve traveled over every part of Massachusetts and the only thing I could find named after you was a car wash in Chicopee.  So you have a choice: it’s either the Kennedy Tunnel or the Mitchell Tunnel.”  He looked out the window and he said, “The Mitchell tunnel sounds good to me.”

Then, I got them both together and said, “Guys I really appreciate it, but we are all Red Sox fans and this should be named after Ted Williams.” Ladies and gentlemen that’s how it happened, and the next time you see Ted and John, you tell them so.

I spend five years going to/coming from/working in/ Northern Ireland. I chaired three separate sets of negotiations and I’m pleased, gratified, and proud we were able to get an agreement that ended the conflict. But of all those that benefited from the past decade in Northern Ireland, none have done so more than I, because I had the good fortune that comes along once in a lifetime to discover my heritage as a result of that effort.

My father’s parents were born in Ireland and sometime in the 1890s they became part of the great human tide that travelled west across the Atlantic to find a better life for them and their children. Those of us who are proud of our Irish heritage know about the many great success stories.  But there were many failures and my father’s parents were among those. His mother died shortly after his birth here in Boston. His father could not care for the children, so they were all sent to Catholic orphanages.

My father spent several years at an orphanage at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue near where the Symphony now stands. Back in those days, about 100 years ago, the nuns used to take children to Catholic churches in Western Massachusetts and to rural areas of Maine and New Hampshire. After Sunday Mass, they would line the kids up in front of the altar rail and anyone that wanted to adopt a child would just take them by the hand and walk out. That’s how my father was adopted at a Catholic church in a small town in Maine.

Of course the potential for abuse and the reality of abuse was predictable in rural areas where children were not given the opportunity to go to school. It was so great that the system no long exists. But my father was one of the lucky ones.  He was adopted by an elderly childless couple who opened a store in a small town in Maine. They were not Irish so my father knew nothing of his heritage and knew nothing of Ireland.  I very rarely heard him speak the word his entire life.

So when, by an unknowable twist of fate many years later, President Clinton asked me to go to Northern Ireland, I accepted not out of an awareness of my Irish heritage –  because I had none – but simply because I felt that if I could be of help to people that needed it, I wanted to do so. But in the process, I acquired that awareness and I think now of my father much more than I did in some of the intervening years. Although we don’t know much about his background and history, I feel that I have gained something by learning about Ireland and by learning about myself.

I am an American, always will be and I’m very proud of it. But a large part of my heart and my emotions will always be in Ireland. People ask, “Why should we be doing things for Ireland?” Kingsley addressed it earlier, as did Jim Connolly, and of course they are right. We have to do what we can to encourage economic growth, job creation, trade, and investment because that’s the foundation of stability in every society.

It’s as true now as it was during the time of the Famine. It is as true now in Northern Ireland as it was in the time of the Troubles. Without work, hope, and opportunity there can’t be peace, stability, and rising standards of living.  We need that here, they need it there. It is in our interest and it is in theirs that we deepen and strengthen the relationship between two great countries: one large and powerful, one small but meaningful.

The people of Ireland are warm, energetic, productive, and whether you have Irish blood in you or not, it is in America’s interest to do what we can. And that is what you are doing here tonight by supporting The American Ireland Fund. It is a truly great organization that has done great work in promoting peace and reconciliation upon which there is a lot of work yet to be done.

I want to say a few words in closing about our own country. The United States was the first true meritocracy in all of human history. It was the first place where a person’s role in life was not determined at the moment of birth by class, status or family wealth. The greatness of America has been in our capacity for self-examination and self-renewal by a never-ending effort to right the wrongs of the past.  It is in an ever-expanding definition of individual liberties, of rights – civil, human, and otherwise- that each of us is blessed to enjoy.

So on this week of a historic election in this country, whatever political affiliation you have, I think we can all feel a sense of renewed pride in our country with election of Barack Obama of Illinois. And what a truly historical irony and significance we must attach to the fact that he is the third President from Illinois.  The first was President Abraham Lincoln who signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The second, being Ulysses S. Grant who led the Union army to victory in the Civil War.  And the third, being Barack Obama, the first African-American to assume that great office. This is a time in which every American can, and should, be proud of his or her country.

I close with a personal anecdote that describes what this country means to me. When I was a Federal judge I had great power. In fact, it was the only job that I had where I had any real power. The majority leader of the Senate has only the opportunity to ask other Senators to do things that they should have done without being asked.  When I chaired various peace processes, I couldn’t order anybody to do anything! But when I was a Federal judge (I know Judge O’Toole is here and there may be others) I could, and did, order people to do things regularly. I’m pleased to report of you that everybody always did exactly what I ordered and I truly loved that part of the job.

But what I most enjoyed was when I presided over what are called “naturalization ceremonies” which are citizenship ceremonies. A group of people would gather before me in a Federal court room in Maine.  They had gone through all of the required procedures and they had come from every part of the world. There, I administered to them the oath of allegiance of the United States and, by the power vested in me under our Constitution and law, I made them Americans.

It was always a highly emotional ceremony for me because I said earlier; my father was the orphan son of immigrants. He had no education and he worked as a janitor at the local college. My mother was herself an immigrant. She had no education.  She could not read or write and she spent her entire adult life working the night shift in textile mills in our little town in Maine. But because of their efforts and more importantly because of the openness of the American society I, their son, was able to become the majority leader of the United State Senate.

After every ceremony I made it a point to speak personally with each of the new Americans, both individually and in family groups. I asked them where they came from, how they came, and why they came.  Their stories were as different as their countries of origin and all were inspiring.  Most of us here are Americans by an accident of birth. Each of them is an American by an act of free will, often at great risk and cost to themselves and their families. Although there were different responses, there were common themes and they were best summarized by a young Asian man who, when I asked him why he came, replied in very slow and halting English, “I came because here in America, everybody has chance.”

Think about the fact that a young man who had been an American for less than ten minutes, who could barely speak English, was able to sum up the meaning of our country in a single sentence. America is freedom and opportunity and we are reminded of that in the most dramatic and emotional way possible on Tuesday evening.

Our task all of us is to so conduct ourselves individual and as a society in a way that 100 years from now, people all around the world will still want to come to America because they will believe that in America everybody has a chance, and God willing it will still be true.

I accept the recognition of The American Ireland Fund not as an individual, but a representative of the many men and woman here and in Ireland, especially in Northern Ireland, who devoted their lives and their careers to the pursuit of peace in Northern Ireland. There’s enough credit to go around and many people deserve it. But no one more than the political leaders of Northern Ireland who, in the most difficult circumstances imaginable, rose to the test with courage and perseverance to end decades of violent and bitter conflict to set that beautiful country on a path of peace and stability. So, it is on their behalf that I accept this recognition, and on their behalf that I speak here tonight.

I served for many years in the United States Senate but I am not going to make any mention of it in my remarks other than my reference to my service with Bill Delahunt. But I don’t want anyone to leave with the impression that I did not enjoy it, because I did very much.

(Speech provided by The American Ireland Fund Boston)

My favourite speech: executive director of Amnesty International Colm O’Gorman>

My favourite speech: Senator and academic Ivana Bacik>

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    Mute Dexter Gordon
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    Sep 17th 2012, 9:42 AM

    What was she thinking about going topless – she surely should have known that his kind of thing could happen.

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    Mute Joy Herron
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:44 AM

    I know!! the cheek of her thinking she could sun bathe topless in privacy like thousands of women around the world do without peeping toms with zoom lenses taking her photo. completely her own fault.The Damn paparazzi are why I shower with Knickers on.

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    Mute James Lawlor
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:23 PM

    Well if you take your clothes off in private this is what happens!!! NEVER NEVER remove your clothing.

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    Mute Andrew P
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:36 PM

    what about when u have a bath?

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    Mute James Lawlor
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:50 PM

    NEVER I SAID!!!!

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    Mute Peter Nolan
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:04 PM

    Ha, reminds me of the outraged Sam the American Eagle routine: “All these people walking around when, under their clothes, they’re NAKED! Yes, NAKED!”

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    Mute Christopher Gardiner
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:06 PM

    I agree Dexter, As the future Queen of England and Knowing what happened with Diana she must have realised that long lens can be used to try get pics like this. Nobody is questioning her decision to go naked or not its irrelevant. But she should have realised that some papparazzi will go to any lengths to get these pictures. She ahould have had something in front of her. a wall, a partition, a hedge, anything so that a long shot like that would have been impossible. She should have known better. These people do NOTHING all day but have an entourage follow them around like lap dogs yet not one of them had the brain to make sure she did not let herself open to this kind of exposure. She needs to wake up and it will happen again, and again, Its irrelevant what we think. The reality is there is demand in the media for all these pics and it will continue whether we like it or not and to deny this is unrealistic.

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    Mute James Lawlor
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:17 PM

    True Christopher it’s not like she can’t afford the bring a good hedge with her on holidays.

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    Mute Mick Byrne
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:07 PM

    The bould Kate had knickers on too Joy, they are were after her lady lumps

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    Mute Rusty Balls
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    Sep 17th 2012, 6:34 PM

    Now if Kate had been a Muslim there’d be riots over these photos…

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    Mute Aidan Geraghty
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    Sep 17th 2012, 10:07 AM

    Ah here, — Eddie would hardly come on and say the paper is screwed considering he works with them.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 17th 2012, 10:27 AM

    With your track record Eddie? I guess the Star is gone now.

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    Mute Michael Fagan
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:26 AM

    Let’s get some quality back into Irish journalism and leave publications like the star in the gutter where it belongs

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    Mute Raymond Connolly
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    Sep 17th 2012, 10:42 AM

    Paper should be closed down,as for Eddie Hobbs don’t start me

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    Mute Gary Mason™
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    Sep 17th 2012, 10:44 AM

    no it shouldnt, sure the man trying to close it down once owned a publication called Asian Babes

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    Mute Brian
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:15 AM

    Enlighten us as to why it should be closed down, Raymond.

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    Mute Little Jim
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:57 AM

    Enlighten us about Asian Babes, Gary!

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    Mute Richard Keogh
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:48 PM

    That’s all very well but the “Asian Babes” had agreed to having their photographs taken. The photos of Kate were taken illegally – they are in breach of France’s very strict privacy laws – and should never have been reproduced in the Star. If Desmond does pull out the Star will lose a large amount of it’s content, though if INM keeps it open I guess they can always make it up from that other dreadful rag the Irish Independent.

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    Mute John Thomas
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:38 PM

    Apologise and Fire the Editor! enough said! Leave the jobs alone

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    Mute Mary Mc Carthy
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:44 AM

    Please! Kate has boobs , just like every other woman! She took risks when going topless as previous photographs of her honeymoon were already leaked. So I wish the media would get over it…. There are a lot more serious stories to report on ..

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    Mute rhonda o shea
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:56 AM

    I agree Mary …so fed up wit hearing about her and her boobs…

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:04 PM

    So Mary and Rhonda, it would be OK for someone to snap you and your boobs are publish them online for all to see- in a public domain. And for tthen to make money out of those boobs of yours.

    You wouldnt even be the tiniest bit upset then?

    Don’t miss the main issue here.

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:39 PM

    Paul of course noone should have their privacy invaded like this. But I don’t think that’s the bones of the issue. The daily star is a rag and its only use as I see it is to toilet train my dog. but that’s my opinion.
    The issue here is why should Kate be treated any differently than any other of the daily stars subjects. I don’t agree with any of it, but In Ireland at least Kate Middleton is similar to other celebrities . They paper should not be shut down because of these particular pictures. The fact is its one guy who happens to own half if it all of a sudden seems to like some moral high ground (cause it might affect his wallet in the UK) and he says he’ll shut it down. if the reaction was different he’d be parading around for photo ops with o’kane..

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    Mute Mick Lennon
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    Sep 17th 2012, 10:10 AM

    langer

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    Mute Linna Sonngay
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    Sep 17th 2012, 10:56 AM

    Paper should say sorry in gross error of judgement etc, a lot of jobs on the line etc and they’ll be ok I think, a joke of a newspaper tho

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    Mute toorkeel
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:56 AM

    It’s a complete rag, always has been, worse than the Sun if that’s possible. It would be great to see it off the shelves….

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    Mute Ryan Allen
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:38 AM

    We all have a choice whether to buy the Star or not. If it is still going then it must sell pretty well and meet some kind of demand.

    Getting rid of it as it’s a “rag” or “tacky” won’t mean its readers will start reading the Times, the Indo or even the Journal. But it will mean lots of jobs lost and given the small size of the Irish media industry, they won’t be able to find new ones that easily.

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    Mute Sean ORegan
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:11 PM

    What I think is wonderful about this episode is how it reminds us how much of the Irish media is actually British owned and how culturally confused so many are…

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:10 PM

    Sean, after 800 years………….nah, wont go there!

    Its worse if you bring in the Barney and iCarly-speak of the younger age group!

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    Mute Padraic Forde
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:51 AM

    Dammit, Friday was the only day i forgot to buy it. :)

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    Mute ManOnTheStreet
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:55 PM

    The star didn’t print the pics til Saturday. Just saying ;)

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    Mute Sean Browne
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:08 PM

    What about all the actors for the problem page where will they find work keep it open

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    Mute Mike Brennan
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:54 PM

    Im sure they could find room for their method acting style at Fair City.

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    Mute Peter Nolan
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:56 AM

    From a purely business perspective, it doesn’t seem over the top at all. The money Desmond gets from the Irish Daily Star must be pretty farcically small-fry compared to the value of his Star/Express/OK! brand in the UK . Yet it’s demonstrated that – as he’s tied to it perception wise, but with no control – that it has the potential to cost him significant damage and lost revenue in the UK.

    It’s a liability. To be honest, I’d be very surprised if the owners of the Daily Mail hadn’t spent the weekend pouring over their agreements with the Irish Daily Mail to see if they had a risk of a similar exposure to their British interests by potential Irish editorial decisions.

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    Mute Eoin Faz
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:21 PM

    Sounds like he just found a good excuse to shut the paper. It will not be missed.

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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:38 PM

    What a joke! The paper screwed up and deserve what they get. But in a less selfish world…. The person who made the decison to publish the picture would apologize and resign from their job…. However…. This is Ireand….. No one resigns from jobs for poor judgement or errors nor are individuals held accountable.

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    Mute Anne Kerins
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:48 PM

    Your comment is the only one that gave a proper overview, they were on a private holiday, can no one have privacy these days, once again great reply

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    Mute Slap'stick Ireland
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:10 PM

    Rabbitte gives us his thumbs up to “more tits on Irish newspapers please”. As if we haven’t enough of that already. Up with that sort of thing

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:09 PM

    And he has given the OK for some to make money from pictures taken without the owners consent.

    Rabbitte is wrong on so many levels.

    Sack the editor then and leave the other staff in place. Feckin eegit O’Kane – got it all wrong, misread the decency of most of the Irish public.

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    Mute ManOnTheStreet
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:00 PM

    While I agree with everything you have said Paul, Kate needs to cop on.

    She is one of the most famous women in the world and she went topless on a balcony. The lowlife who took the pic was on a public road. You’d nearly think it was done on purpose.

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    Mute Derek Larney
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:47 PM

    Rabbitte backs up tabloid in the hope they call the hounds off his Labour Party before the next election

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    Mute Hope Lasts
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:49 PM

    that doesnt look right either …i give up

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    Mute mcbab
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:14 PM

    O’Kane got it so wrong. Totally misjudged the Irish public and showed himself up as a misogynist. Stupid man to say that it was no different than photos of Lady Gaga etc. I am fairly certain that Lady Gaga wouldn’t have been too pleased if it had been sneaky photos of her sunbathing either

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    Mute John Scully
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:05 PM

    I am sure she knew very well that she would be seen. Anyway whats all the fuss for? Prince Harry showed off a lot more with less fuss.

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    Mute John the Baptist
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:30 PM

    Ahh come on. She knew they were there. We’re lucky it wasn’t Camilla

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:33 PM

    Of course she knew they were there, she was born with them. As for your knowing….shame on you!

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    Mute Mick Lennon
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:20 PM

    haven’t you more important issues to sort rabbite like broadband rollout?get the finger out and stop worrying about tabloid rubbish

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    Mute Giovanni Lucca
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    Sep 17th 2012, 4:38 PM

    jail the person that took the photographs and the editors of the newspapers that publish them. They knowing took and paid for illegal photographs for greed. Would you like it if someone took an intimate photograph of any of your family and saw it in the newspapers the next day?? Bet you wouldn’t, so what’s the difference here? everyone deserves the right to privacy.

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    Mute seamus mckenzie
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    Sep 17th 2012, 8:24 PM

    It is pure elitism, The end of the day Kate is apparently going to be the future queen of England. Never seen pictures of Diana like that published in the papers. They are no different to any other celebrity in this country. No one objects when snaps of celebrities appear without consent in those rags. As for Desmond chasing his knighthood, and runs an empire built on sleaze and the degradation of women. The hypocrisy of all this stinks and how it has got so much media attention in the wake of tragedies in the north and the ten year old in Co. Offaly leaves a lot to be desired.

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    Mute FMA News
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    Sep 17th 2012, 1:54 PM

    Looks like Labour Government has succeeded in insulting another sovereign state – first the Vatican, now the UK. Would have thought we could do with all the friends we could get, at the momemt! … Parcochial, inappropriate and short-sighted response from Pat Rabbitte.

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    Mute Mick Byrne
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    Sep 17th 2012, 2:08 PM

    Perhaps Rabbite will include the Star in the licence fee?

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    Mute Hope Lasts
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:48 PM

    give all the profits for that day to charity, paper is shown no profit to be made in cheap sleaze and charitys win..

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    Mute Tony Blankley
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    Sep 18th 2012, 12:20 AM

    When are the press going to realise that everyone is entitled to their privacy when they are “not on duty”. Yes, they are public property when they are working on state business or other public duties, but outside “work” they should be left alone, rather than be preyed on by vultures!

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    Mute Robert Lockwood
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    Sep 17th 2012, 11:56 PM

    “Irish Daily Star editor Michael O’Kane said he believed the images to be tasteful, and pointed out that the photos of Middleton – who, he said, would never be Queen of Ireland – had not appeared in the edition of the paper circulated in Northern Ireland.”

    Ah but in Ireland it’s ok to invade one’s privacy but not in the North? Disgusting.

    Northern & Shell has previously been the UK publisher of the adult magazines Penthouse and Asian Babes among others. hypocrisy?? No, I enjoy this stuff, the models volunteer and are highly paid. But publishing semi-naked pictures without permission is the same as sticking a hidden camera up someone skirt.

    You disgust me.

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    Mute Joey Wagga
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    Sep 17th 2012, 9:45 PM

    I prefer the club orange ads!!

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    Mute Hope Lasts
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    Sep 17th 2012, 12:49 PM

    sorry charities

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    Mute Richie Mulroy
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    Sep 17th 2012, 5:24 PM

    Surely there are more important issues that could be getting covered by the media than some posh bints less than impressive boobage, bread and circuses

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    Mute Andrew Bowan
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    Sep 19th 2012, 2:16 PM

    The porn merchant is a social climber currying favour with the English Establishment in the hope of a knighthood.

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