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A COMPLAINT OVER an Irish Times column that a reader considered to be racist towards English people has not been upheld by the Press Ombudsman.
In a ruling published yesterday, the Ombudsman found that the piece by the fictional character Ross O’Carroll Kelly did not meet the criteria for racial prejudice set out under Principle 8 of the Press Council of Ireland’s Code of Practice.
The satirical column, published on 9 February, described how the character attended an Ireland rugby international against England with his three small sons.
The article recounted how O’Kelly’s children shouted the words “Fock England” at English supporters on their way to the match and during the English national anthem.
It led to a complaint from an English man living in Ireland for more than two decades, who wrote to The Irish Times to say he found the piece “insulting, negative and rude”.
He suggested that the publication of the article “promoted negative hatred of … the English in general”.
Genuine regret
In response, The Irish Times said that while it was a “matter of genuine regret” that the complainant had been offended by column, the piece was “an exercise in satire that seeks to be entertaining and funny but not to be taken seriously”.
The man subsequently made a formal complaint to the Office of the Press Ombudsman, describing the column as “racism”.
He claimed that the article breached Principle 8 of the Press Council’s Code of Practice, which says that the press should not publish material intended to or likely to cause grave offence or stir up hatred against an individual or group on the basis of nationality.
The Irish Times editor Paul O’Neill later told the Press Council that he genuinely regretted that the complainant did not find the column funny.
He said that in considering the column racist, the reader had misinterpreted the point of it, adding that the author – whose real name is Paul Howard – is “one of Ireland’s best-known satirists and comedy-writers”.
O’Neill also offered to publish a letter from the complainant which would allow him to take issue with the column, but the complainant refused as he said it was The Irish Times’ policy to publish letter-writers’ names and that he wished to remain anonymous.
The complainant repeated his view that the article was racist and could incite hatred towards England.
Dilemma
As the complaint could not be resolved by conciliation, it was forwarded to the Press Ombudsman, Peter Feeney, for a decision.
In considering the complaint, Feeney noted that satire can be “an effective way of interrogating contemporary values and attitudes” and sometimes had to stretch the boundaries of what is acceptable and what causes offence in order to do so.
“This is a dilemma that many satire-writers face,” he said. “Exposing prejudice in satire may run the risk of some people taking offence.”
However, he found that readers of The Irish Times’ Ross O’Carroll-Kelly column are not expected to take literally the views of the fictional characters, but are expected to understand that the views expose the foolishness and prejudice of those characters.
While he appreciated that the complainant was offended by the remarks, he felt that there was no intention to cause offence or to stir up hatred on the basis of nationality.
Feeney concluded that there was no breach of Principle 8 of the Press Council’s Code of Practice, and the complaint was not upheld.
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Nice one. Loved him in Riverdance.
@John Condon: . I was addicted to doing the hokey pokey, but thankfully I turned myself around.
@John Condon: “Lord of the dance” for me
Can anyone confirm if Judge Martin Nolan is a permanent inhabitant of this planet??
@Scruff The Magic Wagon: He’s only here for a short time because of his suspended visa to the planet of Mars…
@Scruff The Magic Wagon: pensioner’s life’s don’t matter. A 22yrold against a 75yrold.
@Scruff The Magic Wagon: can’t be surely…. its like he has an aversion / blind spot when it comes to punishment/ sentencing
I hope he goes after the mass murdering zionist state Israel for killing nearly 20,000 children ripping them apart with bullets…blowing them apart with bombs…leaving ICU baby’s to die and rot to be fed upon by wild animals…
@William Slevin: While Hamas of course are left to the calling of their Islamic faith in slaughtering, torturing, raping and hostage taking??
@William Slevin: The ‘palestinians’ have abundantly shown their support for their terrorist government. Cheering the atrocities, taunting and spitting on the Israeli hostages, and encouraging their children to do the same. Not one ‘palestinian’ has voiced any horror at the actions of their government, not one has condemned them, or voiced any concern for the hostages. They still expect Israel to carry on providing them with food, water, electricity, medicines etc though.
@William Slevin: they reap what they sow, Hamas have made their bed, let them p!ss in it
@William Slevin: In fairness, you could be confused for a racist anti-semetic bigot.
@William Slevin: What amazes me about the pro-Palestinian lobby is that it never acknowledges the death and related atrocities committed by Muslims against other Muslims. Examples include the recent devastating war in Yemen coordinated by Saudi Arabia and Iran. Thousands of Yemenis have starved to death, since the Saudis blockaded the ports so that no food could be delivered to the main city.
What about the atrocities committed by the Assad regime against fellow Muslims in Syria? Putin has aided and abetted that regime, yet had the audacity to criticise Israel for committing war crimes.
Pakistan has recently evicted and expelled tens of thousands Afghanis from that country. The Afghani Taliban has committed atrocities against its own people – fellow Muslims.
@William Slevin: If the Palestinians laid down their arms there would be peace tomorrow. If Israel laid down their arms there would be an Oct 7 every day until there were no more Jews left. Israel are a democratic nation surrounded by malignant terrorist states, they are fighting for their existence as is their right.
@William Slevin: Maybe if hamas spent the billions received in aid for infrastructure, farming, industry, schools and hospitals instead of tunnels, guns, rockets and lining leaders pockets there could be peace. It is possible. Ask the 2 million muslims living in israel
@D W Chaney: not providing but not preventing access to supplies
Beaker.
Brilliant!..congrats!
A fine achievement
I wish him well
We can afford ourselves a little flutter of pride at how many Irish people land themselves top European & global positions
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