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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Irish Presidential Tales: In which I am attacked by a British obituary writer for running for Irish president

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Irish Presidential Tales: In which I am attacked by a British obituary writer for running for Irish president

Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 10:32 PM

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Two weeks in and the possible run for president hits its first choppy waters.

It is in the form of an article in The Irish Times castigating me as an Irish American for daring to think about running for president of Ireland-- even though I was born and lived 26 years there.

The headline is 'O'Dowd too much of an Irish American for the Aras' (meaning Aras an Uachtarain the president's residence).

It was written by British citizen Walter Ellis, who writes obituaries for The London Times as far as I can judge.

Amazingly, he is presented as some kind of prominent Irish American by the Times.

The Times has been doing a lot of that in recent times, presenting marginal figures as leading Irish Americans.

Clearly the emigrant Irish and Irish Americans are seen by some there as a nuisance at best, as a threat at worst and anyone who will write that way is encouraged.

The key point in the article is to paint me as an outsider, as if Ireland was not tethered in so many ways to the millions who have left the place in the past 160 odd years since the famine.

There is also the attempt to paint Irish Americans as naive and not understanding Ireland, even though we did anticipate and act on the opening for a peace process in Ireland before the majority of the Irish ever did.

We were accused of being naive then too.

Just keep the dollars coming lads and feck off then?

Portraying people as outsiders fits into that genre.

Current president Mary McAleese, because of her Northern Irish roots, suffered savage attacks.

Think Barack Obama and his birth certificate.

Ellis, the British obituary writer, presents the cartoon version of Irish America. He sneers at the fact that my publications celebrate St.Patrick's Day.

I've been accused of many things, but celebrating St. Patrick's Day I plead guilty to.

Then Ellis says I have been nasty to the Royal Family -- again I plead guilty on occasions, such as when Prince Harry dressed as a Nazi and Prince William claimed an Irish title.

But the strangest accusation is that somehow I am not Irish because I am an American and Irish citizen (This is coming from a British citizen).

By his lights, Eamon De Valera, who essentially engineered the modern Irish state, was not Irish either because he was born in New York.

I have spent 32 years writing about Ireland practically every day. To be presented as somehow not of Ireland is passing strange to me, especially by a British writer.

Suffice to say, however, attacks by British obituary writers were hardly part of my fears when I announced I was thinking of running.

But I suppose if an obituary writer is writing about you it is better that you are being attacked than remembered.

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Why running for President of Ireland brings out the best and worst --- not to mention the humor and hostility

Learning from the first Irish presidential debate and Newt Gingrich on immigration

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93 comments

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Trealach | Jun 29, 2011, 11:38 AM EDT

When a person betrays his homeland, by swearing an allegiance to a foreign flag, and in doing so categorically renounces ALL allegiance to his homeland, it clearly puts him into the category of being a Traitor. He may well think through his tabloid on-line 'paper' that this somehow will be missed or overlooked shows a complete lack of knowledge of the people he want's to represent. There was a time when such Traitors were shot - now we simply refuse to elect them. When a person makes false claims such as "I was invited to run" and fails on numerous occasions to name those who "invited him", then one must come the the conclusion that the claim is a lie. He has said in the past that there must be "transparency" in Politics, yet he indulges in the opposite. The people in Ireland, unlike in the US, ACTUALLY elect the President. We do NOT depend on an Electoral College to make that decision for us. The Irish President is not selected or influenced by Corporations or Lobby groups, since the Irish President has absolutely NO role in the 'Politics' of the nation - nor can the President make ANY comment on Political matters. So WHO is financing your campaign Mr. O'Dowd - you might as well state it now, because the issue won't go away even during the campaign - should you even be eligible to stand for election. Again the two unanswered questions are:- Who invited you to run - Who is financing your campaign. At the very least, have the decency of giving us an honest answer.

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kinvara7 | Jun 22, 2011, 07:38 AM EDT

Since the Outbreak of the Troubles the Irish Government used a variety of tactics in order to bring international opinion to bear on what was going on in Northern Ireland. That included using US pressure to force the British Government to reverse policy. When violence broke out in Derry in 1969 the Irish Taoiseach called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to Northern Ireland. In 1974 the Irish Government brought charges of torture against the British Government, and in 1976 it took the case to the European Court of Human Rights. If anyone would like to look at this area in detail, then they should read Dr. Eamonn O'Kane's 'The Republic of Ireland's Policy Towards Northern Ireland: The International Dimension as a Policy Tool'.

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ancavker | Jun 20, 2011, 01:22 PM EDT

DeValera: The Irish in the 26 counties did not care at all about the north. It was Irish- America who got the ball rolling. In the 80's they were much more interested in El Salvador and all the wrongs America was allegedly committing there at the time. And I don't know how many times I had to hear Ronald Ray gun (as in nukes), when we bought up the north they said we did not live there and did not understand. Of course they fully understood what was going on in El Salvador.

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tullyallen | Jun 19, 2011, 12:36 PM EDT

There was a worldwide recesssion in the 80's . People conveniently forget the period where unemployment was ,reduced to 4% and immigration was at 20%. The subprime collapse precipitated the crisis . The mismanagement of the economy by Fianna Fail is a result of the present mess. The rest of Europe was not as badly affected as Ireland . The Greek debt problem is partly due to the fact that 30% of their GDP goes on defense. There is also something called international law . Treaties come under this category . The "Free State" government made a treaty with the British Government in 1921,you may have heard about it. Treaties by their very nature especially international ones need to reviewed regularly . This is done by international bodies . I don't remember the United States at any time pressing for a review of this particular one . The "special relationship" is too importan to them. The United States only serves its own interests other interests are secondary ,Irealnd becomes a focus when election year is coming up so they can garner a few votes.The "Good Friday" agreement, which was gibberish from a judicial point of view, would never have been implemented if Ian Paisley hadn't done a volte face . So all your tra la la about Bill Clinton et al and their contribution is the creation of the spindoctors. It was the ordinary people on both sides of the divide in the north of Ireland who took the initiative and as usual others jumped on the bandwagon for their poliitical gain.So all these sanctimonious so called peace crusaders ,like Niall O' Dowd , who is trying to make poliitcal capital out of his so called contribution to the peace process have no credence with me and many others.

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GeorgeDillon | Jun 19, 2011, 12:02 PM EDT

Devalera: "The peace process was well in progress before the Irish Americans jumped on the bandwagon". That's a blatant lie. I am old enough to remember the 1980s, when Irish policy, if one can dignify it by the name, consisted solely of making sure that American politicians did not interest themselves in the countless human rights abuses, killings by the British Army & Police etc. There was a particularly mediocre Irish Ambassador called Sean Donlan who achieved nothing in all his years here except slow the day when dialog and discussion could take over from armed force. You know nothing about the history of this subject. As to your claims about the EU, these prove you're living in Leprechaunland. Ireland had been a decade and a half in the EU when New York and other cities were thronged by the influx of people fleeing Ireland's "rising livng standards" back in the late 80s---I have a vivid memory of that particular invasion of Irish economic refugees. That was more than two decades ago, and now once again we are witnessing a new horde of Irish beneficiaries of the EU's gift of "rising living standards"! What nonsense you write.

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themurphia | Jun 19, 2011, 05:47 AM EDT

In case anyone thinks the term PIIGS is in any way derogatory it is an acronym for Portugal Italy Ireland Greece and Spain...just thought I'd clarify that for any intellectually challenged pain in the Aras with an agenda...a muc...;-)!

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themurphia | Jun 19, 2011, 05:24 AM EDT

Devalera: The chatter today is that the Eurozone find an exit strategy for the PIIGS...the social and financial costs of bailing out the peripheral states is no longer considered cost effective and is damaging to strong economies...Interesting times...!

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DeValera | Jun 19, 2011, 04:57 AM EDT

The peace process was well in progress before the Irish Americans jumped on the bandwagon. The United States has never been too much of a friend to Ireland . Rooseveltd despised De Valera and was prepared to invade Ireland by military means if need be during WW2.The only interest the Americans have in Ireland is that it is a foothold in Europe and we are stupid enough to let their multinationals operate here with enormous fiscal advantages . The good news is that since we have been a member of the EU living standards have risen considerably in what was one of the poorest countries of the Union. So all this tra la la about the diaspora and whatnot ,is just a lot of name dropping and false promises . Economically the US did little or nothing for us and only became realy interested in investment when we joined the EU because it gave them access to the the European market . Now they are trying to scupper the euro. It would be sheer folly to even contemplate any form of American politicla involvement in Ireland at the present moment .

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themurphia | Jun 19, 2011, 03:57 AM EDT

In case some gurrier* requires clarification the term 'pukka' is from the Hindi and means absolutely spiffing... first class... super...a bit like me...! *Gurrier btw means 'jackeen'* *jackeen btw means those Dubz who turned out waving Union Jacks to greet the Royals back in the day... Need I go on..?

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themurphia | Jun 19, 2011, 03:08 AM EDT

Ahhh 'Godwins law'...the last refuge of the hopeless argument...I was asked to explain the use of the term 'goy'...from the context it is obviously not a racial slur...it was a reference to D4 'Dortspeak' (they have problems with their vowel movements) a phenomenon parodied and familiar to anyone acquainted with the fictional character 'Ross O'Caroll Kelly' in the IT...'for focks sake'...My accent btw is pukka home counties boarding school 'English' don't you know...I am a member of the Diaspora after all...So please take your testosterone and your ad hominem insults back to your village...it's missing you...I rest my case!

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Towngate | Jun 18, 2011, 05:43 PM EDT

We are really enjoying you trying to back-pedal furiously from your offensive Goy reference! Wriggle and squirm all you want but in your Comment @ 08.06 you clearly use a capital G and no quotation marks or inverted commas! ~ ~ ~ Me warning Cap'n Niall of a competitor on the horizon has sent you into some kind of demented frenzied lather about this woman. You must have had a bad experience with an attractive well-spoken broadcaster as a child, did you? Did she laugh at your 'dis,dat,deese and dose?' ~ Seek help!~ ~ ~ Btw: I didn't say you said she was brought up in D4. ~ ~ ~ About the tragic sounding D4 patois; In 2006 during the 'boom', I asked a friend why she had begun using it. She said,in all seriousness: "...now we have plenty of money, we're just as good as the English and we don't have to pretend to be Irish anymore". ~ The poor sad thing thought she was the bees knees now she had a sophisticated London accent. Finally,in my professional opinion, Niall has a much more attractive speaking voice than Miriam. Shalom!

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hancock | Jun 18, 2011, 03:18 PM EDT

Oy vey.

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Rebelforce | Jun 18, 2011, 02:29 PM EDT

I wonder why Gloccamorra gets Walter's panties in such a twist? It is one of the most beautiful songs about Ireland ever written. http://youtu.be/LZCt4T1O3xc

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themurphia | Jun 18, 2011, 01:40 PM EDT

For Americans not familiar with the affected D4 accent 'goy' is the pretentious pronunciation of 'guy' by the 'Dort' (Sth Dublin rail) set... I realise it may mean something else in the States...so relax it wasn't meant as a slur on anyone's racial origins

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themurphia | Jun 18, 2011, 01:26 PM EDT

Actually Miriam O'Callaghans accent couldn't be more affected if it tried...a mid Atlantic drawl favoured by the Montrose meeja mafia...imagine if you can the bastard love child of the strangulated vowels of Lloyd Grossman crossed with Graham McDowell...as for apologising for the 'mistake'...some might say error of judgment... in tweeting a man's death before his wife and kids knew about it sounds more like an inveterate gossip than a meeja savvy matron to me...Anyone familiar with D4 will know what 'goy' means... As for internecine squabbling well...you might say that I couldn't possibly comment...btw I didn't say MO'C was 'brought up' in D4...try and pay attention at the back unless of course you're too busy kissing Miriam's Aras to read what is actually written...

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