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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Mayor Bloomberg right to apologize about drunken Irish, but mystery remains

Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 09:21 PM

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Read more: Mayor Bloomberg apologizes for drunken Irish comments - SEE VIDEOS

I think the Irish American community should accept Mayor Bloomberg's apology for his comments on the inebriated Irish but I am still baffled as to why he said them.

I was there for the comments made at the American Irish Historical Society, (pictured) and was first to report them, but a day later they still intrigue me.

The story went viral because what Bloomberg said seemed so off the wall.

He said that usually when he walks by the building "there are a bunch of people that are totally inebriated hanging out the window waving"

Bloomberg conjured up a vision of inebriated Irish people hanging from windows, drunkenly cheering on the St.Patrick's Parade as it passes.

If you knew the AIHS as it is known, you know the likelihood of that happening is about the same as Hosni Mubarak being elected next president of Egypt.

It is a beautiful Fifth Avenue mansion, a center of culture, history and learning, the closest the Irish in America have to a national library with a treasure trove of artifacts and historical documents that set it apart.

The programs offered are usual classical music, learned Irish writers, poets and academic lectures.

I have been to several AIHS St.Patrick's Day events as I am on the board and I can assure you there were no drunks screaming or hanging from the windowsills.

If anything the atmosphere is a little too subdued for St.Patrick's Day and where Bloomberg got the notion that hijinks were regularly happening escapes me.

Even in as smart a man as Bloomberg, the tendency to stereotype slips out ,he could not let the celebration of a book launch about the St. Patrick's Day Parade pass without a pointless wisecrack that came over like a skunk at a garden party.

The person I was standing beside turned to me and asked 'Did he just say that?' when he made the comments.

I knew what he meant.

Bloomberg was standing in the greatest Irish building in the United States, just renovated at a cost of $6 million, a home of Irish learning and culture and all he could come up with was a lame drinking stereotype.

Is that what he thinks the Irish are really about ?

It was not good enough for this mayor or for Irish Americans to give him a pass.

Quite rightly he has now apologized and there the matter rests.

At least I hope it does.

Read more: Mayor Bloomberg apologizes for drunken Irish comments - SEE VIDEOS

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MarthaAnne | Feb 11, 2011, 10:29 AM EST

OMG, DaveRed: You actually REGRET a ban on smoking in bars? I was so happy when I found that I could go into a pub and hear live music and not have to submit to more second hand smoke! To want to save a business even though some people might get cancer or heart disease makes no sense. And it that an ethical stance to take? Money over people's lives?

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DaveRed | Feb 11, 2011, 10:27 AM EST

The mayor wouldn't be all that put off by a Jewish joke. However, an inquiry about when (or whether) he's ever coming out of the closet would drive him to drink. And what's all this malarkey about how good he is to the Irish? His smoking ban nearly put the Irish bars out of business. Many have yet to recover.

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MarthaAnne | Feb 11, 2011, 10:26 AM EST

I want to say that, deep in our brains, we harbor the prejudiced jokes and attitudes towards "the other", even though we really might not be prejudiced. I have come out with comments that are insensitive towards other ethnicities and have been surprised at what I have said, often very dismayed and ashamed IMMEDIATELY. I think it is not due to prejudice but this thing "in the air" , that is to say, the comments or stereotypes one hears about another ethnic group. The Mayor, I am speculating, came out with this very baffling comment due to that phenomenon. This may explain his comments, not actual prejudice or even a wanting to stereotype. We have to be way more forgiving and understanding (and loving, even) of one another!

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MarthaAnne | Feb 11, 2011, 10:20 AM EST

I would like to say that, yes, the Irish forgive pretty easily, but please appreciate the fact that the entire Western (not to mention Arab) world (not just the English, as in the case of the Irish) were persecuting the Jews and Hitler killed 6 million of them and wanted to eradicate every single Jew from the face of the earth! The Famine was indeed in large part, if not all, due to English deliberate neglect and worse, but the Jews have been shoved out of country after country all over and suffered the Holocaust. I do think that some Jews can be very quick to blame but others are most kind and forgiving - just like Irish Americans. You get all kinds. But it is ignorant and wrong to pin the Jews as not forgiving: They are hyper vigilent, and, historically, they have had to be. "Never again." So, I don't feel it is fair to say that the Irish Americans and Irish will forgive Bloomberg but those Jews, well, they are not so forgiving. It's not that simple and reeks, IMO, of a refusal to acknowledge the terrible trials of the Jews, in particular.

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cillowen | Feb 11, 2011, 10:07 AM EST

This shiite I've had to deal with over years upon years - they know they can get away with any such remarks. What recourse do we have to counter NONE This is going to be an ongoing caper by scum whom the author stupidly turns the other cheek on.

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borefield | Feb 11, 2011, 09:59 AM EST

Niall, I responded to Cathy Hayes's article. He is getting off very easy. As I stated, the Irish are a very forgiving people. I really hope he stays away from any festivities associated with St. Patrick's Day. On the other hand, perhaps he imbibed or snorted a little something prior to his speech!

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mylesie | Feb 11, 2011, 09:46 AM EST

Of course let it rest the poor mans mind wandered - he was looking around the impressive audience and was trying to figure out who was the best one to tap for more funds to support the domination of the Palestinians.

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Clancey | Feb 11, 2011, 09:22 AM EST

I agree; his remarks were astonishing. That building is a beautiful spot; cultivated and dignified. He talked about it as if it were a bar on Second Avenue. It's clear that to the Mayor, all Irish are the same. Pretty disgusting.

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averagejoewa | Feb 11, 2011, 04:56 AM EST

I think the Irish should forgive Bloomberg when the Jews forgive Mel Gibson.

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averagejoewa | Feb 10, 2011, 10:55 PM EST

Do you think that Jews would be so quick to forgive an Irish-American politician who said negative comments about them? In fact, if I remember correctly, the Yankees fired an Irish singer a couple of years ago for making comments that some Jews found offensive.

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