FF TDs in uproar over RTE show

[carrickharp]

FF TDs in uproar over Eddie Hobbs RTE show

Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn has called on the makers of the RTE programme 'Rip Off Republic' to
state whether its presenter Eddie Hobbs is politically biased.

Fianna Fáil is considering making a formal complaint about the programme which has highlighted the Government's failure to tackle rising prices and anti-competitive practices.

The party is examining whether or not the show is deliberately trying to discredit the Government.

Noel O'Flynn, who chairs the Dáil Communications Committee has said RTE must correct any political bias that may exist in the programme.

Looks like Eddie has hit a nerve :p

[tiktok]

Fianna Fáil is considering making a formal complaint about the programme which has highlighted the Government's failure to tackle rising prices and anti-competitive practices.

Well he can hardly target the oppositions' failure to tackle rising prices and anti-competitive practices, can he?

[The Good Son]

FF TDs in uproar over Eddie Hobbs RTE show

Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn has called on the makers of the RTE programme 'Rip Off Republic' to
state whether its presenter Eddie Hobbs is politically biased.

Fianna Fáil is considering making a formal complaint about the programme which has highlighted the Government's failure to tackle rising prices and anti-competitive practices.

The party is examining whether or not the show is deliberately trying to discredit the Government.

Noel O'Flynn, who chairs the Dáil Communications Committee has said RTE must correct any political bias that may exist in the programme.

Looks like Eddie has hit a nerve :p

I've never seen this show, but I think I'll have to watch it from now on. Anything that gets up the nose of that idiot has to be worth watching.

[Macy]

The only media outlet that actually takes the cnuts to task... He shames the so called RTE "news" team that's for sure...

Great work Eddie Hobbs, and I hope RTE show their independance by standing up to FF. Christ, I don't remember FF having any problem with the fawning bullshít that was the CJH "documentary".

btw Who exactly should be taken to task over the Governments absymal record?

[A face]

I wonder will we see any censorship ??

[monutdfc]

O'Flynn has certainly tried to abuse his position as chairman of the communications committee. A few months ago he didn't even try to veil his threats to RTE over their coverage of the junket to fish farms in South America.

Rip off republic is made by the same production company that makes Ear to the Ground, which used to be presented by now FG MEP Mairead McGuinness (but isn't anymore)

[WeAreRovers]

Rip off republic is made by the same production company that makes Ear to the Ground, presented by FG MEP Mairead McGuinness.

She left the show after she got elected. There's a new culchie doing it now.

KOH

[monutdfc]

She left the show after she got elected. There's a new culchie doing it now.

KOH
Tks - post now edited

[pete]

Never seen the RTE show. What did Eddie say?

O'Flynn really is a tool & i;m sure RTE delighted with the publicity...

:rolleyes:

[Partizan]

About time the FF/PD fascist regime got a taste of their own medicine.

I seem to recall no objections coming from their quarters when on the eve of the 2002, coincidentally enough, they aired the Bridget McCole documentary that cost FG the election and in 1991 when Prime Time aired a docu just before the the Local Elections about the WP's 'links' to just about every evil despot imaginable under the sun. :rolleyes:

Tuff sh1t lads, its freedom of speech......its goes with the democracy thingy. :D

Now roll on the next general election and condemn this nasty right-wing shower to the political wilderness.

[carrickharp]

Now roll on the next general election and condemn this nasty right-wing shower to the political wilderness.

If these fookers are voted in again or the unthinkable a FF/SF :eek: I will be geting my coat.

[Partizan]

In a way I hope it is a FF/SF coalition. Both parties would be commiting political suicide and it would be in open season on the Provos. :D

Roll on the rainbow.

[Thunderblaster]

Any broadcaster that is ran by the State always has their freedom of speech curtailed by the governing party.

[ccfcman]

what a pathetically stupid post

[WeAreRovers]

in 1991 when Prime Time aired a docu just before the the Local Elections about the WP's 'links' to just about every evil despot imaginable under the sun. :rolleyes:


There was nothing wrong with that Prime Time and there's nothing wrong with Rip Off Republic. The WP were/are a bunch of gangsters with links to some seriously scummy people and with zero ideology or mandate to back it up. That's why their "heavy hitters" left to take over the Labour Party.

Equally the FF/PD coalition is in bed with all sorts of vested interests and spends a lot of time gassing on about the free market and competition while actively curtailing both.

BTW Partizan, I think you're right that SF/FF will end up in Government together and we'll probably have the worst of both worlds. :(

KOH

[CollegeTillIDie]

There was nothing wrong with that Prime Time and there's nothing wrong with Rip Off Republic. The WP were/are a bunch of gangsters with links to some seriously scummy people and with zero ideology or mandate to back it up. That's why their "heavy hitters" left to take over the Labour Party.

Equally the FF/PD coalition is in bed with all sorts of vested interests and spends a lot of time gassing on about the free market and competition while actively curtailing both.

BTW Partizan, I think you're right that SF/FF will end up in Government together and we'll probably have the worst of both worlds. :(

KOH
Yes probably get the Fascist state we avoided having in the 1930's :eek:

[pineapple stu]

Never seen the RTE show. What did Eddie say?
Imagine Michael Moore with a culchie accent. Same Government conspiracy around every corner, same attention to facts. Some of what he says has merit - he goes on about things being cheaper on the continent and how some prices are kept artificially high because of Government regulations. Hardly earth-shattering news, though, and to be honest, I've better things to be doing than comparing the prices of a pint of milk in seven shops to try and save 15p.

Some, though, is complete nonsense - he actually argued that solicitors have a monopoly over legal documentation at one stage! :eek: He made a big deal about Trim UDC denying planning permission for a LidL - anti-competitiveness, cosying up, etc. - and how prices in SuperValu across the way dropped when the LidL eventually opened. He forgot to mention that (so I'm told) the LidL was denied planning permission because it was right beside a historic castle in the town, not because of any corruption. He also mentions plenty of Government ministers by name and brings up very dodgy stories about them - proven, I'd imagine (otherwise, he'd've been sued already), but the people in question can't be too happy about having their names dragged through the muck again.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Imagine Michael Moore with a culchie accent. Same Government conspiracy around every corner, same attention to facts. Some of what he says has merit - he goes on about things being cheaper on the continent and how some prices are kept artificially high because of Government regulations. Hardly earth-shattering news, though, and to be honest, I've better things to be doing than comparing the prices of a pint of milk in seven shops to try and save 15p.

Some, though, is complete nonsense - he actually argued that solicitors have a monopoly over legal documentation at one stage! :eek: He made a big deal about Trim UDC denying planning permission for a LidL - anti-competitiveness, cosying up, etc. - and how prices in SuperValu across the way dropped when the LidL eventually opened. He forgot to mention that (so I'm told) the LidL was denied planning permission because it was right beside a historic castle in the town, not because of any corruption. He also mentions plenty of Government ministers by name and brings up very dodgy stories about them - proven, I'd imagine (otherwise, he'd've been sued already), but the people in question can't be too happy about having their names dragged through the muck again.

I notice he omitted bin charges on the first two programmes, which following a Court Case had no statutory basis in years 2001 and 2002.

[Ringy]

There was nothing wrong with that Prime Time and there's nothing wrong with Rip Off Republic. The WP were/are a bunch of gangsters with links to some seriously scummy people and with zero ideology or mandate to back it up. That's why their "heavy hitters" left to take over the Labour Party.

Equally the FF/PD coalition is in bed with all sorts of vested interests and spends a lot of time gassing on about the free market and competition while actively curtailing both.

BTW Partizan, I think you're right that SF/FF will end up in Government together and we'll probably have the worst of both worlds. :(

KOH



Whats the alternative Fine Gael,Labour and the greens,We'll probable end up in the commanwealth again if they got back in.Not to mention the whole country going on anti depressants and phoneing the samaritans when they see Enda Kenny as Taoiseach.What we need is a new strong conservative nationalist party led by the likes of Haughey without the back-hander stuff and not been pegged down by the PD's.SF cant do it as they have too much of a bad rep even though they will make massive gains in the next elections.

[WeAreRovers]

Whats the alternative Fine Gael,Labour and the greens,We'll probable end up in the commanwealth again if they got back in.

Don't get me wrong, a rainbow coalition is the very worst case scenario. I'll still be voting SF. My worry is that SF lose their teeth in government and become FF Lite. And I think that's a very real worry.

Having said that, getting rid of the mandateless PDs is the most important thing followed closely by making sure that FG never ever return to government.

KOH

[Ringy]

Don't get me wrong, a rainbow coalition is the very worst case scenario. I'll still be voting SF. My worry is that SF lose their teeth in government and become FF Lite. And I think that's a very real worry.

Having said that, getting rid of the mandateless PDs is the most important thing followed closely by making sure that FG never ever return to government.

KOH



Hear,hear boy.I was annoyed that the SF members decided to consider going into coalition if the oppurtunity arised at this years Ard Fheis.SF will be corrupted if they did share power with FF.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Hear,hear boy.I was annoyed that the SF members decided to consider going into coalition if the oppurtunity arised at this years Ard Fheis.SF will be corrupted if they did share power with FF.
SF corrupted? :D Jeez what do you call protection rackets and vigilanteism pray tell?

[Lionel Ritchie]

Hear,hear boy.I was annoyed that the SF members decided to consider going into coalition if the oppurtunity arised at this years Ard Fheis.SF will be corrupted if they did share power with FF.

:D Give that man post of the month now!. I mean it, no debate neeeded or allowed -fcuk the vote just do as I say (as a SF supporter he'll be familiar with that sentiment)

How pray tell can a bunch of white collar gangsters on the make (FF) corrupt your bunch of balaclava clad gangsters on the make? What? ...hard to picture Mary Lou McDonald in a Balaclava? ...yeah I suppose it is. Hard to picture her with wielding a 6" nail augmented baseball bat too I suppose which is why they trot her out every time they need an Eco-tourist defended from unreasonable questioning.

[Macy]

How pray tell can a bunch of white collar gangsters on the make (FF) corrupt your bunch of balaclava clad gangsters on the make? What? ...hard to picture Mary Lou McDonald in a Balaclava? ...yeah I suppose it is. Hard to picture her with wielding a 6" nail augmented baseball bat too I suppose which is why they trot her out every time they need an Eco-tourist defended from unreasonable questioning.
Interesting you bring up Mary Lou - as well as being the most irratating voice on radio (so much noise with so little to say excepy "let me say this 5 million times on Sunday lunch time on the Sunday Supplement), she is of course the most recent example of FF SF integration, coming from ogra FF as she did...

[Dotsy]

:D Give that man post of the month now!. I mean it, no debate neeeded or allowed -fcuk the vote just do as I say (as a SF supporter he'll be familiar with that sentiment)

How pray tell can a bunch of white collar gangsters on the make (FF) corrupt your bunch of balaclava clad gangsters on the make? What? ...hard to picture Mary Lou McDonald in a Balaclava? ...yeah I suppose it is. Hard to picture her with wielding a 6" nail augmented baseball bat too I suppose which is why they trot her out every time they need an Eco-tourist defended from unreasonable questioning.

Saw Mary Lou on the news yesterday. She was responding to the recent sectarian attacks in Belfast (by both loyalist and republicans). While she did say that it was wrong for republican youths to attack protestant homes she maintains that they were lured into a trap :rolleyes: .

FFS do these people really think we are that stupid :mad:

[CollegeTillIDie]

Saw Mary Lou on the news yesterday. She was responding to the recent sectarian attacks in Belfast (by both loyalist and republicans). While she did say that it was wrong for republican youths to attack protestant homes she maintains that they were lured into a trap :rolleyes: .

FFS do these people really think we are that stupid :mad:

Yes they do and given their increasing support among the electorate, a significant minority of us are :o

[Macy]

Record viewing figures expected for tonights show, thanks to FF and the PD's.... :D :D :D

[Ringo]

Nothing new in any of these programs. entertaining , but thats all.

[sligoman]

Record viewing figures expected for tonights show, thanks to FF and the PD's.... :D :D :DWatched it for the first time tonight. Thought it was very funny and some very good issues were raised.

[dahamsta]

De Cork accent is only mortifyin'.

[OneRedArmy]

De Cork accent is only mortifyin'.

Not quite as annoying as Hobbs habit of endless rhetorical questions and generally treating his audience like infants.

Maybe its a reflection on the dumbing down of society in general but I thought tonights show took a very good point and trivialised it until it lacked any real meaning.

I mean who gives a flying f*ck how far 18 billion euro stretches when stacked on top of one another? To the moon you say Eddie, well, that certainly cleared up something that had been bothering me for a while....

I've heard Hobb speak on other shows and on the Last Word a few times and he is generally very good, so I can only assume he is trying to broaden his appeal by taking such a sensationalist approach.

[thejollyrodger]

i thought there were some great topics there but he didnt bring much detail into it. I guess its more of a light comedy show bringing up topics to the public that will (hopefully ) investigated properly by the public after hearing the show.

this country is a rip off though. No where else in western europe is like it

[Macy]

It's tabloid economics, but that's what the Irish electorate need as they're thick. They need it spelled out that low income tax with increased indirect taxes/service charges doesn't leave you better off, they need it spelled out that VRT is illegal, they need it spelled out that toll roads line the pockets of private companies and shareholders, they need it spelled out that there's been years of government mismanagement and incompetence.

[pete]

I watched for first time last night too.

Thought Hobbs was condecending like a primary school teacher but on the flip side he doesn't take himself too seriously & can laugh at his own accent & mannerisms.

Serious own goal for politicians to react to as just adds to the audience & as said above is tabloid economics so most people won't be able to remember a couple of hours later.

It is the irish electorates nature to moan about the government but not actually change their voting habits which is why they get screwed again.

:rolleyes:

Theres something irish about realising we were screwed with West Link Tolls but then adding more tolling to infrastructure projects across the country.

[Macy]

Hopefully FF/PD's continue to kick up about it and it isn't forgotten. I'd say a few back benchers will get a kicking in Cavan in a couple of weeks for fueling the fire... :D

[Ringo]

Hopefully FF/PD's continue to kick up about it and it isn't forgotten. I'd say a few back benchers will get a kicking in Cavan in a couple of weeks for fueling the fire... :D

yeah the rainbow will do away with VRT & indirect tax's the way they did the last time :rolleyes:

[Galwayexile]

FF and the pds are a joke but whats the alternative, hardly inspiring is it. Only for the SSIA's FF will be out on their ear once the next general election comes along. Thank christ my mom didnt run for FF when they asked her to many moons ago.

Bertie and his cronies will be perfectly happy as long as they have their mercs and bribes. Thank f**k im leaving to move to the states in jan.

[Macy]

yeah the rainbow will do away with VRT & indirect tax's the way they did the last time :rolleyes:
Maybe, maybe not, but ffs how long is the what did the last rainbow do have to trotted out? This Government has had unprecidented wealth which it has managed to waste. This is coming to an end and what has the country got to show for it? I'll tell you, fook all, but still we'll have our holiday's brought on the back of the minimum wage workers.... :rolleyes:

[Lionel Ritchie]

I thought the most compelling part of the show was how ludicrously expensive it is to travel by a train in this state.

56 quid Dublin Cork (Think it's 52 Dublin Limerick) which he "upgraded" to premier or whatever and it cost him over a hundred quid to sit in a seat with an arm rest. utterly embarrassing was the spectacle of the steward demonstrating that he had a reading light over his head like it was NASA stuff -rather than it being ...well -a reading light over his head like you get on an Bus Eireann coach. he was then told to pay 15 quid for a greasy spoon fry up ..."oh but there's tea and bread with it".

If I thought the money would be spent on subsidising public transport and environmental protection and enhancement I couldn't care less about high VRT on new cars or expensive petrol and road tax.

Though I think it'd be a good idea at this stage to abolish road tax altogether and double the price of petrol instead.

[pete]

Though I think it'd be a good idea at this stage to abolish road tax altogether and double the price of petrol instead.

For years the EU decalred that VRT was legal but seems times are changing now that will be phased out. I think an idea of lumping VRT onto the price of petrol is a likely & fair solution - its essentially pay per use. Alternatively could make all National Motorways toll roads & have no VRT or Road tax similar to France - again pay per use.

[dahamsta]

It's tabloid economics, but that's what the Irish electorate need as they're thick.Absolutely, sadly.

And yes, the price of rail travel in Ireland is an absolute disgrace. The thing that ****es me off the most is that the cost of a single from Cork to Dublin is nearly the same price. How can they justify that, and why do people stand for it?

adam

[Lionel Ritchie]

For years the EU decalred that VRT was legal but seems times are changing now that will be phased out. I think an idea of lumping VRT onto the price of petrol is a likely & fair solution - its essentially pay per use. Alternatively could make all National Motorways toll roads & have no VRT or Road tax similar to France - again pay per use.

Sounds fair to me ...and i say that as a guy on a modest salary who's taxing and maintaining two cars (both modest but perfectly efficient though)

[WeAreRovers]

Absolutely, sadly.

And yes, the price of rail travel in Ireland is an absolute disgrace. The thing that ****es me off the most is that the cost of a single from Cork to Dublin is nearly the same price. How can they justify that, and why do people stand for it?

adam

Spot on. Due to drunken stupidity I ended up buying a single to Dublin from Cork after our game down there recently. €52 one way!! That's a whopping €4 cheaper than the return. :rolleyes:

Then, to add insult to injury, the Irish Rail gobdaw on duty then told us that we wouldn't actually get on the train because Cork were playing in Croker that day and all the seasts were pre-booked. Essentially they ripped us off big time.

But, the Hobbsesque lesson is that we got the Aircoach from Cork to Dublin for €10. And I won't ever be travelling Dublin to Cork with Irish Rail again.

KOH

[sadloserkid]

Am I the only one who thinks that he's turning into Ireland's very own Michael Moore, where the validity and relevance of his arguments is becoming ever more diluted by the fact that he's a smug, self-important ass?

I'm sure any readers of 'The Village' would agree. :)

[diogoSanchez05]

eddie hobbs is saying things that the likes of george lee have been saying for years but he seems to be able to add that bit of humour to get his point across.A cute cork hoare alright!

[gspain]

The real ripoffs are

1) The hike in licence fee we'll all have to pay to get RTE to take him off the air (Remember how much it cost us to get Scrap Saturday binned)

2) The cost to the taxpayer of all these spin doctors employed to discredit Eddie Hobbs

I thought the shows were great tv but nothing really new in them just the way the info was presented.

[Dawn_Run]

Would have liked to have heard Eddie talking about the alternatives. Obviously we are getting ripped off, if the rip off stops how is the money going to be generated?

[Dublin12]

Am I the only one who thinks that he's turning into Ireland's very own Michael Moore, where the validity and relevance of his arguments is becoming ever more diluted by the fact that he's a smug, self-important ass?

I'm sure any readers of 'The Village' would agree. :)

Wil he have a book coming out at Christmas called "I was thinking to myself" :D

[Macy]

Eddie Hobbs is brilliant - Conor74 absolutely hates him, so he must be doing something right.... :D

[dahamsta]

Ireland's needed someone like Hobbs for a long time. We're bullsh*tted by government spin artists every day, time we put a bit of spin of our own on the numbers. Fight fire with fire.

adam