The suspect bomb in London.... but this comment really annoyed me. It feels vaguely racist and yet I am not sure it is..

[BreeVanDerCamp]

All options, including the Irish, are open at this stage," said the source.

im SORRY but i'm more worried about this BOMB situation in London atm rather than peoples' personal gripes about dc. my bil works nights, in the city

OK .. you're obviously not reading what I'm typing, so I'll leave the thread now.

And by the way, please don't call me ridiculous.

I'll stop when you stop calling me 'uncharitable' for finding racist comments excusable.

I thought what he said about Moslems was just as bad but it happened so long ago on the thread, I can't even find what it was.

South

Fair point.

But DC was out of order and has not had the balls to defend himself. Instead he left that to Rhubs a practising Catholic who regularly logs on to find DC slagging off her religion. I too am a practising Catholic but am obviously not Catholic/Christian enough to defend him.

Oh quit squabbling!

Cod did a thread about priests being paedos to which DC contributed. He has personally attacked me for being a Christian, he has said all kinds of things and yet no-one jumped up and down then, because you can insult Christians I guess, they don't matter.

We've all been on the receiving end Expat, all of us. Just stop ranting for a second! Report the post then just leave it.

I have no problem in trying to better understand why people make racist comments, or trying to work out ways to alter this. I have huge sympathy for anyone touched by violence or terrorism on whatever level. My only issue is with the denial/recognition of racist statements, whatever their genesis.

Rhubarb, it's obvious you don't hold the same opinion as DC but I am sure you can appreciate how his comments would make an Irish person feel

I'm with expat and Bree - those comments were extremely unpleasant and racist whether he had a shit time as a boy or not. I sincerely hope someone in RL is helping him to deal with the aftermath of that time, but that doesn't take away from the racism of the posts

to nip back to o.p the bbc would not condone that phrase.

it's the definite article which makes it offensive.

the bbc should never refer to 'the irish' or 'the disabled' or any other group in that way in such a context.

the fact that it did appear in this way means it was a direct quote - it was not 'bad or clumsy writing by the bbc' the way it's written in the article suggests quite clearly that it is a direct quote from 'a source'.

it is offensive, in my view, and in the view of the bbc, it would be unacceptable phrasing because it would offend so many people.

let's all complain to the bbc then, not on here.

Agree southy. Complain to the BBC, report his posts, but stop bickering. No-one is saying that racism is right.

Only because I missed those remarks, Rhu.

Amazingly enough, they got lost amongst all his other hateful posts about Muslims, Jews, Americans, French, CoE, etc.

they've changed it already

ages ago

I did complain to the BBC, they changed the report this morning.

I sometimes get terribly confused by MN. So it's not ok to use the word chinky as a slang way of referring to a Chinese takeaway, but it is ok to label the Irish homicidal maniacs? Could someone please text me when we've reached a consensus on this?

more people should complain to the bbc and more often in my view but it's not the bbc's job to sanitise what intervewees say. this was a direct quote from 'a source'. the text makes that clear. it wasn't the bbc journalist using that phrase, it was someone who'd been interviewed.

I cannot apologise for finding his post abhorrent.

Growing up in the 80's as an Irish family in England was tough at times. Parents too scared to buy Irish records in case the shop owner reported us.
Having our car stripped and being stood and questioned on most trips back to Ireland.
Staying quiet as people made vile comments.

Of course what DC went through as a child was beyond comprehension. It must of affected him in ways one can't even imagine.
but it cannot justify such vile posts.

does ITN still exist?

Please report them Gibbon I appear to be a voice in the wilderness.

Then the BBC should have changed it, you think that everyone they quote gets quoted word for word? of course they don't. i would think that in their haste to be the first with the info they have not given full consideration as to how that term would have been taken - sloppy and lazy. If they can now change it once someone complains, they should never have let it go in the first place.

does that mean that the bbc should now edit it's contributions from sources then, for fear of provoking reactions like this? I cant agree with that. It directly contravenes freedom of speech, which we're lucky to have in this country and should be defended.

I'll make sure of it Bree.

Freedom of speech is a different argument.

enormous changes at teh last minute - it wasn't as simple as saying it was a direct quote and therefore not the BBC's fault. the BBC writer provided teh context for the quote (sources say they had an open mind about who was responsible) and may well have thus misrepresented teh quote. it was impossible to tell.

Freedom of speech is very different to lazy journalists who would rather twist an interview, instead of doing some work.

Gibbon, much as I love you, I don't really understand why his post was vile.

Ill-considered for sure, but it comes from an angry heart. Maybe I'm a lone voice in the wilderness here but the English get slagged off all the time (mainly by the English ), and we have to put up with it.

His post was offensive in a modern context. You really can't go around saying that all Irish people are hideous. But like Rhubarb said, as well as me, you have to have a dollop of compassion for someone who's views are so warped.