The Spin to Newry

Yesterday’s one day public service strike was according to RTE a bonanza for traders in the border town of Newry. RTE news claimed tailbacks of 3 miles on the southern approaches to the town and blamed a sudden influx of southern shoppers mostly on strike for the gridlock. Anyone who read my recent post on the fascination within RTE for the Healy Raes will understand that the state broadcaster has a pavlovian urge to ditch balance when it comes to stories reflecting the government agenda. A year ago, a minor contamination of pork products was hyped by news management, to take the Education demonstration off the front pages.

This year George Lee inferred as he was going out the Montrose door that suits don’t like it when he speaks his mind. Even today Derek Mooney warned his guest Eddie Hobbs not to criticise the government lest those upstairs would give him a carpeting. Newstalk’s Eamon Keane says that he cannot get cabinet ministers on his show because he won’t agree to play by the rules. The evidence is there that the state broadcaster doesn’t want to rock the boat with the government.
But there is a difference between rocking the boat and crossing the line. Reluctance to rock the boat suggests the crew want to maintain control of their craft. Crossing the line on the other hand suggests to me that you stop becoming objective and start becoming a player in the events that you should be covering objectively.

Yesterday morning there was an accident on the A1 south of Newry. That and the ongoing road works (until 2010) at the roundabout for Forkhill caused a tailback quickly. Both incidents are noted on the reliable website aaroadwatch.ie. Strangely RTE attributed the gridlock caused to strikers who were absent from work. While RTE had crews available to cover the floods nationally (as is fitting) the only crew available for coverage of the effects of the strike outside of the Dublin area was the Belfast crew who were sent to Sainsbury’s in Newry who filmed a youth from Dublin pointing to a man off camera claiming he was a striker. The reporter also filmed a parent leading 2 young children around the shopping centre.
Things get even more curiouser and curiouser! There are no media reports of ASDA at Enniskillen or Strabane being overrun with southern shoppers, well no more than usual. Are we to conclude that strikers living close to the M1 are more prone to slip across the border on a day off than those who live in Sligo or Donegal?

Peter McLoone of IMPACT describes RTE’s claims as nonsense. I’ve never met Peter but he’s from Donegal and possible understands ordinary people better than Bryan Dobson because he works for them. I’ve previously posted my views on cross border shopping, it’s called the free market and I see nothing wrong getting value across the border if you cannot get it at home. Mary Harney told us to shop around, why should we be criticised for practising what they preached?
But this is not the real point of this post. Yesterday a spin was put on a small number of people who did go to Newry because their children were off school and a construction was put on it that large numbers of the 235K public service strikers were up in Newry. RTE owe strikers and the government nothing it does owe the country objectivity and the facts. Yesterday they failed the country and spun the spin to Newry rather than ask why cabinet ministers were unavailable to answer hard questions. RTE then has the neck to criticise the referee in the Ireland France match!

Patriotic Duty or Duty Free? Lenihan cuts 4th Green field adrift.

Patriotism is always the last refuge of the rogue. Once more our urbane Minister for Finance is pointing the finger across the border at southern shoppers who go north for a bargain. It’s his view that we should not go north, to further put revenue into “Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise”. Simple really, it’s not patriotic to go up the M1 anymore. This from a Minister who was elected in 2007 on a platform to build a motorway through Tyrone funded by southern tax payers is just another FF double standard. We can pay for the roads but whatever you do, don’t use them! minister Lenihan's real problem is that retail confidence has colapsed and that while in Britain & the North, Brown is trying to do something about it, Brian can do little other than wrap the green flag around himself.

As one of the 3% citizens in the Republic who’s the son of a northerner I beg to differ. I do not think there is anything wrong in the slightest with a citizen going north to shop. I’ve worked along the border and there has been a traditional trade across the border since before the border was set up. Every town has its hinterland and always will. Some of my relatives work in shops in border towns, they’re entitled to a living. Many of the products which are cheaper up north aren’t made in Irealnad or indeed the EU. Why should competition be good for every other EU citizen but not for us? Why is FF against consumers benefiting from a good exchange rate? As George Lee showed in his documentary globalisation means items made for a dollar a day in the far east is put in a container and the middle man makes a mint by moving that container half way around the world. Many of the retailers in Ireland losing sales to the north are multi-nationals. Transferring profits within the chain and out of the state. Where is the loyalty of some of the retailers Minister Lenihan wishes to protect to our community?

What the Minister conveniently forgets is that trade is often 2 ways. While shoppers for some items move north more than £100M is lost to the British exchequer by northern motorists travelling south for fuel. Add to that the revenue generated for the state by Slab Murphy as he legitimately purchases fuel in this state so that it can be “re-exported” with a minimal processing and turns up on forecourts all over the North. Slab must be asking himself what does a man have to do to get any recognition from this ungrateful state for developing his added value business that generates the hard cash that keeps schools, hospitals and FAS execs in clover!
Given the global and open market that exists since 1992 why should Irish citizens not be able to take advantage of what every other EU citizen is entitled to? I always thought FF were a party that wanted a 32 county state and were themselves a 32 county party? Republican during a boom but little Irelander during a bust.
Strange that these people’s money is good enough to accept in Drumcondra when they come south to Croke Park on All Ireland final day but ours is not to be shared for Christmas Day. Come Cheltenham in Spring every builder in the country will queue in the almost completed Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport to head off to represent this state at the racing and card playing festival, you won’t here any reminder here about patriotism. Indeed if you look closely you’ll probably see one waving a tricolour as an Irish winner is led into the enclosure. So; a woman going north to save a few bob to make ends meet when family finance is tight is unpatriotic, a man over in Cheltenham blowing cash to beat the band is one of the lads. Spare me the wrap the green flag around me guff, Peoples living standards are more important. Our republic is getting stranger.