Green Senator Ó Brolcháin - Boards.ie responsible for public hysteria over recession

ToadVine

I just saw this on another website and decided it deserved a thread here.

In the Seanad on Wednesday, Green Party Senator Niall Ó Brolcháin spoke during a debate on the effects of the recession on mental health and said that boards.ie was responsible for "creating hysteria" over how bad things are.

Here's the quote from KildareStreet.com ...

Another phenomenon is that of group think on websites such as www.politics.ie where many people who are wound up to 90 are writing all types of vitriolic things. Those involved are purporting to be people representing society. However bad our public broadcaster is, sites such as www.boards.ie or www.politics.ie are creating hysteria in terms of their content in regard to how bad things are and how badly people are being hammered. That is not good for mental health.

I have to admit I'm stunned by this. I'm off to cool down for an hour or two before I comment here ... if I was to post now I'd definitely get banned :mad::mad::mad:

Nodin

Haven't been over the other place in a while, but certainly here is no worse than the mood generally.....If the dear senator was here I'd like to see the threads linked to, tbh.

bleg

He's just annoyed because people are posting links from other countries who state independently that the country is in dire circumstances. Switch on RTÉ and one of the main stories is how worse off Latvia are!!

Pure propaganda!

genericguy

because nobody in pubs, supermarkets, workplaces and at home ever expresses their concern at the fact that ireland has been sold out from under us and our leaders are consistently spinning webs of lies about the state of the country's finances.

in compliance with the new policy on personal abuse, i will not call him a cnut.

Nodin

genericguy wrote: »

because nobody in pubs, supermarkets, workplaces and at home ever expresses their concern at the fact that ireland has been sold out from under us and our leaders are consistently spinning webs of lies about the state of the country's finances.

in compliance with the new policy on personal abuse, i will not call him a cnut.

It is fair comment to say he's demonstratably talking shite, however.

Sand

Its seems the people of this country have lost the confidence of the government.

mikemac

There is hysteria though sometimes

I remember another thread not in Politics forum about a friend of a friend story saying bank of Ireland were not paying withdrawals to customers

If Liveline can start a run on Nothern Bank, boards.ie has the potential to do the same

The mods swiftly sorted it though, fair play

My name is URL

feelingstressed wrote: »

There is hysteria though sometimes

I remember another thread not in Politics forum about a friend of a friend story saying bank of Ireland were not paying withdrawals to customers

If Liveline can start a run on Nothern Bank, boards.ie has the potential to do the same

The mods swiftly sorted it though, fair play

There's tonnes of hysterical nonsense posted in AH.. which is probably more visible than Politics and threads are allowed to run for much longer. And there is a lot of vitriol in what is said. I'm not saying that it isn't deserved in many cases but it's there and it's not surprising that someone has mentioned it.

stepbar

There will always be hysterical people. It's a pity they wouldn't keep their opinion to themselves because more often than not, there's not a shred of substance to it. The fact boards.ie etc exist is because we, thankfully, still have some sort of democracy left. The truth should be heard, hysterics no.

RonMexico

Well maybe Senator Niall Ó Brolcháin should join up to boards and share the reasons why people should not getting hysterical.

Maybe he can use this as an avatar.

oppenheimer1

ToadVine wrote: »

I just saw this on another website and decided it deserved a thread here.

In the Seanad on Wednesday, Green Party Senator Niall Ó Brolcháin spoke during a debate on the effects of the recession on mental health and said that boards.ie was responsible for "creating hysteria" over how bad things are.

Here's the quote from KildareStreet.com ...



I have to admit I'm stunned by this. I'm off to cool down for an hour or two before I comment here ... if I was to post now I'd definitely get banned :mad::mad::mad:

Have a quick look over at the wild west that is politics.ie and you will see plenty of threads and posts written by people who would be best described as social arsonists. Whats worse is these people try and pass themselves off as having a deep understanding of economics... they will of course be able to link to the FT articles and blogs to make themselves appear credible. However any critical analysis will show that these people are talking through their arse and don't have a clue what they are talking about.

jd

He got torn apart a few times on politics.ie when he tried to debate issues on the board.
http://www.politics.ie/members/630.html

He didn't like the slagging he got after his performance on the Vincent Browne Show
http://www.tv3.ie/videos.php?video=28888&locID=1.65.169&page=1

mikemac

Difficult for anyone to debate issues on that board

FreudianSlippers

My name is URL wrote: »

There's tonnes of hysterical nonsense posted in AH.. which is probably more visible than Politics and threads are allowed to run for much longer. And there is a lot of vitriol in what is said. I'm not saying that it isn't deserved in many cases but it's there and it's not surprising that someone has mentioned it.

I agree. The amount of crazy, uninformed, B.S. posts and threads in AH is almost unbelievable.

PeterIanStaker

the greens will be gone soon and good riddance

paulaa

Hysteria or not, it wouldn't dawn on the esteemed Senator that the Irish public are extremely angry with the mess the politicians have made of this country. Like his TD colleagues, he is trying to place blame for this on others, anyone but where the real fault lies.

They need to come down from their insulated, gold plated ivory towers and realise the depth of feeling in this country atm.

flutered

another reason i do not watch drivel on tv.

bcirl03

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

the greens will be gone soon and good riddance

+1, I for one cant wait.

Ó Brolcháin is like the rest of his Green friends - a waste of space.

He's afraid of free speech - hysteria or not and that's what it boils down to......

Eliot Rosewater

I suspect that Senator O'Brolchain is merely annoyed about the freedom of speech that boards.ie and politics.ie both offer. There's no safe bubble here, and there's little scope for making silly statements without someone correcting you. This is in contrast to traditional media and debating outlets, like the papers and debating societies, which are far less accountable than the online forums.

When you focus most of your polical attention on boards.ie it becomes hard to read the papers becase there is so much you would like to challenge!

hallelujajordan

paulaa wrote: »

Hysteria or not, it wouldn't dawn on the esteemed Senator that the Irish public are extremely angry with the mess the politicians have made of this country. Like his TD colleagues, he is trying to place blame for this on others, anyone but where the real fault lies.

They need to come down from their insulated, gold plated ivory towers and realise the depth of feeling in this country atm.

He does have a point about those who come on here purporting to represent "the people" like the post above . . .

How many threads have we had on here calling for a revolution on the streets on behalf of "the people" . . Actions speak louder than words and the people clearly don't want revolution.

mikemac

Yes. I see so many threads calling for marches and action or even a new party but of course, the OP wants to sit back and someone else to organize them

Sums up a lot I reckon

murphaph

I guess the esteemed senator has just given us another reason to abolish the senate!

Laminations

Peopleare extremely angry but it's disorganised anger curbed by an overwhelming worry about what each of us has left along with a frustration that almost equals learned helplessness that has so far prevented violent riots. There is plenty of sense spoken on boards and many good debates but amongst the rational debate there are people venting and rightly so - this may come across as hysteria but the senator should count his lucky stars that Irish people have these conduits to express themselves rather than venting their anger on the streets, smashing up banks and storming the Dail where men like him, in such a scenario, would likely get a brick to the face.

Is that suggestion that many may want to physically punish the political class (as there has been an absence of all other accountability so far) hysterical enough for you Niall?

ei.sdraob

murphaph wrote: »

I guess the esteemed senator has just given us another reason to abolish the senate!

Another entry to add to the Greens "cons" column

Manach

Surely a Pro column entry: ending the senate.

Overheal

So he either thinks the content on boards and politics isnt user-generated, or he thinks the sites should take the collective approach to stifle discussion in a way not seen before.

I think he's only picking the two examples because it's all Pub-talk, and you can't really cite anectodal "When I was at the pub mary was talkin about.." references but what you can do is link to a website that keeps an archive of 99.99% of it's discussions.

It's a bit short-sighted, really. The discussions here merely reflect what is already being discussed in meatspace.

johnnyskeleton

Where was he when people on boards.ie and askaboutmoney.ie were pumping property and bank shares? Did he comment then about the effects of undue positivity?

The only difference as I see it is that there is slightly more rationality and reason on the way down as there was on the way up.

By the way senator, if you have any problem with any paritcular post, feel free to tell the moderators.

ei.sdraob

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Where was he when people on boards.ie and askaboutmoney.ie were pumping property and bank shares? Did he comment then about the effects of undue positivity?

The only difference as I see it is that there is slightly more rationality and reason on the way down as there was on the way up.

By the way senator, if you have any problem with any paritcular post, feel free to tell the moderators.

Askabout money is a bad example

they do actively stiffle discussion (with the owner being a FF puppet) and are still over-positive (well since anything negative gets removed) on everything

Poly

Yeah, senator, we're all here cribbin an moanin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfjGSfuSQpA

murphaph

Looking at that video it really saddens me................that the Irish electorate returned that man and his party to government so many times

johnnyskeleton

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Askabout money is a bad example

they do actively stiffle discussion (with the owner being a FF puppet) and are still over-positive (well since anything negative gets removed) on everything

I think it is a good example, because AAM stifled contrarian views while encouraging the popular and incorrect ones.

The senator is complaining now that there isn't surpression of the majority view or that there isn't a more equal debate.

Why didn't he ask for a more equal debate on AAM in 2006?

gandalf

Sand wrote: »

Its seems the people of this country have lost the confidence of the government.

Maybe the Government should elect a new public who are more positive

So basically this Senator is against people expressing their views on open websites and discussion boards. That is hardly a very democratic position now is it?

As someone has already stated he is giving us another excellent reason to bin the Seanad which is a good thing I suppose. Maybe the good senator can come onto boards like his party colleague did to explain and debate his position against some of our regular contributors?

Bob Z

OisinT wrote: »

I agree. The amount of crazy, uninformed, B.S. posts and threads in AH is almost unbelievable.

Yes but isnt thaty people just spaking aloud what they are thinking? Is it any different from what is being discussed in pubs and supermarkets up and down the country?

We live in strange times. What seemed far fetched a couple of years ago is actually happening....You can't discount anyones opinion

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

cbreeze

hallelujajordan wrote: »

He does have a point about those who come on here purporting to represent "the people" like the post above . . .

How many threads have we had on here calling for a revolution on the streets on behalf of "the people" . . Actions speak louder than words and the people clearly don't want revolution.

Red paint on the fianna fail front door, anyone?

mikemac

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Askabout money is a bad example

they do actively stiffle discussion (with the owner being a FF puppet) and are still over-positive (well since anything negative gets removed) on everything

The bould Brendan Burgess had a right go at Eddie Hobbs last week. Deleted all the posts that quoted him though
Maybe some rivalry or something between them

It's not a bad site for quick advice on some things. Maybe a technical question on mortgages or something.
And some posters for a laugh and a joke over the topic of the day. It's nearly all positive though, you won't see much negative there at all.

But certainly not where you'd go for discussion. Lots of things get locked, not for rants or personal abuse but the owner doesn't agree with it.

Their site, their rules I suppose.

The Sparrow

The thing that he so clearly fails to understand is that boards.ie can't create hysteria amongst the public because it is the public and is merely reflecting the general mood of the people. Sure some are angrier than others but that is just the way society is at the moment.

Politicians squandered the biggest boom in the countries history and people are angry and hysterical because they were lied to and now we all face a very uncertain future with a government that is undemocratically refusing to have by-elections because they know they will be thrown out of power. We may have voted in FF but it is the Greens that are propping them up so if anyone should be taking blame for the hysteria, it is them and not boards or any other bogeyman that they don't understand and want to take a dig at in an attempt to deflect criticism from themselves.

paulaa

hallelujajordan wrote: »

He does have a point about those who come on here purporting to represent "the people" like the post above . . .

How many threads have we had on here calling for a revolution on the streets on behalf of "the people" . . Actions speak louder than words and the people clearly don't want revolution.

Which "post above" are you talking about ? There are a few posts above yours saying much the same thing ?

bleg

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

This is exactly it.

Scofflaw

Clearly, we could do with some WW2 vintage décor, or an update thereof.



Discussion forums certainly can suffer from groupthink, and as a result can be prone to hysteria. I'm not particularly keen on the whole hysteria thing here, and I don't think we get a lot of it either, but AH admittedly has a lot, and politics.ie seems to actually have some kind of perpetual hysteria machine (possibly bought from Steorn). The negativity and the uncertainty are a perfectly fair reflection of the mood of the country, though, and it's ridiculous to think that we should try to act as some kind of "positivity generator" on behalf of the government.

cordially,
Scofflaw

ei.sdraob

murphaph wrote: »

Looking at that video it really saddens me................that the Irish electorate returned that man and his party to government so many times

Wasnt that video taken with a roomful of union'ists (of the trade racketeering kind)

murphaph

ei.sdraob wrote: »

Wasnt that video taken with a roomful of union'ists (of the trade racketeering kind)

Yup, kidred spirits I suppose. All guffawing at his suicide remark like the overgrown children they are.

Byron85

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Right that's it, off to Siberia with you or the Irish equivalent, Carlow.

Bob Z

Byron85 wrote: »

Right that's it, off to Siberia with you or the Irish equivalent, Carlow.

I wouldn't compare Carlow with Siberia. Ones an isolated hell hole in the middle of nowhere where people who fall out of avour with the totalarian estabelishment are sent. The others in Russia

yoshytoshy

I'm in and out of peoples houses everyday and everyone is p1ssed off and dreading the budget.

The only people in hysterics are the government ,on their high wages :mad:

Liam Byrne

hallelujajordan wrote: »

He does have a point about those who come on here purporting to represent "the people" like the post above . . .

As distinct from those who are elected to represent "the people" and then refuse point-blank to do so ?

Not only that, but they are paid a small fortune to represent "the people" and STILL refuse to do so.

hallelujajordan wrote: »

How many threads have we had on here calling for a revolution on the streets on behalf of "the people" . . Actions speak louder than words and the people clearly don't want revolution.

Actions do speak louder than words, which is why the government lies and spin are no longer believed.

Of course, if the esteemed Senator actually bothered to read people's concerns and actually do his job and take them on board instead of dismissing them, then he might actually be worth his inflated salary and expense.

charlemont

let him talk crap all he wants, without Boards we wouldnt know the half of what the politicians are doing..

meditraitor

charlemont wrote: »

let him talk crap all he wants, without Boards we wouldnt know the half of what the politicians are doing..

I think that is the point...... they don't like Joe soap knowing what they are doing .... Or to be more precise. What they are not doing..

At least the greens will not have a protracted death like the PDs. they will be wiped out instantaneousness l y after the next election... the simple reason being they have shown no dept or courage. FF ate them alive.

evercloserunion

Nodin wrote: »

Haven't been over the other place in a while, but certainly here is no worse than the mood generally.....If the dear senator was here I'd like to see the threads linked to, tbh.

He is very much correct about Politics.ie, which takes the hysteria and vitriol to a whole new level.

meditraitor

evercloserunion wrote: »

He is very much correct about Politics.ie, which takes the hysteria and vitriol to a whole new level.

Are the posters in Politics.ie less entitled to their opinion than us?

ArtSmart

Laminations wrote: »

Peopleare extremely angry but it's disorganised anger curbed by an overwhelming worry about what each of us has left along with a frustration that almost equals learned helplessness that has so far prevented violent riots. There is plenty of sense spoken on boards and many good debates but amongst the rational debate there are people venting and rightly so - this may come across as hysteria but the senator should count his lucky stars that Irish people have these conduits to express themselves rather than venting their anger on the streets, smashing up banks and storming the Dail where men like him, in such a scenario, would likely get a brick to the face.

Is that suggestion that many may want to physically punish the political class (as there has been an absence of all other accountability so far) hysterical enough for you Niall?

I wasnt initially in favour of a general election up until about a month or so ago.

but i now think it's important to use the democratic mechanisms to allow people have their say.

if they vote in labour or FG or whatever, so be it.

but at least we've been given an opp to input.

i mean that's what democracy is supposed to be about FFS!