Primetime Farce

tails_naf

Did anyone see primetime tonight? I have a lot of time for the show, I usually find it brilliant, but tonight the bias just left me seething.

Essentially there was a representative from FF, FG and Labour. Not great with names, so only know that Richard Bruton was there for FG. They were being asked how would they tackle the public service, in terms of cutting costs. Richard bruton gave a very good account of himself, saying exactly how they would cut 10% of jobs, by consoldation of certain functions, as well as trimming admin staff, and closing 147 quangos...except he was cut accross by the presenter (crowley) who was demanding to be told how it could be done - even though he was being told quite clearly.

Then on to FF, the guy they has was a total chancer. He went on about trimming 18k jobs, but gave no real details, and was not pushed too hard. He then made a dig at bruton, guffawing that FG were going to create 3 quangos, instead of cutting jobs. Not one interjection by crowley to correct this.

I can't believe the outright ignorance and dishonesty of the FF guy - he was told in detail that 147 quangos would be shut, and 1,500 means testing offices would be consolidated into one - and he can say with a straight face that FG are in fact adding 3 quangos. What's worse was he was allowed to get away with that blatant lie, with no challenge from the moderator.

Bruton was about to pop with frustration, he was pink going on red. Shameful performance by FF, and by Crowley for his failure to keep it somewhat honest

nesf

You're asking for FG to be given a free ride by not being cross examined on policy on such shows and asking that they'd be protected by presenters not allowing other parties to attack them.

This isn't fair and balanced, it'd blatantly favour FG.

itsnotmyname

tails_naf wrote: »

Did anyone see primetime tonight? I have a lot of time for the show, I usually find it brilliant, but tonight the bias just left me seething.

Essentially there was a representative from FF, FG and Labour. Not great with names, so only know that Richard Bruton was there for FG. They were being asked how would they tackle the public service, in terms of cutting costs. Richard bruton gave a very good account of himself, saying exactly how they would cut 10% of jobs, by consoldation of certain functions, as well as trimming admin staff, and closing 147 quangos...except he was cut accross by the presenter (crowley) who was demanding to be told how it could be done - even though he was being told quite clearly.

Then on to FF, the guy they has was a total chancer. He went on about trimming 18k jobs, but gave no real details, and was not pushed too hard. He then made a dig at bruton, guffawing that FG were going to create 3 quangos, instead of cutting jobs. Not one interjection by crowley to correct this.

I can't believe the outright ignorance and dishonesty of the FF guy - he was told in detail that 147 quangos would be shut, and 1,500 means testing offices would be consolidated into one - and he can say with a straight face that FG are in fact adding 3 quangos. What's worse was he was allowed to get away with that blatant lie, with no challenge from the moderator.

Bruton was about to pop with frustration, he was pink going on red. Shameful performance by FF, and by Crowley for his failure to keep it somewhat honest

your NOT a FG supporter by any chance ???

Sir Oxman

The OP is pointing out that Richard Crowley, who I have time for, didn't grill Sean Fleming of FF at all.
Fleming was allowed to interject with a complete misrepresentation of what Bruton was saying about reducing quangos as part of streamlining public expenditure and Crowley allowed him get away with it - Bruton later corrected it.

I am for the grilling of ALL candidates and parties but to apply it to 2 out of the 3 is unacceptable whether or not the presenter feels FF won't be in govt.

tails_naf

itsnotmyname wrote: »

your NOT a FG supporter by any chance ???

Not a supporter, but they will have my vote only by default. more of the opinion they are the best of a bad lot. I do like the faircare, plus the method for tackling the PS, but thats it.

As for the other comment - my point was crowley was falling over himself to interrupt Bruton, but he gave the others a free ride and didn't call them on blatant lies.

if he grills them all, fine.
if he's soft on them all, fine too (but useless)
but if he grills one who is actually answering his question, and lets another off scott free when he lying and misrepresenting, and he clearly was, that to me is not balanced.

BlaasForRafa

nesf wrote: »

You're asking for FG to be given a free ride by not being cross examined on policy on such shows and asking that they'd be protected by presenters not allowing other parties to attack them.

This isn't fair and balanced, it'd blatantly favour FG.

As oppossed to blatantly favouring FF?

There seems to be a feeling out there that FF are so f****d in the next election that they can say what they want. It should not be forgotten that FF are the party that were in power when Ireland went into freefall and their decisions played a huge part in that downfall, they should be consistenly interrogated and harried over that and not be allowed to forget it. Until FF are humbled they will never learn any lessons.

tails_naf

gambiaman wrote: »

The OP is pointing out that Richard Crowley, who I have time for, didn't grill Sean Fleming of FF at all.
Fleming was allowed to interject with a complete misrepresentation of what Bruton was saying about reducing quangos as part of streamlining public expenditure and Crowley allowed him get away with it - Bruton later corrected it.

I am for the grilling of ALL candidates and parties but to apply it to 2 out of the 3 is unacceptable whether or not the presenter feels FF won't be in govt.

Thanks for putting what I was trying to say much more eloquently than I could!

hotmail.com

The people have made their mind up about FF. These types of interviews aren't going to change that.

I think it is very interesting to hear exactly what FG and Lab are going to do in the next government.

nesf

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

As oppossed to blatantly favouring FF?

There seems to be a feeling out there that FF are so f****d in the next election that they can say what they want. It should not be forgotten that FF are the party that were in power when Ireland went into freefall and their decisions played a huge part in that downfall, they should be consistenly interrogated and harried over that and not be allowed to forget it. Until FF are humbled they will never learn any lessons.

Yeah but conversely FG will form the next Government either as minority Government or in coalition with Labour (I'd have my money on the latter even though I'd prefer the former), they need to be grilled hard because of this far more than FF need to be since FF don't have a hope of actually being in Government, at most they'll get to support a minority Government and even that isn't that likely.

scientific1982

Thats RTE for ya. Thankfully we have the internet now and a quick search of Fianna Fail and Irish economy will give you a more unbiased view. It wont be pretty though.

squonk

Don't forget that PrimeTime is actually produced by Miriam O'Callaghan's production company, to the best of my knowledge, and we all know Miriam's colours

Sir Oxman

nesf wrote: »

Yeah but conversely FG will form the next Government either as minority Government or in coalition with Labour (I'd have my money on the latter even though I'd prefer the former), they need to be grilled hard because of this far more than FF need to be since FF don't have a hope of actually being in Government, at most they'll get to support a minority Government and even that isn't that likely.

Yeah right, why not just stick on FG and Labour representatives and be done with it by the 26th Feb we can all look forward to a return of FF who haven't had to explain or defend their policies/record/plan.

Sir Oxman

tails_naf wrote: »

Thanks for putting what I was trying to say much more eloquently than I could!

Nothing wrong with your post at all, tails - I was agreeing with you as I watched it too.

imme

Pretty sad display from Sean Fleming of FF. Had no answer to the failings of FF in their management of the public service.

All he could do was barrack.
Pretty sad.

deanh

squonk wrote: »

Don't forget that PrimeTime is actually produced by Miriam O'Callaghan's production company, to the best of my knowledge, and we all know Miriam's colours

No, Prime Time is produced by RTE. Although, her partner Steve Carson? is programme controller. Her chat show and some documentaries are produced by her production company, Alamo Productions?
Still, the non-grilling of Fleming and Howlin was shameful.

whoopdedoo

hotmail.com wrote: »

The people have made their mind up about FF. These types of interviews aren't going to change that.

I think it is very interesting to hear exactly what FG and Lab are going to do in the next government.

yes but unfortunately last night helps FF keep up their charade with the 30%+ voters that will inevitably vote FF back into a position of power all over again!!

when that happens I hope the country goes all Egypt on the governments asses!!

eoinbn

squonk wrote: »

Don't forget that PrimeTime is actually produced by Miriam O'Callaghan's production company, to the best of my knowledge, and we all know Miriam's colours

I believe her brother is on the new FF 'front bench'...

TBF Crowley usually comes across as anti FF and pro FG, so maybe he has been told to be more balanced and has gone the other way. The problem with PT is that the show is usually rushed so each person gets a few minutes to give their standard speech and then there is no time to really questioned what they said.
However Crowley also has a habit of asking questions that aren't really possible to answer in a 1 minute soundbite and then following up with- "is that all you would do?"

Duke Leonal Felmet

squonk wrote: »

Don't forget that PrimeTime is actually produced by Miriam O'Callaghan's production company, to the best of my knowledge, and we all know Miriam's colours

Her pretty blue eyes?

jmayo

deanh wrote: »

No, Prime Time is produced by RTE. Although, her partner Steve Carson? is programme controller. Her chat show and some documentaries are produced by her production company, Alamo Productions?
Still, the non-grilling of Fleming and Howlin was shameful.

Does everyone in RTE sleep with each other.
It bloody well looks like it.

OP I don't think it is surprising.
RTE has been very pro ff for ages.
Hell their news has often downplayed anti ff or anti biffo stories and they cut off mid sentence vinnie brownes questioning of biifo the day the IMF offically came to town.

They selectively put headlines on their website that are misleading about other parties.

They dedicated an entire frontline show to the future of ff, at the same time as they were selling us out to the ECB.
They had entire PT show the other night on the leadership.

They are thundering disgrace at this stage.

nesf

gambiaman wrote: »

Yeah right, why not just stick on FG and Labour representatives and be done with it by the 26th Feb we can all look forward to a return of FF who haven't had to explain or defend their policies/record/plan.

If that was even a remote possibility I'd argue that FF should be grilled as much as FG or Labour. But it isn't. FF shouldn't get a free ride or anything but I'm far more interested in seeing FG/Lab policy dissected than FF policy dissected purely because of the makeup of the next Government.

Dannyboy83

It was bad enough that he allowed Bruton to be misrepresented, but then he wouldn't even give Bruton a chance to defend/clarify.

Ironic thing was that the only one who actually gave specifics was Bruton!

The other two should have been 'harangued' for equal specifics - which I have never yet heard them give.

If the opposition dont privatise RTE they would be very foolish