Gerry Adams : Knife through Butter ?

Scaldy Ned

I respect Gerry and think he did some great work on the peace process, i also think he deserves to be congratulated for getting elected to the Dail....But on a basic human level, he grates on me or cuts through me like a knife through butter. I now find i have to switch off because my ears reject his voice.
Especially when he speaks Irish....now i'll readily admit i don't have much of the gaeilge but Gerrry speaks it like he only learned yesterday and each word is laboured to death.
Don't know about you but if Gerry speaks too much in The Dail i think it won't do the Shinners any favours...Opinions ?

Ardennes1944

Scaldy Ned wrote: »

I respect Gerry and think he did some great work on the peace process, i also think he deserves to be congratulated for getting elected to the Dail....But on a basic human level, he grates on me or cuts through me like a knife through butter. I now find i have to switch off because my ears reject his voice.
Especially when he speaks Irish....now i'll readily admit i don't have much of the gaeilge but Gerrry speaks it like he only learned yesterday and each word is laboured to death.
Don't know about you but if Gerry speaks too much in The Dail i think it won't do the Shinners any favours...Opinions ?

i quite a strong supporter of Sinn Fein and really respect Gerry Adams but i really think the sooner he leaves the party the better.

hotmail.com

Scaldy Ned wrote: »

I respect Gerry and think he did some great work on the peace process, i also think he deserves to be congratulated for getting elected to the Dail....But on a basic human level, he grates on me or cuts through me like a knife through butter. I now find i have to switch off because my ears reject his voice.
Especially when he speaks Irish....now i'll readily admit i don't have much of the gaeilge but Gerrry speaks it like he only learned yesterday and each word is laboured to death.
Don't know about you but if Gerry speaks too much in The Dail i think it won't do the Shinners any favours...Opinions ?

What's your idea of doing great work for the peace process?

Anyway, I've said it before, Adams is ego-driven. He won't be going away without a fight.

And does he always have to stand beside Mary Lou MacDonald???

Liam Mc Keogh

All of the political activists in the North learned and speak perfect Irish. Gerry Adams is no exception. He is also a very astute politican and will contribute a great deal to the Dáil.:) With regard to the accent---surely 32 counties will mean 32 different accents

zig

I voted SF, but i cant put my finger on it , id prefer the likes of Doherty doing the speaking for them.
Sometimes I think its because the media and opposing politicians have done such a good job at ruining his image. So maybe its undeserved but I see where your coming from.
PS, someone not being great at Irish wouldnt bother me tbh. Its always nicer to see them being more fluent but I wouldnt hold it against a politician not to be good at it.

hotmail.com

zig wrote: »

I voted SF, but i cant put my finger on it , id prefer the likes of Doherty doing the speaking for them.
Sometimes I think its because the media and opposing politicians have done such a good job at ruining his image. So maybe its undeserved but I see where your coming from.
PS, someone not being great at Irish wouldnt bother me tbh. Its always nicer to see them being more fluent but I wouldnt hold it against a politician not to be good at it.

Perhaps it's something to do with his alleged involvement in multiple attrocities over 30 years?

The younger TDs aren't stained by the Troubles.

caseyann

Gerry is a great man and decent person,anyone who knows him will say the same and anyone who gives him the time of day will tell you how intelligent he is.
I didnt see not more than a snippet of his speech today as it was cut short and again the media didnt show him in the proper light.Only what they wanted to.
If he grates you then god help you listening to Ming and Wallace.
He will settle in well and he is there for the exact reason he was voted in to stand tall and to stand by Irish people.
He will retire soon and hand over the reigns and i am for one happy he got in for his last years what a happy time it is for him and for Ireland.

chucken1

Scaldy Ned wrote: »

I respect Gerry and think he did some great work on the peace process, i also think he deserves to be congratulated for getting elected to the Dail....But on a basic human level, he grates on me or cuts through me like a knife through butter. I now find i have to switch off because my ears reject his voice.
Especially when he speaks Irish....now i'll readily admit i don't have much of the gaeilge but Gerrry speaks it like he only learned yesterday and each word is laboured to death.
Don't know about you but if Gerry speaks too much in The Dail i think it won't do the Shinners any favours...Opinions ?

I think the people who voted Sinn Fein have already heard Gerry speak..so its not really a surprise he has a Northern accent!

You say you dont have 'much of the Gaeilge',so your problem arises when you hear someone from the North speaking Irish? Im confused!

I was delighted to the man sitting in the Dail today and when he spoke in Irish it brought a smile to my face. Why? Because he choose to..not because it was written for him to do so.

chucken1

caseyann wrote: »

Gerry is a great man and decent person,anyone who knows him will say the same and anyone who gives him the time of day will tell you how intelligent he is.
I didnt see not more than a snippet of his speech today as it was cut short and again the media didnt show him in the proper light.Only what they wanted to.
If he grates you then god help you listening to Ming and Wallace.
He will settle in well and he is there for the exact reason he was voted in to stand tall and to stand by Irish people.
He will retire soon and hand over the reigns and i am for one happy he got in for his last years what a happy time it is for him and for Ireland.

I agree with everything there bar picking someone else to be singled out for 'their accent'.

bitter

caseyann wrote: »

Gerry is a great man and decent person,anyone who knows him will say the same and anyone who gives him the time of day will tell you how intelligent he is.
I didnt see not more than a snippet of his speech today as it was cut short and again the media didnt show him in the proper light.Only what they wanted to.
If he grates you then god help you listening to Ming and Wallace.
He will settle in well and he is there for the exact reason he was voted in to stand tall and to stand by Irish people.
He will retire soon and hand over the reigns and i am for one happy he got in for his last years what a happy time it is for him and for Ireland.

M three

Scaldy Ned wrote: »

I respect Gerry and think he did some great work on the peace process, i also think he deserves to be congratulated for getting elected to the Dail....But on a basic human level, he grates on me or cuts through me like a knife through butter. I now find i have to switch off because my ears reject his voice.
Especially when he speaks Irish....now i'll readily admit i don't have much of the gaeilge but Gerrry speaks it like he only learned yesterday and each word is laboured to death.
Don't know about you but if Gerry speaks too much in The Dail i think it won't do the Shinners any favours...Opinions ?

Shouldnt everyone be judged on their actions, As you point out he has done great work and still does, why would that do sinn fein any harm?

Has only positive benefits as can be clearly seen from the recent election

bitter

hotmail.com wrote: »

What's your idea of doing great work for the peace process?

Anyway, I've said it before, Adams is ego-driven. He won't be going away without a fight.

And does he always have to stand beside Mary Lou MacDonald???

you gotta wonder about those two?

Wolfe Tone

I tuned into news reports today expecting to see and hear a group of homogeneous men in suits all with the same accent as myself. I'm sure you can imagine my horror when I saw some didn't have ties! Some had earings! One lad even wore a pink shirt!

However I was aghast when the TD from Belfast spoke. For some reason the man from west Belfast had a Belfast accent, who wudda thunk it?


Seriously, threads giving out about attire, and now accents? For gods sake.

chucken1

Thats now politics...ties (or lack of) and accents!

The Scientician

It's not his accent, his command of the Irish language is cat.

celtictiger32

caseyann wrote: »

Gerry is a great man and decent person,anyone who knows him will say the same and anyone who gives him the time of day will tell you how intelligent he is.
I didnt see not more than a snippet of his speech today as it was cut short and again the media didnt show him in the proper light.Only what they wanted to.
If he grates you then god help you listening to Ming and Wallace.
He will settle in well and he is there for the exact reason he was voted in to stand tall and to stand by Irish people.
He will retire soon and hand over the reigns and i am for one happy he got in for his last years what a happy time it is for him and for Ireland.

i agree with you for the most part as you probably know from previous threads, but i have to say i liked ming in the dail today i thought he spoke well and wouldnt let the 'regulars' unearth him. speaking of 'regulars' i found it very irritating that the dail was silent when fg/lab/ff were making their speeches but as soon as sf and the rest were making theirs it sounded like someone talking in the corner of a crowded room.

Einhard

caseyann wrote: »

He will retire soon and hand over the reigns and i am for one happy he got in for his last years what a happy time it is for him and for Ireland.

Are you serious? Ireland is up to her elbows in debt, had a €20 billion deficit last year and, exlcuding the banks, will have incurred at least a €100 billion deficit between 2008-2013, has had to invite in the IMF to fund current expenditure, and it's somehow a happy time for the country?!

P. Breathnach

Liam Mc Keogh wrote: »

All of the political activists in the North learned and speak perfect Irish. Gerry Adams is no exception....

That's bollocks. His Irish is poor.

loldog

Liam Mc Keogh wrote: »

All of the political activists in the North learned and speak perfect Irish. Gerry Adams is no exception.

It's not perfect. I've heard him say "ar fud an tír" whereas it is more usual to say "ar fud na tíre". It's the genitive case. But this whole thread is silly.

.

CiaranC

P. Breathnach wrote: »

That's bollocks. His Irish is poor.

Still better than the English in the OP. "cuts through me like a knife through butter" - wtf?

celtictiger32

so what if his irish is poor if he gets his point across in irish or english job done yeah?

Wolfe Tone

Who cares if his Irish is bad, fair play to him for using it

P. Breathnach

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

Who cares if his Irish is bad, fair play to him for using it

I care.

I care because his use of Irish is a cheap stunt, and a disservice to the language. I put that sort of behaviour on a par with the use of the national flag as a party banner.

I noticed that Joe Higgins, Mícheal Martin, and Enda Kenny all used Irish in the Dáil yesterday, and it was evident that they were able to speak it properly. That's good: it affirms one component of our national identity.

Wolfe Tone

That's good: it affirms one component of our national identity.

Thats why Adams uses Irish. Thats why so many IRA volunteers learnt Irish, thats why so many nationalists chose to do Irish today.

K-9

Well he didn't have the blessing of our state education system!

I thought he got his Irish from when he was in prison? Irish classes and all that.

M three

bitter wrote: »

you gotta wonder about those two?

No, but if you want to spend your time fantasing about them thats fair enough

celtictiger32

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I care.

I care because his use of Irish is a cheap stunt, and a disservice to the language. I put that sort of behaviour on a par with the use of the national flag as a party banner.

I noticed that Joe Higgins, Mícheal Martin, and Enda Kenny all used Irish in the Dáil yesterday, and it was evident that they were able to speak it properly. That's good: it affirms one component of our national identity.

i would say it is a service to the language in that he is speaking it whether it be good or bad, any kind of promotion for the language is a good thing in my eyes.
and as for enda kenny was it not him that wanted to make irish optional in schools, thats what i would call a diservice

M three

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I care.

I care because his use of Irish is a cheap stunt, and a disservice to the language. I put that sort of behaviour on a par with the use of the national flag as a party banner.

I noticed that Joe Higgins, Mícheal Martin, and Enda Kenny all used Irish in the Dáil yesterday, and it was evident that they were able to speak it properly. That's good: it affirms one component of our national identity.

Totally, lets go out and ban everyone who speaks irish the way you dont like.
Anymore brilliant ideas?

chucken1

M three wrote: »

Totally, lets go out and ban everyone who speaks irish the way you dont like.
Anymore brilliant ideas?

Offish topic..I was brought up in an Irish speaking family,but because my mother had Kerry Gaelteacht,I was beat into hating the way I spoke in school. My teacher was from Galway! I was born in Clare! It took me many many years to even attempt to utter a word of Irish for fear of being ridiculed,but Im getting back into it now. Tá mé ag dul ar ais ann.

jimmycrackcorm

He still grates me as I'm reminded of his performance in the tv debate when he started off by saying that we need a new republic. I just think he is so out of tune for southern politics and Pearse Doherty is showing him up.

KeithAFC

Gusty spence can speak Irish better than him.

P. Breathnach

celtictiger32 wrote: »

i would say it is a service to the language in that he is speaking it whether it be good or bad, any kind of promotion for the language is a good thing in my eyes.

When it's a matter of using Irish for the sake of using Irish, and without achieving the standard appropriate for effective communication, then I don't see it as having any value in promoting the language. That sort of empty tokenism is more likely to alienate people than win them over.

It comes down to a question of appropriate use. I think it fine for a person with weak Irish to use it among friends (so long as they don't mind) or in a learning/practising situation. In more formal situations, I am happy to see Irish used, but only to the extent that a person can use it adequately. That does not mean dissuading people with limited Irish from using it; rather it means that those with limited Irish should use it in a limited way -- perhaps a sentence or two that is truly within their ambit.

M three wrote: »

Totally, lets go out and ban everyone who speaks irish the way you dont like.

Where did I say that?

Anymore brilliant ideas?

Yes: don't ascribe to people views that they do not have.

Predator_

KeithAFC wrote: »

Gusty spence can speak Irish better than him.

:rolleyes:
Like you would know

Bottle_of_Smoke

I think my issue with him is I know he is much smarter than the stuff he comes out with but has to talk nonsense to appeal to certain types of voters. Its more believable from Mary Lou McDonald because I could imagine her believing what she's saying.

KeithAFC

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I think my issue with him is I know he is much smarter than the stuff he comes out with but has to talk nonsense to appeal to certain types of voters. Its more believable from Mary Lou McDonald because I could imagine her believing what she's saying.

Like what?

P. Breathnach

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I think my issue with him is I know he is much smarter than the stuff he comes out with but has to talk nonsense to appeal to certain types of voters....

He doesn't have to; he chooses to.

I suspect his posturing will create an upper limit for the SF vote not far from where it is now.

Bottle_of_Smoke

KeithAFC wrote: »

Like what?

Stuff he came out with on the televised election debate and interviews. Just every time he talked in my head I was thinking "you don't believe what you're saying Gerry, you're dumbing things down to win votes from idiots"

Quackles

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It comes down to a question of appropriate use. I think it fine for a person with weak Irish to use it among friends (so long as they don't mind) or in a learning/practising situation. In more formal situations, I am happy to see Irish used, but only to the extent that a person can use it adequately. That does not mean dissuading people with limited Irish from using it; rather it means that those with limited Irish should use it in a limited way -- perhaps a sentence or two that is truly within their ambit.

So, I have pass leaving cert level Irish, when and where can I use it? This saddens me. It's attitudes like this that put people off trying to use Irish, for fear of derision by those who are lucky enough to speak it better. To this day, I drop my kid off to the gaelscoil and I get in a fluster when the teacher speaks to me in Irish, because people like you have it in my head that I shouldn't try if I'm not good enough.

Sponge Bob

KeithAFC wrote: »

Gusty spence can speak Irish better than him.

I suspect that is the truth. Stephen King too.

P. Breathnach

Quackles wrote: »

So, I have pass leaving cert level Irish, when and where can I use it? This saddens me. It's attitudes like this that put people off trying to use Irish, for fear of derision by those who are lucky enough to speak it better. To this day, I drop my kid off to the gaelscoil and I get in a fluster when the teacher speaks to me in Irish, because people like you have it in my head that I shouldn't try if I'm not good enough.

Don't misrepresent what I say in order to put me into a "people like you" box.

Penfailed

Liam Mc Keogh wrote: »

surely 32 counties will mean 32 different accents

An accent is not defined by a county border

arybvtcw0eolkf

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

Who cares if his Irish is bad, fair play to him for using it

Fair play indeed.

I'm trying, and struggling in my 40's, to finally learn Irish.

So I'm encouraged when someone who isn't totally fluent in the language has the courage to use it like Gerry has.

Hey, while we're at it - lets have a go at Prionsias de Rossa and his stammer eh!.

M three

P. Breathnach wrote: »

He doesn't have to; he chooses to.

I suspect his posturing will create an upper limit for the SF vote not far from where it is now.

You probably thought the same thing before the last election.

Now you reckon you know what the irish electorate is going to do in the next election, thats a good one.

P. Breathnach

M three wrote: »

You probably thought the same thing before the last election.

I did think that some of what Gerry Adams said during the campaign cost them votes.

Now you reckon you know what the irish electorate is going to do in the next election, thats a good one.

I used the verb "suspect"; that is not the same as "know".

[I thought this thread was about Gerry Adams. Why do people want to discuss me?]

KeithAFC

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Stuff he came out with on the televised election debate and interviews. Just every time he talked in my head I was thinking "you don't believe what you're saying Gerry, you're dumbing things down to win votes from idiots"

Well that is Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams for you. Play on peoples emotions, play on myths, make sure myths fly on kites as they say and just wait for people to buy into it.

caseyann

chucken1 wrote: »

I agree with everything there bar picking someone else to be singled out for 'their accent'.

I wasnt picking on anyones accent lol I meant Wallace could barely speak he wasnt prepared and Ming sounds very soft.I know Wallace i know he knows how to make money but i dont like him so much.Ming i dont agree with his drugs and wanting to pass get it legalized,(only for health reasons would i agree) But both managed to get in there with a huge amount of votes,so i will retain my views till i see a bit more of them.

bitter wrote: »

what?

celtictiger32 wrote: »

i agree with you for the most part as you probably know from previous threads, but i have to say i liked ming in the dail today i thought he spoke well and wouldnt let the 'regulars' unearth him. speaking of 'regulars' i found it very irritating that the dail was silent when fg/lab/ff were making their speeches but as soon as sf and the rest were making theirs it sounded like someone talking in the corner of a crowded room.

I agree quite rude and typical.

Einhard wrote: »

Are you serious? Ireland is up to her elbows in debt, had a €20 billion deficit last year and, exlcuding the banks, will have incurred at least a €100 billion deficit between 2008-2013, has had to invite in the IMF to fund current expenditure, and it's somehow a happy time for the country?!

Yes i am serious as i am confident that they are a strong party and with good values for the Irish people.They also wont let anything pass us by and will stand up against the new government of you want to call them that.As for me taking 14 grand off your wages is nothing more than a empty gesture.
What was it he said,i will look into cheaper transport for the ministers?Em how about getting in a car and driving your lazy asses there yourselves?Yous arent gods :rolleyes: I am not convinced of fg or lab anymore i see them as twins of ff.
And yes i am content with Gerry being in there because at least i know he is on side of trying to make Ireland better for Irish people and not just for their own families and buddies.

LordSutch

caseyann wrote: »

Gerry is a great man and decent person,anyone who knows him will say the same and anyone who gives him the time of day will tell you how intelligent he is.

A Great man my ars* who supported (and was possibly part of) the Provisional IRA :mad:

maccored

LordSutch wrote: »

A Great man my ars* who supported (and was possibly part of) the Provisional IRA :mad:

i suggest you get over it.

LordSutch

I really can't forget what he stands/stood for.

Mongarra

Gone slightly off topic, I think.

OP was about Gerry and his voice (not accent) and his use of Irish.

To me his voice really grates. It is that deep sound like Pat Jennings and Arsene Wenger - see it's not an accent thing - but I do not want to go off topic so I hope Gerry keeps the length of his Dáil contributions to a reasonable level whether "as Gaeilge" or not.

arybvtcw0eolkf

LordSutch wrote: »

I really can't forget what he stands/stood for.

I've struggled too, and with good reason.

His men killed my comrades, and members of AGS. But I accepted that as part of the peace process in Ireland I had to look forward and not hold onto the past.

You say you can't "forget what he stands/stood for" - personally I draw a line thought the part "what he stands/stood for", because I don't believe their one and the same anymore.