Letter-writing

Sparks

So, after this thread with Grizzly, I wanted to do an experiment (I figure proof's better than bickering). So I picked two news stories over the last two days (might do it again today if one pops up), and wrote three one-paragraph letters off those stories that worked in a reference to shooting, and sent them to the Letters to the Editor page of the Times, Independent and Examiner, allowing no more than 20 minutes for all three on each day (and yes, they are a little cynically composed to get into the paper with the mild shoutiness and the somewhat large brushstrokes, but that's the game):

Tuesday
Times:

Chelsea over Creedmoor?
Madam,
How can we justify spending €2.5 million on what amounts to a fancy hanging basket for some potted plants; which frankly does little for Irish tourism but large amounts for the Chelsea Flower Show; while at the same time we fail to pass on any funding at all to sports events like the upcoming Creedmoor match, which will be the highlight of the shooting year this year and which will bring in tourism from the US, UK, and further afield, and which, unlike the hanging gardens of Ballincollig, can become a recurring, regular event?
Yours in Sport,

Independent:

Dear Sir,
€2.5 million for the hanging gardens of Ballincorrig?
Maybe we should spend our money closer to home. Surely if we have to send any of it to the UK, we should be spending it on supporting our Olympic shooters Derek Burnett and Philip Murphy - at least with them, we have a hope of getting an Olympic medal in return for a tenth of what we have just wasted on a medal for flower arranging, and won't have to listen to a lecture on the Late Late Show about how all we ever do is moan and complain (though perhaps if our gardening friend had gone to B&Q, we could have had a hanging basket for a bit less than €2.5 million!).
Yours in Sport,

Examiner:

Cork -v- Chelsea
Dear Sir,
I note that we have given €2.5 million to support our latest entry to
the Chelsea Flower Show. Undoubtedly, this has been a wonderful show of support for Chelsea. A shame then, that we cannot spend even a tenth of that promoting or supporting local sporting events like the Fermoy European Open, which brings target shooters from all over the world to spend their money in Cork. But then, I suppose we must support Chelsea over Cork, lest we lose a precious flower show...
Yours in Sport

Wednesday
Times:

Government consultation
Madam,
Minister Noonan has just confirmed via Parlimentary Question that when he introduced the Pensions Levy last month, he did not consult ahead of time with the Pensions board. Minister Shatter has stated that - despite the Law Reform Commission's 2006 recommendations on the Firearms Act not yet being completed, leaving such a legislative mess that there are at most two dozen people in the country who actually know what the law is regarding firearms - he has no intentions to extend the remit of the Firearms Consultation Panel to fix this mess. And Minister Bruton's recent proposed pay cuts for the lowest paid workers in the state also were proposed without consultation with experts in the field, a revelation that has introduced the first cracks in the coalition.

Perhaps a government elected to replace a predecessor who never listened to its electorate should be listening to experts more than they seem to be at present?
Yours in Sport,

Independent:

Governments should listen to their Experts
Dear sir,
Minister Noonan has just confessed that when he proposed his Pensions Tax last month, he did not talk with the Pensions board about it first to get an expert opinion. Minister Shatter has announced that -- despite the Firearms Act being such a legislative mess after Minister McDowell and Minister Ahern's amendments to it, that there are at most two dozen people in the country who actually know what the law is regarding firearms -- he has no intentions to keep on the Firearms Consultation Panel for expert advice in one of the most technical fields in Irish law. And Minister Bruton's recent proposed pay cuts for low-paid workers in fields he has no expertise in also were proposed without consultation with experts in the field.

Perhaps a government we voted for because their predecessors paid no heed to experts should be listening to them more than they seem to be at present, lest they have to listen instead to the electorate before they originally thought they would have to?

Yours in Sport,

Examiner:

Expert advice is not an optional extra for Government!
Dear Sir,
Michael Noonan just admitted in a Parlimentary Question that he omitted seeking expert advice from the Pensions Board before introducing the Pension Tax. Alan Shatter has said that, even though there are maybe twenty people in the state who understand the legislative mess that his predecessors have made of the Firearms Act, and despite the Law Reform Commission's 2006 recommendations to fix that mess, he will be dissolving the Firearms Consultation Panel (the expert panel that advises on firearms law). And Richard Bruton's recent proposed pay cuts for sunday workers in the restaurant trade were likewise not run past anyone who knew the field before being aired.

We voted for this government because the last one wouldn't listen and proved to be incompetent. Maybe the current government should be listening to experts more than they seem to be at present, lest the same happen to them?

Yours in Sport

So far, the Examiner picked up Tuesday's letter today (press deadlines kindof impose a two-day cycle on these things):

Chelsea over Cork
Thursday, June 02, 2011
I NOTE that we have given €2.5m to support our entry to the Chelsea Flower Show.
Undoubtedly, this has been a wonderful show of support for Chelsea. A shame then, that we cannot spend even a tenth of that supporting local sporting events like the Fermoy European Open, which brings target shooters from all over the world to spend their money in Cork. But, I suppose we must support Chelsea over Cork, lest we lose a precious flower show.
Mark Dennehy
Dublin 1

That's 33% success on day one. And that's just on the nationals, I didn't touch the local press. Day two's tomorrow, hopefully with a similar level. But it's nice to see a result that proves the point - if we were writing in often enough, in large enough numbers, we'd get the publicity.

Sparks

Tuesday's letter hit the Irish Times on Friday:

Madam, – How can we justify spending €2.5 million on what amounts to a fancy hanging baskets for some potted plants – which frankly does little for Irish tourism but large amounts for the Chelsea Flower Show – while at the same time failing to pass on any funding to sports events like the upcoming Creedmoor match?

In contrast, it will be the highlight of the shooting year and will bring in tourism from the US, UK, and further afield, and which, unlike the hanging gardens of Ballincollig, can become a recurring, regular event? – Yours, etc,

Letters pages for the other two aren't up yet, but that brings the success rate for day one to 66% (including the "anti-gun" times...)

edit: Letters pages for the other two are now up, we didn't get in on Friday, but Saturday is still an option.

Deerspotter

Well done Sparks.

Sparks

Cheers Deerspotter, but the thing is, there's nothing special in those letters. I deliberately was very formulaic with them and limited the time I spent on them to no more than 30 minutes in total from start to sent for the entire day, just to see if it would work.

And that it did means that if we were writing in letters to the papers en masse, that we'd have more success than ICABS do in getting PR.

And that'd help us all, because the bigger the public visibility and the better the PR, the less crap a Minister throws at us...

bunny shooter

Fair dues :cool:

Bananaman

Well done - a bit of initiative and a dab of elbow grease goes a long way.

B'Man

Sparks

Okay, so here's my idea for Phase 2 of the experiment.

Next week, on Monday and Tuesday, we all repeat phase one above: ie., we take 30 minutes, and write a one-paragraph letter linking something in shooting to something in the news of the day.

• no long rants (they won't get published);
• nothing too long (shorter letters have a higher success rate becuase they can plug whitespace on the page more easily);
• don't spend all day on it (because we want this to be a long-term ongoing thing, not a once-off)
• send it to all three national newspapers - remember to include
  • your name
  • your postal address
  • your phone number
  (the paper wants those for verification that it's a real letter, but they won't reprint them)
• Send them in, either by email:
  • lettersed@irish-times.ie
  • independent.letters@independent.ie
  • letters@examiner.ie
  or by normal post:
  • Letters to the Editor,
    The Irish Times,
    The Irish Times Building,
    PO Box 74,
    24-28 Tara Street,
    Dublin 2
  • Letters to the Editor,
    Independent House
    27 – 32 Talbot Street
    Dublin 1
    Ireland
  • Letters to the Editor,
    Independent House
    27 – 32 Talbot Street
    Dublin 1
    Ireland
  • Letters to the Editor,
    The Irish Examiner,
    City Quarter,
    Lapps Quay,
    Cork
• Post the letters you sent and where you sent them to on here, and we'll post up the published letters here as well;
• And next week, we do it all over again. And the week after. And the week after that, and so on.

edit: Hey, if you want to send it to your local papers too, brilliant, go for it!

ormondprop

Well done sparks

sfakiaman

Well done Sparks, it's now up to the rest of us to step up to the line.

pedroeibar1

Well done Sparks, your usual lucid self and not an infraction in sight!
I have responded to the letters in the Times and d'Examiner.
P.

Grizzly 45

Be intresting to see as well ,who or what, and where it replies.;)
Intresting as well,with the Examiner..Sparks letter wasnt online,as I dont really buy papers[ when you can read them for free online].This has happened a few times...Anyone seen this as well,or is it just me?

Deerspotter

@ Sparks;
Set up a twitter account; Irish Hunter

We'll all follow it, and get our friends to follow it, and tweet relevant bits about once every two days and let's organise.

"I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you and me!"

Sparks

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Intresting as well,with the Examiner..Sparks letter wasnt online

Er, yes, it was, I even gave a link to it!

Grizzly 45

They have it dated Thursday 2nd..Started thread Fri 3rd..No worries,not important in the big issue of things!:pac:

Tackleberrywho

Deerspotter wrote: »

@ Sparks;
Set up a twitter account; Irish Hunter

We'll all follow it, and get our friends to follow it, and tweet relevant bits about once every two days and let's organise.

"I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night, alive as you and me!"

Said I to joe yer ten years dead

I'm on the tweeter I'd be up for tweeting

I'll send one on my days off as very busy in work at the mo

poulo6.5

great idea there sparks. a bit of covert ops. embedding your ideas into the psyche of the unsuspecting public;)

Sparks

And Wednesday's letter got into the Examiner:

Government needs to listen
SATURDAY, JUNE 04, 2011
MICHAEL NOONAN has admitted in a parliamentary question that he omitted seeking expert advice from the Pensions Board before introducing the pension tax.
Alan Shatter has said that, even though there are maybe 20 people in the state who understand the legislative mess that his predecessors have made of the Firearms Act, and despite the Law Reform Commission’s 2006 recommendations to fix that mess, he will be dissolving the Firearms Consultation Panel (the expert panel that advises on firearms law). And Richard Bruton’s recent proposed pay cuts for Sunday workers in the restaurant trade were likewise not run past anyone who knew the field before being aired. We voted for this government because the last one wouldn’t listen and proved to be incompetent. Maybe the current government should be listening to experts more, lest the same happen to them?

No sign of wednesday's letter in the Times or Indo, but Monday and Tuesday are still possiblities (we've seen letters published after as much as four days from submission, depending on whitespace).
But that's 66% from day one, and 33% from day two so far, for one person who specifically and deliberately didn't try too hard.

Seriously lads, it's now embarrassing that ICABS get this much PR for so little work and we get so little...

sfakiaman

Responded to Times.

Sparks

To the Times:

Madam,
The recent IATA report that announced that fewer "low-cost" flights were being taken because of price hikes such as Ryanair's planned 12% hike this year comes as no surprise to some of us. Next week, the Irish National Team will head out to Munich to take part in the ISSF World Cup. Some Irish airlines will refuse to take them there at all. Some will take them, but charge them hundreds of euros in excess baggage fees for the firearms they will use to represent our country in Olympic target shooting on the international stage as they try to earn an Olympic Quota place for the London Games. Far from being a shock, this shabby treatment and pricegouging is the norm amongst Irish airlines (though not, we have found, amongst any of the other european airlines). Perhaps fewer of us should be surprised then, that fewer of us are enduring this kind of treatment every year?
Yours, etc...

To the Independent:

Dear Sir,
Today's report that fewer budget flights are being taken because of price hikes from companies like Ryanair came as no surprise to some of us. Next week, the Irish National Team heads for Munich to take part in a World Cup match in Olympic target shooting. Some "Irish" airlines refuse to take them there at all. Others will take them, but charge them hundreds of euros in excess baggage fees for the firearms they will use to represent our country internationally. Far from being a shock, this shabby treatment and pricegouging is the norm amongst Irish airlines (though not, we have found, amongst many of the other european airlines). Maybe next time IATA could just give us a call instead of spending money on reports like this one, that tell us nothing we hadn't already learnt at considerable expense?
Yours, etc

To the Examiner:

Today's report that fewer budget flights are being taken as companies like Ryanair hike their prices for "low-cost" flights by 12% this year, didn't surprise some of us at all. Next week, the Irish National Team heads for Munich, where they will try to win Olympic quota places for Ireland in the Munich World Cup in three Olympic target shooting events. Some "Irish" airlines have refused to take them there at all. Others will take them, but will charge them hundreds of euros in excess baggage fees for the firearms they must use in this Olympic sport. This shabby treatment of a National team in an Olympic sport and this blatant pricegouging is the norm amongst our "Irish" airlines these days, though it was not always so. I can remember when the presence of the Irish Team on such flights was announced by the Captain with pride to the passangers. Perhaps, when IATA wonders why fewer people are flying and why the industry is slowly collapsing, they should be looking not only at accounting figures, but at intangibles like shared pride in such things as being the National Airline carrying the National Team to compete and win medals for Ireland?
Yours, etc

Sparks

In today's examiner:

Local events deserve proper support
Thursday, June 09, 2011

I SHARE Mark Dennehy’s critical views (June 2) on the spending of €2.5 million on a temporary hanging garden at a flower show in a foreign city while the organisers of the Fermoy European Open got nothing. Anyone who knows about sponsorship would be aware that it is critical to sponsor the event, not the individual.

The Fermoy competition has generated huge international interest and hundreds of competitors and spectators are coming from abroad to attend the event.

Good luck to Mr Gavin, a professional gardener, but I do not see why I, as a taxpayer, should pay to build his personal business and reputation.

It is more appropriate that events which take place in this country should be sponsored, like the Fermoy Open, where success is tangible and can be measured.

Bob Frewen

Sparks

In today's Examiner:

Airlines do disservice to our Olympic heroes
SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2011
THE report that fewer budget flights are being taken as companies, like Ryanair, hike their prices for "low-cost" flights by 12% this year, didn’t surprise some of us at all.

Next week, the Irish National Team heads for Munich, where it will try to win Olympic quota places for Ireland in the Munich World Cup in three Olympic target shooting events. Some "Irish" airlines have refused to take them there at all. Others will take them, but will charge them hundreds of euro in excess baggage fees for the firearms they must use in this Olympic sport. This shabby treatment of a national team in an Olympic sport and this blatant price gouging is the norm amongst our "Irish" airlines these days. I can remember when the presence of an Irish team on such flights was announced by the captain with pride to the passengers. Perhaps, when the IATA wonders why fewer people are flying and why the industry is slowly collapsing, they should be looking not only at accounting figures, but at intangibles like shared pride in such things as being the national airline carrying the national team to compete and win medals for Ireland?

Mark Dennehy

Sparks

To the Times:

A range in every county

Dear Madam,
A few years ago, during the Athens Olympics, Moore McDowell of the Independent, in his very supportive and patriotic way, said that it was a good thing that the Irish Clay Pigeon shooter Derek Burnett failed to win a Gold Medal for Ireland at the Games, for if he had, we'd be calling for a shooting range in every parish.

Now that we have decided that it makes perfect sense to shoot craps in Two Mile Boris instead of Clays in the Olympics, can we assume that supporting an Olympic sport like target shooting with adaquate facilities -- so that we could act as a training base for the London Olympic Games next year and bring in sports tourism on an ongoing basis -- is no longer seen by the wise people of An Bord Pleanala as a bad idea? And if so, can we call for a range in every county at least?

Yours in Sport,

To the Independent:

Calling for a range in every county

Dear Sir,
A few years ago, during the Athens Olympics, Moore McDowell commented in the Independent in his very supportive way that it was a good thing that the Irish Clay Pigeon shooter Derek Burnett failed to win a Gold Medal, for if he had, we'd be calling for a shooting range in every Parish.

Now that we have decided that it makes perfect sense instead to shoot craps in Two Mile Boris, can we assume that supporting an Olympic sport like target shooting with adaquate facilities -- so that we could act as a training base for the London Olympic Games next year and bring in sports tourism on an ongoing basis -- is no longer seen by the wise people of An Bord Pleanala as a bad idea? And if so, can we call for a range in every county at least?

Yours in Sport,

To the Examiner:

A range in every county

Dear Sir,
A few years ago, during the Athens Olympics, Moore McDowell of the Independent, in his very supportive and patriotic way, said that it was a good thing that the Irish Clay Pigeon shooter Derek Burnett failed to win a Gold Medal, for if he had, we'd be calling for a shooting range in every parish.

Now that we have decided that it makes perfect sense instead to shoot craps in Two Mile Boris, can we assume that supporting an Olympic sport like target shooting with adaquate facilities -- so that we could act as a training base for the London Olympic Games next year and bring in sports tourism on an ongoing basis -- is no longer seen by the wise people of An Bord Pleanala as a bad idea? And if so, can we call for a range in every county at least?

Yours in Sport,

Shane.sf

I really admire what ye are doing and I would like to help.

Does my topic need to be along the same lines as yours or can I talk about other things such as the reloading laws in Ireland etc

Sparks

There aren't any rules here Shane, this isn't some organised thing. The idea is, in fact, to not be organised, because organisation requires manpower and introduces.... "issues". I put up some guidelines for how I write letters above, that I've found tend to work (and which were based on the training courses that the papers gave and that I did years ago when learning this stuff), but they're not rules by any stretch.

Just pick a topic you like and write an email to the addresses above, or write a hand-written letter, or write to your local paper, or do whatever you'd like to. This thread is just meant to be a kind of clearing-house for folks to post up what they wrote, to whom, and then later on, what got published (if anything). Its purpose is to encourage and help, not to organise and dictate...

But it's all grassroots DIY stuff.

Sparks

In today's Examiner:

Missing the target
FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011

A FEW years ago, during the Athens Olympics, Moore McDowell said that it was a good thing that the Irish clay pigeon shooter Derek Burnett failed to win a gold medal, for if he had, we’d be calling for a shooting range in every parish.

Now that we have decided that it makes perfect sense instead to shoot craps in Two-Mile Borris, can we assume that supporting an Olympic sport like target shooting with adequate facilities is no longer seen by the wise people of An Bord Planela as a bad idea? And if so, can we call for a range in every county at least?

Sparks

The 100 days in office tagline is too neat to pass up...

To the Times:

100 days in office

Madam,
Over the next ten days, we will see many target shooting competitions run in Ireland, from club level to national level, including an enormous and historical international shooting competition, the Creedmoor Cup, last held in Ireland in 1875. Meanwhile, the Irish Team and their fans and spectators will also be representing Ireland in the Olympic target shooting World Cup in Munich.

These sportsmen and sportswomen achieve what they do despite the draconian obstacles put in their path by the current Firearms Act, a body of Irish law so poorly compiled that the Law Reform Commission has been calling for its restatement since 2006. At most only two dozen people in the entire state are familiar with the this body of Irish firearms law as it is comprised of eighteen Acts, two EU directives and over sixty statutory instruments.

I suggest to the Minister for Justice that as he and his government reviews their first hundred days in office and looks forward to the remainder of their term, that instead of winding up the Firearms Consultation Panel - the body of experts who advise the Minister on Firearms legislation - he instead make it a permanent body and undertake to carry out the Law Reform Commission's recommended restatement of the Act. He would not merely make it easier for Olympic athletes to get necessary sports equipment, but would also reduce workload on the Gardai who must oversee the licencing system and also make it harder for criminals to obtain weapons.

Yours in Sport,

To the Independent:

100 days in office

Dear Sir,
During the next ten days, we will see several target shooting competitions run in Ireland, from club to national level, including an historical international shooting competition, the Creedmoor Cup, last held in Ireland in 1875 and target shooting's equivalent to the Ryder Cup. And abroad, the Irish Team and their fans and spectators will be representing Ireland in the Olympic target shooting World Cup in Munich.

These athletes do what they do despite the obstacles put in their path by the Firearms Act, a body of Irish law so poorly compiled that the Law Reform Commission has listed it for restatement since 2006. Only two dozen people in the state at most are familiar with the this part of Irish law because of its complexity - it consists of eighteen Acts (not all of which were commenced), two EU directives and over sixty statutory instruments.

The Minister for Justice and his government are currently reviewing their first hundred days in office and planning the remainder of their term. I would suggest to him that instead of winding up the Firearms Consultation Panel - the body of experts who advise the Minister on Firearms legislation - he instead extend its remit to aid him in carrying out the Law Reform Commission's recommended restatement of the Act and fixing the many inconsistencies and loopholes in the Act. This would make it easier for Olympic athletes to get necessary sports equipment, but would also reduce Garda workload at a time when their numbers are depleting and recruitment must stop; and it would also make it harder for criminals to obtain weapons.

Yours in Sport,

To the Examiner:

100 days in office

Dear Sir,
Over the next ten days, we will see several target shooting competitions being run in Ireland, from club level matches, to national level matches, to an enormous international shooting competition (the Creedmoor Cup, last held in Ireland in 1875); and the Irish Team and their fans and spectators will also be representing Ireland in the Olympic target shooting World Cup in Munich.

These sportsmen and sportswomen achieve what they do despite the many, many draconian obstacles put in their path by the current Firearms Act, a body of Irish law which is so poorly compiled that the Law Reform Commission has been calling for its overhaul since 2006. At most only one or two dozen people in the entire state are familiar with the entire body of Irish firearms law because it is made up of eighteen seperate Acts, two EU directives and over sixty statutory instruments.

Might I suggest to the Minister for Justice that as his government reviews its first hundred days in office and looks forward to the remainder of its term, that instead of winding up the Firearms Consultation Panel - the body of experts from all fields who advise the Minister on Firearms legislation - he instead make it a permanent body and undertake to carry out the Law Reform Commission's recommended overhaul of the Act, and thus make it harder for criminals to obtain firearms instead of the current situation where criminals find it easy to get weapons but Olympic athletes find it exceptionally hard to get sports equipment?

Yours in Sport,

To the Southside People (the local paper of the Minister's constituency):

100 days in office

Dear sir,
Over the coming week, we will see several national target shooting competitions, an enormous international shooting competition (the Creedmoor Cup, last held in Ireland in 1875), and the Irish Team representing Ireland in the Olympic target shooting World Cup in Munich.

These sportsmen and sportswomen are hamstrung by the current Firearms Act, a body of Irish law which is so poorly compiled that the Law Reform Commission has been calling for its restatement as one Act (instead of the current 18 acts) since 2006. At most only one or two dozen people in the entire state are familiar with the entire body of Irish firearms law because of the poor state of this body of legislation.

Might I suggest to the Minister for Justice that as his government reviews it's first hundred days in office and looks forward to the next hundred days, that instead of winding up the Firearms Consultation Panel - the body of experts from all fields who advise the Minister on Firearms legislation - he instead make it a permanent body and undertake to produce one Firearms Act to restate the past 18 acts and amend the many errors and loopholes in those acts?
Yours in Sport,

Sparks

Quick one-liner, to the Times, Independent and Examiner:

Dear Sir,
I'd like to congratulate Ray Kane on setting a new Irish record for Mens Olympic Air Rifle of 584 in the World Cup in Munich on Saturday. Perhaps the Irish Sports Council will see fit to support his sporting endeavours in the run-up to the London Games, since target shooting is one of the few Olympic sports we have a realistic chance of medalling in and which is currently unsupported by the Sports Council?
Yours in Sport,

Sparks

From today's Examiner:

Make firearms panel a permanent body
Tuesday, June 21, 2011

OVER the next 10 days, we will see several target shooting competitions being run in Ireland, from club level matches, to national level matches, to an enormous international shooting competition (the Creedmoor Cup, last held in Ireland in 1875) and the Irish team and their fans and spectators will also be representing Ireland in the Olympic target shooting world cup in Munich.

These sportsmen and sportswomen achieve what they do despite the many draconian obstacles put in their path by the current Firearms Act, a body of Irish law which is so poorly compiled that the Law Reform Commission has been calling for its overhaul since 2006.

At most only one or two dozen people in the entire state are familiar with the entire body of Irish firearms law because it is made up of 18 separate acts, two EU directives and over 60 statutory instruments.

Might I suggest to the Minister for Justice that instead of winding up the Firearms Consultation Panel — the body of experts from all fields who advise the Minister on firearms legislation — he instead make it a permanent body and undertake to carry out the Law Reform Commission’s recommended overhaul of the act, and thus make it harder for criminals to obtain firearms instead of the current situation where criminals find it easy to get weapons but Olympic athletes find it exceptionally hard to get sports equipment?

Yours, etc...

Sparks

From today's Independent:

Men of this calibre need financial support
Wednesday June 22 2011

I'D like to congratulate Ray Kane on setting a new Irish record of 584 in Men's Olympic Air Rifle at the World Cup in Munich on Saturday.

Perhaps the Irish Sports Council will see fit to support his sporting endeavours in the run-up to the London Games, since target shooting is one of the few Olympic sports we have a realistic chance of medalling in and which is currently unsupported by the Sports Council.

Yours, etc

Also, the Examiner rang about the same topic, they're going to do a small piece on Ray and Gary and Peter after the letter got their attention (the NTSA is handling the PR for that as it's a National Team thing).

clivej

Sparks fair play too ya. I'm following this thread with great interest makes for good reading, keep up the pressure on the media.

Sparks

It's not even pressure though clive - I mean, look how much we all write about in here every week on our sports. I'm taking at most a tiny, tiny fraction of that, and spending a half-hour or two a week sending it to three email addresses.

It really is just that they want the material and no-one's been giving it to them.

Deerspotter

None the less, fair fooks to you.

Sparks

Took a bit longer to get this done this week thanks to work...

To the Times:

Dear Sir,
With a changing of the editor in the Times, will we see a change in the editorial direction with regard to the coverage of shooting sports events in the Times? It's hard to understand the logic in not covering the sport more - the recent sales of tickets for the London 2012 Olympics saw Shooting tickets sell out completely on the first round; leaving less popular sports such as Football with unsold tickets; nor was that a once-off - in every country in Europe, Shooting is always one of the most popular sports in national surveys, usually coming in ahead of Soccer and well ahead of Athletics and Boxing and Golf.

It is one of the oldest sports, having been around in Europe since the mid-1600s, it existed in Ireland in an organised state with a match held in Front Square of Trinity College Dublin by 1854, and it has been in the modern Olympics since their founding in 1896.

It's one of the safest sports in existence - no other sport in Ireland can lay claim to as good a safety record, with no injuries recorded since that match in TCD in 1854.

And we have been very successful in it, with World Champions in our midst - Philip Murphy winning the individual silver medal in the 2010 World Championships in Olympic Shotgun, and the Irish team winning the team gold medal in the 2002 World Championships in the same event, along with literal buckets full of medals from World Cup and European Championship events as well as too many smaller events to list.

Given these qualifications - popularity, establishment, safety and sporting success - might it be too much to hope that we would see the Times cover our sport in the future as part of a new editorial direction?

Yours in Sport

To the Independent:

Dear Sir,
Deputy Dara Murphy feels we are not capitalising on our golfers enough to bring tourism into the country. Perhaps the Deputy might take a look at shooting for a moment instead of golf. Once he sees how little we have capitalised on our sports events -- such as the Creedmoor Cup (a US-European sporting event that predates the Ryder Cup and every other US-European event by about fifty years), the Fermoy International -- not to mention the many, many successes of our Olympic shooters -- he will feel so sick at the lost opportunities that he'll forget all about golf.

And then he'll realise that we've thrown away the opportunity to act as a training camp for shooters going to the London Games in 2012 simply because of the mess Ministers McDowell and Ahern made of the Firearms Act; and when he calculates how much money that could have brought in, he'll be so sick he'll just forget all about sport in general.

Yours in Sport,

To the Examiner:

Dear Sir,
Dara Murphy feels we are not capitalising on our golfers enough to bring tourism into the country. Perhaps the Deputy might take a look at shooting for a moment instead of golf. Once he sees how little we have capitalised on our sports events -- such as the Creedmoor Cup (a US-European sporting event that predates the Ryder Cup and every other US-European event by about fifty years), the Fermoy International -- not to mention the many, many successes of our Olympic shooters -- he will feel so sick at the lost opportunities that he'll forget all about golf.

And then he'll realise that we've thrown away the opportunity to act as a training camp for shooters going to the London Games in 2012 simply because of the mess Ministers McDowell and Ahern made of the Firearms Act; and when he calculates how much money that could have brought in, maybe he'll pick up the phone and ask the Minister for Justice to sort out the Firearms Act and ask the Minister for Sport to sort out the Irish Sports Council, who as yet have not even officially recognised the governing body of one of the oldest Olympic sports in existence, let alone funded them realistically.

Yours in Sport,

Sparks

From today's Independent:

Tourists should take a shot at other sports
Friday July 01 2011
DEPUTY Dara Murphy feels we are not capitalising on our golfers to bring tourism into the country. Perhaps Mr Murphy might take a look at shooting for a moment instead of golf.

Once he sees how little we have capitalised on this sport -- such as the Creedmoor Cup (a US-European sporting event that predates the Ryder Cup and every other US-European event by about 50 years) or the Fermoy International, not to mention the success of our Olympic shooters -- he will feel so sick at the lost opportunities that he'll forget all about golf.

Then he'll realise we've thrown away the opportunity to act as a training camp for shooters going to the London Olympic Games in 2012, simply because of the mess ministers McDowell and Ahern made of the Firearms Act. And when he calculates how much money that could have brought in, he'll be so sick he'll just forget all about sport in general.

Sparks

To the Examiner:

Olympic torch-bearers

Dear Sir,
With the wonderful news from Pat Hickey that the Olympic Torch for the 2012 Games stands an excellent chance of coming through Ireland in July on its way to London, might I suggest Derek Burnett and Philip Murphy as torchbearers? Both have won world championships for Ireland in Olympic shotgun shooting, both have dedicated decades of their life to the pursuit of this sport, and neither has ever received the kind of accolades they deserved for this effort and these accomplishments.
Surely winning a World Championships for Ireland is enough for Ireland to let them carry the Torch in Ireland?

Yours in Sport,

To the Times:

Olympic torch-bearers

Dear Sir,
With the news from Pat Hickey that the Olympic Torch for the 2012 Games is almost assured to come through Ireland in early July on its way from Belfast to London, might I suggest Derek Burnett and Philip Murphy as torchbearers? Both have won world championships for Ireland in Olympic shotgun shooting, both have dedicated decades of their life to the pursuit of this sport, and neither has ever received the kind of accolades they deserved for this effort and these accomplishments.
Surely winning a World Championships for Ireland is enough for Ireland to let them carry the Torch in Ireland?

Yours in Sport,

To the Independent:

Dear Sir,
Pat Hickey reports that the Olympic Torch for the 2012 Games stands an excellent chance of coming through Ireland en route to London on July 7. Might I be the first to suggest Derek Burnett and Philip Murphy as torchbearers? Both have won world championships for Ireland in Olympic shotgun shooting, both have dedicated decades of their life to the pursuit of this sport, and neither has ever received the kind of accolades they deserved for this effort and these accomplishments.
Surely winning a World Championships for Ireland is enough for Ireland to let them carry the Torch in Ireland?
Yours in Sport,

pedroeibar1

Full marks Sparks, for output and perseverance! Singlehandedly you have beaten, combined, all the ‘representative’ organizations on obtaining effective media exposure. Maybe instead of an email campaign to TDs at some future date one should be started to motivate the people in the various shooting bodies!
Rs
P.

Sparks

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Singlehandedly you have beaten, combined, all the ‘representative’ organizations on obtaining effective media exposure.

Erm, thanks for the very kind words Pedro, but that's not really all that fair on the NGBs - most of them have to spend their time dealing with the legislation and the sports councils and so on and that's a massive timesuck.

Maybe instead of an email campaign to TDs at some future date one should be started to motivate the people in the various shooting bodies!

Hell, if we started one, I'd want to start one to recruit people for the NGBs to try to get over the 2% problem, rather than to badger the few people we have volunteering at the moment!

Sparks

From today's Irish Independent:

Northern Ireland's Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin welcomes news of the visit of the Olympic Torch with children from Belfast primary schools

Former Irish world champions deserve to carry Olympic torch
Friday July 08 2011

OLYMPIC Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey has said that the Olympic Torch for the 2012 games stands an excellent chance of coming through Ireland en route to London on July 7.

Might I be the first to suggest Derek Burnett and Philip Murphy as torchbearers?

Both have won world championships for Ireland in Olympic shotgun shooting, both have dedicated decades of their lives to this sport, and neither has ever received the kind of accolades they deserve for these accomplishments.

Surely winning a world championship for Ireland is enough to let them carry the torch here?

knockon

Sparks

Thank you for writing to the media on my behalf. You have put you pen where your mouth is. Your letters are concise and are clearly written and will be a catalyst for the public to understand somewhat what the sport of Shooting is about. Well done.

Sparks

From today's Examiner:

Irish duo deserve to carry Olympic torch
SATURDAY, JULY 09, 2011

WITH the wonderful news from Pat Hickey that the Olympic torch for the 2012 Games stands an excellent chance of coming through Ireland in July on its way to London, might I suggest Derek Burnett and Philip Murphy as torchbearers?

Both have won world championships for Ireland in Olympic shotgun shooting, both have dedicated decades of their life to the pursuit of this sport, and neither has ever received the kind of accolades they deserved for these accomplishments.

Surely winning a world championships for Ireland is enough for Ireland to let them carry the torch in Ireland?

Coriolanus

Interesting little project Sparks, and you seem to be getting a decent return in terms of being published.
Kudos.

pheasntstalker

:Dwell done sparks i for 1 will start with the local rag then on to the rest,:D:D:D:D:D about time we spoke up for our sport

brian1991

This has been one of the most interesting threads I've read on Boards.ie.
Sparks, do the three national newspapers call after they receive your letter/email? What sort of things do they ask/say? On the Irish Times website they state: "We regret that we cannot give prior notice of a letter's publication date, acknowledge unpublished letters, or discuss the merits of individual letters." Does this mean that they tell you if your letter is going to be published? I'm going to try writing to all three papers once I return to college in September.

Thanks,
Brian

Sparks

Nope, there's never been contact from them at all brian. I've only ever had contact once, a few years back when the Times called back and that was just to make sure I was who I said I was and that the letter was only written for the Times (it was subsequently posted). I've not been posting much of late because of the shooting in Norway (there's no way we could avoid being linked to it by subsequent letters from mobs like ICABS), but I've an idea for a new letter that I'll get to this week.

Grizzly 45

Am amazed they havent jumped on this one sofar.For a change it was the talkshow radio crowd who tried that one.Got this 2nd hand from a fellow boardsie who heard it.
[Hook or somone of that ilk]
Had the Norweigan ambassador or somone of the like from the embassy on ,and was continually trying to steer the conversation to the "lax gun laws" of Norway.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
After three rebuffs to the fact that this had nothing to do with Norweigan gun laws,rather more to do with racial problems,they huffily gave up to try on about 6tons of fertilizer that could be used as explosives.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Utter numpty..

Sparks

They didn't have to Grizzly, the Daily Mail ran a fullpage op-ed linking us to the shooter in Norway (and by us I mean Irish firearms owners). If it wasn't for the fact that it's the Daily Mail, I'd have responded myself.

But, thing is, it's the Mail.
Do you really want to be writing to a crowd where mucking about with a murdered child's voicemail is considered "what I did at work on tuesday"? If it was the Times, I'd say hell yes, everyone write in, but with the Mail.... I think we'd just be denigrating ourselves for no reason.

cavan shooter

Go easy lads the mail is one of the softest newspapers around, in fact on numerous hill walks I have found the Mail very useful and soft.:D

Sparks

Seems a bit... preused for that particular application if I'm honest CS...

Sparks

Good man Brian!

johngalway

cavan shooter wrote: »

Go easy lads the mail is one of the softest newspapers around, in fact on numerous hill walks I have found the Mail very useful and soft.:D

:eek:

Brave man, you could have caught something offa that rag!

Shane.sf

Tut tut......... Ahh who am I kidding, serves them right.