Fidelma Healy Eames' train ticket scandal

Robbo

Fidelma being firmly put in her place over her baseless refendum red herring that Gardai seal ballot boxes and therefore it was totes inapropes for the GRA to back a Yes campaign.

She's hung around enough election counts to the bitter end, slowly watching the people reject her one count at a time, to know how things go down. She just chose to say otherwise.

afkasurfjunkie

Another clanger today people
http://www.joe.ie/news/vine-first-it-was-the-frape-confusion-now-fidelma-healy-eames-cant-pronounce-wi-fi/502283

biko

Meh

_Puma_

In fairnenss this is a tame one. Love to know what she was prattling on about though. The thought that the likes of this one and Lorraine Higgins are having an input into a new Online Censorship bill makes me very worried however.

afatbollix

Anyone know why a Wify code is such a bad thing?

Or was she complaining about spending time on Facebook again instead of ordering her food?

ScumLord

afatbollix wrote: »

Anyone know why a Wify code is such a bad thing?

It just goes to highlight she hasn't a clue about technology. How does a person get through the last few years without ever realising that it's pronounced wifi, not wiffy? I mean, surely at some point she talked to someone about wifi, or heard it on TV?

She's probably been correcting people for the past few years. "huh no, it's wiffy you peasant".

afatbollix

Anyway I went off and found what she was on about..

They say when a Bill is opposed on Second Stage, it is being opposed in principle. I was touched by the arguments put forward on this side of the House because I welcome free speech, and I defend freedom of expression to the end. I disagree with what Senator Crown said but I will defend to the death his right to say it.

We have got to look at boundaries, what is safe behaviour and what is unsafe behaviour. Along with Senators Noone, Moloney and Higgins, I, too, have had a tough time on social media on occasion. It could be said I brought some of that on myself, and I am not saying I did not make errors, but nobody deserves to be defamed. That is an offence. Nobody deserves to be a victim of cyberbullying. That is an offence. I am talking about young people who are going through a very tough time. It is an offence to groom a young person.

I am not saying this Bill is perfect but we should use the content of both sides of the debate presented here and craft smart amendments. I have no doubt that Senator Higgins and Senator Bacik are listening. In light of what has been presented here, we could tweak this Bill considerably because something needs to be done. The message must go out from this House that we are responsible for our actions and our words, and that they can hurt and damage. Politicians have spoken here about getting tough treatment but all a politician trades on is his or her reputation, and a reputation can be very easily destroyed. When one has to have recourse to the courts to have one's reputation defended under defamation legislation, it can be risky and costly. It is time that we stepped up to the plate and took this problem seriously.

There is definitely a need for education and information about this problem in the context of social, personal and health education. In the past, I was involved in working on curricular development in that area. It is now time that curriculum was revised in light of social media, other technologies and digital communications. It is vital that boundaries are discussed with our young people in schools in terms of what is safe and unsafe behaviour.

We have to realise, and I am not preaching about this as I have teenagers, that social media is moving at a rapid pace. Young people live on and live far. The first question asked in a restaurant is about the Wi-Fi code. I hear it every day, and guess what? I am doing it now. Our young people cannot possibly live without it.

Kinda funny when you look at the whole thing.

Borders no.2

I'd like to see a situation where there is more women in politics, the recent Galway East debate on Vincent Browne in particular highlighted the pressing need for some new voices and fresh ideas but in fairness its hard to make an argument for gender quotas when you see the antics of the likes of this jokeshop and Lorraine Higgins. We definitely don't need more of this type.

gordongekko

Borders no.2 wrote: »

I'd like to see a situation where there is more women in politics, the recent Galway East debate on Vincent Browne in particular highlighted the pressing need for some new voices and fresh ideas but in fairness its hard to make an argument for gender quotas when you see the antics of the likes of this jokeshop and Lorraine Higgins. We definitely don't need more of this type.

In fairness to the people of Galway we have rejected these people. It's the dubs that keep enforcing them on us.

Synode

gordongekko wrote: »

In fairness to the people of Galway we have rejected these people. It's the dubs that keep enforcing them on us.

How's that then?

Synode

She's on Today FM telling everyone that she intentionally used the word

snubbleste

Fidelma Healy-Eames: Wiffy is French for wifi

Lads, she's baiting the angry ranters. The less said the better.

Synode

Yeh I'd have to agree. She's doing anything to keep her name in the media and therefore the public's mind. She must fancy herself at the next election

biko

In her speech she says wi-fi first, then wiffy.

wp_rathead

Synode wrote: »

How's that then?

Afaik Senator Higgins was nominated by Eamon Gilmore (then Tanaisté) and Fidelma was nominated by either FG or FF

Synode

How's that the Dubs forcing her on anyone

snubbleste

Synode wrote: »

How's that the Dubs forcing her on anyone

Because that's where central FG & Labour HQ are. Decisions are made there to appoint senators, not at grassroots level.

_Whimsical_

“Speaking on the Anton Savage show she said she deliberately used the French pronunciation of the word because she was talking about tourists.”

Considering she said Wifi earlier in the speech and did use wiffy in the context of tourists I'd say that's fair enough.

It should never have blown up into such a drama anyway, even if it was a mispronunciation. Most people that age have some weird tech blindspot without it reflecting on their ability to do their job. Seizing on this sort of thing makes her critics sound much more like a hysterical panto act than she does.

fergiesfolly

Synode wrote: »

Yeh I'd have to agree. She's doing anything to keep her name in the media and therefore the public's mind. She must fancy herself at the next election

Can't wait to see her campaign poster

" Vote FHE #1... I'm Bestist at Speakerin"

yaledo

I've felt that the reaction to her mispronunciation was close to bullying. Now it seems she may have been quoted unfairly and out of context.

She is a public figure, and she has a thick skin. She should be delighted by the publicity arising from this nonsense. She can point legitimately to this incident (and to comments in this very thread) as an example of on-line bullying. We have given extra weight to her ludicrous opinions by our reaction to her pronunciation.

It's a shame (srsly!)

Synode

Unwanted politician says something stupid (not for the first time), everyone laughs. That's not bullying. That's life. If she can't handle being in the public eye, then please, please, please let her go away.

_Whimsical_

Synode wrote: »

Unwanted politician says something stupid (not for the first time), everyone laughs. That's not bullying. That's life. If she can't handle being in the public eye, then please, please, please let her go away.

It's not "everyone laughs " though. It's lots of people jump on a small mispronunciation and decry her as incompetent, underserving of her job, stupid, attention whoring, some even use the opportunity to widen this "issue" to add to the debate on gender quotas and women in politics.

It's absolutely ridiculous. Weeks of reputation lashing and character assassination over something insignificant doesn't fall far outside the definition of bullying.

They say a country ends up with the government it deserves. If this nonsense reflects the level of political debate we are capable of I'd say that is true here. No decent person will ever end up in Irish politics if they have to run the gauntlet of this kind of rubbish everytime they might mispronounce something.

Synode

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

They say a country ends up with the government it deserves. If this nonsense reflects the level of political debate we are capable of I'd say that is true here. No decent person will ever end up in Irish politics if they have to run the gauntlet of this kind of rubbish everytime they might mispronounce something.

Not every time, just when you've previous form (see fraping), and when you come across as a self important tit (see train incident, plumber incident, car tax incident etc.)

Ash.J.Williams

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

It's not "everyone laughs " though. It's lots of people jump on a small mispronunciation and decry her as incompetent, underserving of her job, stupid, attention whoring, some even use the opportunity to widen this "issue" to add to the debate on gender quotas and women in politics.

It's absolutely ridiculous. Weeks of reputation lashing and character assassination over something insignificant doesn't fall far outside the definition of bullying.

They say a country ends up with the government it deserves. If this nonsense reflects the level of political debate we are capable of I'd say that is true here. No decent person will ever end up in Irish politics if they have to run the gauntlet of this kind of rubbish everytime they might mispronounce something.

google her and come back to us

serfboard

Synode wrote: »

If she can't handle being in the public eye, then please, please, please let her go away.

If the Desperately Seeking Sinecure types hadn't persuaded the portion of the electorate who bothered voting not to abolish the Seanad, she'd be gone already.

In any case, the next general election will take care of her. And with no party machine, there'll be no senate seat either, so this will be her last few months as a national politician.

_Whimsical_

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

google her and come back to us

I know all about her, I'm not a fan, but I'm still disturbed by the level of vitriol a ridiculous little mispronunciation elicited and that it seems acceptable to jeer someone on that as if it were a measure of their intelligence and competence. If someone is bad at their job absolutely slate them on those particular issues, widening that bashing to beat a person down over ever little irrelevant mistake both is unfair and just dilutes the currency of the general critique of her.

Ash.J.Williams

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I know all about her, I'm not a fan, but I'm still disturbed by the level of vitriol a ridiculous little mispronunciation elicited and that it seems acceptable to jeer someone on that as if it were a measure of their intelligence and competence. If someone is bad at their job absolutely slate them on those particular issues, widening that bashing to beat a person down over ever little irrelevant mistake both is unfair and just dilutes the currency of the general critique of her.

it's not one little mispronunciation...it's just another on the list of why we should not be paying her....

_Whimsical_

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

it's not one little mispronunciation...it's just another on the list of why we should not be paying her....

It's not though, it's a complete irrelevance on that list, it's up there with getting lipstick on her teeth and farting etc, it should have no place on a list of whether someone is competent or not, her or anyone else.

Synode

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I'm still disturbed by the level of vitriol

What level of vitriol? All I seen was people laughing at the mispronunciation