Aine Lawlor Watch

Gergiev

Hard to believe what I just heard on the One O'clock News, courtesy of Aine Lawlor.

Speaking to the esteemed northern historian Paul Bew, she 'quoted' Seamus Heaney as saying that 'Peace came dripping slow'.

It is, of course, 'Peace comes dropping slow' from WB Yeats.

To compound the error, she actually interrupted herself to emphasise that it was by the 'late, great Seamus Heaney'.

Bew graciously concurred about Heaney's greatness and moved on to deal with her main point.

Apart from the gratuitous misquote, attributing Yeats to Heaney does him no service whatsoever and is a poor reflection on our national broadcaster.

I'm not familiar with Ms Lawlor's work but not really impressed with her efforts since replacing O'Rourke in the lunchtime chair.

Is the above standard 'par for the course' with her?

maynoothlizard

Don't know about Lawlor specifically, but her gaffe is illustrative of the ignorance behind the plámás that overwhelmed the airwaves when Heaney died; all of a sudden, people who had hitherto expressed no interest in literature–who probably hadn't read a poem since leaving school–became authorities, which expertise they flaunted by all quoting the same poem ('Digging') and praising Heaney's apparent simplicity of expression, as though a potato had developed sentience and taken to versifying.

Even if she confused Yeats's lines about idealised solitude with her own sentiments about irreconcilable historical grievances, Lawlor at least showed an unprompted appreciation of poetry. (Granted, this is to set the bar so low a dwarf couldn't limbo under it.)

Lapin

Hardly a major screw up in fairness OP.

Misquoting a line in a poem isn't a huge mistake.

And given the constant coverage surrounding Heaney lately Lawlor can be forgiven for attributing the line to him rather than Yeats.

If a thread was created for every radio presenter that made a mistake on live radio Boards.ie would go into meltdown.

And there are many gaffe prone broadcasters in the queue ahead of Aine Lawlor.

I think she is a welcome addition to the News at One.

Gergiev

As you say, it's not a hanging offence but very disappointing all the same, in my opinion.

Ninap

Heard it too and was mildly appalled. Especially as the actual Yeats quote is itself hugely overused in the Northern Ireland context. I also concur with the view that RTE and the Irish Times completely lost the run of themselves when Heaney died. The 'colossus' being compared to Yeats and Joyce - what a joke.

Loafing Oaf

maynoothlizard wrote: »

Don't know about Lawlor specifically, but her gaffe is illustrative of the ignorance behind the plámás that overwhelmed the airwaves when Heaney died; all of a sudden, people who had hitherto expressed no interest in literature–who probably hadn't read a poem since leaving school–became authorities, which expertise they flaunted by all quoting the same poem ('Digging') and praising Heaney's apparent simplicity of expression, as though a potato had developed sentience and taken to versifying.

Even if she confused Yeats's lines about idealised solitude with her own sentiments about irreconcilable historical grievances, Lawlor at least showed an unprompted appreciation of poetry. (Granted, this is to set the bar so low a dwarf couldn't limbo under it.)

This is all spot on except I think you're being a bit generous to Aine Lawlor here. I don't know that ripping lines out of context (apart altogether from misquoting and misattributing them) as a source of platitudinous 'wisdom' is a real indicator of residual respect for poetry in our society. I remember an item on Heaney on the Late Late Show years ago, when Gaybo asked the audience to quote a line of his poetry and not one of them could, which to me is a reflection of the real level of interest in poetry among the vast majority.

maynoothlizard

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

I don't know that ripping lines out of context (apart altogether from misquoting and misattributing them) as a source of platitudinous 'wisdom' is a real indicator of residual respect for poetry in our society.

Yes, you're right. In the second part of my original comment, I hedged my bets for fear of seeming too harsh. Thanks for pointing out the logical conclusion.

Gergiev

sore_nads wrote: »

is it me or does aine lawlor always sound like she is keen to start doting like an old lady who has just met her new grandchild

almost expect her to start going " goochy goochy goo " live on air

In common with Miriam O'Callaghan?

M O'C's default position seems to be to try and bond with every contributor.

Neither Lawlor or herself seem to have any wit, insight or spontaneity about them, just a constant barrage of 'niceness' and empathy.

Baffling the way that RTE works when genuine, super-articulate talents like Roisin Duffy and Audrey Carville are relegated to bit parts and the graveyard shift on the 'Late Debate'.

Meanwhile, wafflers and ingratiators like Lawlor and O'Callaghan soar ever upwards...