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The Irish Media's New Homeless Figurehead's Lies

ShaneC93

What is it with the Irish media and picking out those with the least credibility to represent homelessness issues? Last year we had Margaret Cash and now only two weeks into the new year they've chosen a new spokesperson - Lee Dillon.

If you've been online or tuned into the radio over the last week or two you've probably heard of this guy.

The story of how a vulnerable man lost his dad followed by his job in AIB and then tragically fell into homelessness while his family did nothing to help him and now has set out to expose the failures of the system by documenting it on social media.

He has been interviewed on 98FM & FM104 this past week which saw people calling in offering him a job and an apartment, had a number of sympathy articles on the various news sites and his tweets have been continuously retweeted by Labour, Sinn Feinn & PBP politicians, charities and media figures while having his tweets re-posted to Facebook and shared thousands of times.

Problem is..

His sob story is untrue or at least devoid of most of the facts as a quick five minute Google would have surfaced to any journalist or radio host that had bothered to look him up.

The guy has near 30 previous convictions, for a Hit & run, Drug-dealing, Theft & Assault (which presumably had something to do with the loss of his job in AIB and in-ability to get a job in the 2-years since despite many offers in recent weeks) and had been banning those who try and share this info on his tweets before now resorting to privating his Twitter account under the guise of being forced to by a homeless hostel.

Seriously, when are the Irish media going to start doing an ounce of research into these people
before going along with their stories and willingly misleading the public in the process.

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enricoh

Ah just give hima free gaff wherever he wants it n get someone else with a better sob story to take over the reins! Sorted!

Beechwoodspark

Thanks OP for exposing this pathetic creatures background.

And shame on the politicians taken in by his bullsh1t.

suicide_circus

journalism is now based around clickbait. Truth, diligence and integrity are irrelevant.

Sir Oxman

I alerted 98FM to some tweets on his Twitter from someone purporting to be his ex-GF - she accused him of a few things which I don't think I can repeat on here.
By the time 98FM checked the twitter feed her account was gone and so were the tweets and his account was set to private.

I have to agree - a bit of basic journalistic endeavour would go a long way when the latest media figurehead appears.

Doesn't do anyone genuinely caught up in the housing crisis any good at all.

TheValeyard

suicide_circus wrote: »

journalism is now based around clickbait. Truth, diligence and integrity are irrelevant.

Yeah, I'd love to know what the narrative is though, or what agenda someone or some group is trying to push through.

If the OP can find the truth about this guy easy enough, then surely so could any journalist.

Makes little sense why the hard questions are not getting asked???

obby1

ShaneC93 wrote: »

Seriously, when are the Irish media going to start doing an ounce of research into these people
before going along with their stories and willingly misleading the public in the process.

The innocence of some posters is not surprising, this type of lefty bollox is being pushed hard my the media for a long time, and a lot of the public believe the media reports the news , fact is the media does nothing more than push lefty propaganda/views as news, do your own research as the OP has and you will see this time and time again.

topper75

Putting my economist's hat on, I wonder is the unhealthy concentration of the industry to blame for this?

In a properly diversified competitive market, one organ would publish the dross. A genuine competitor would then seize the opportunity to slam the bona fides of the 'figurehead' of the cause de jour and publish an exposé of the dross.

That isn't happening.

Instead you have a cosy consensus. The Examiner, RTÉ, Newstalk, the Times - all trying to outdo each other with sob story clickbait and nobody asking hard questions.

Local radio is rarely independent and stations are owned by media groups. Same issue. No different angle offered. No questions.

debok

ShaneC93 wrote: »

What is it with the Irish media and picking out those with the least credibility to represent homelessness issues? Last year we had Margaret Cash and now only two weeks into the new year they've chosen a new spokesperson - Lee Dillon.

If you've been online or tuned into the radio over the last week or two you've probably heard of this guy.

The story of how a vulnerable man lost his dad followed by his job in AIB and then tragically fell into homelessness while his family did nothing to help him and now has set out to expose the failures of the system by documenting it on social media.

He has been interviewed on 98FM & FM104 this past week which saw people calling in offering him a job and an apartment, had a number of sympathy articles on the various news sites and his tweets have been continuously retweeted by Labour, Sinn Feinn & PBP politicians, charities and media figures while having his tweets re-posted to Facebook and shared thousands of times.

Problem is..

His sob story is untrue or at least devoid of most of the facts as a quick five minute Google would have surfaced to any journalist or radio host that had bothered to look him up.

The guy has near 30 previous convictions, for a Hit & run, Drug-dealing, Theft & Assault (which presumably had something to do with the loss of his job in AIB and in-ability to get a job in the 2-years since despite many offers in recent weeks) and had been banning those who try and share this info on his tweets before now resorting to privating his Twitter account under the guise of being forced to by a homeless hostel.

Seriously, when are the Irish media going to start doing an ounce of research into these people
before going along with their stories and willingly misleading the public in the process.

I'm sure the government love when fellas like this get the promotion. It does there job for them . People see this fella and the likes of Margaret cash realise there just scumbags and then presume all homeless are like them. Newspapers get few stories building the up and then tearing them down..

One eyed Jack

ShaneC93 wrote: »

What is it with the Irish media and picking out those with the least credibility to represent homelessness issues?

...

If you've been online or tuned into the radio over the last week or two you've probably heard of this guy.

...

Seriously, when are the Irish media going to start doing an ounce of research into these people
before going along with their stories and willingly misleading the public in the process.

There’s a couple of things contributing to it really.

First of all, you simply won’t find anyone who is homeless who doesn’t have, shall we say - a colourful history, so you’re never going to find a squeaky clean representative of the “homeless crisis” who will make for good PR.

Secondly - I can absolutely guarantee you that the media will have done more research in quicker time with access to more resources than an ordinary individual could ever hope to glean through going through a persons social media or online presence. Journalists are under no obligation to furnish the general public with those details. Their job, as it were, is to generate revenue for their employer. They do this by means of generating propaganda for sale, not facts for free.

Thirdly - I’ve been online for the last couple of weeks, and I regularly listen to the radio, and the first I’m hearing of this guy is in the opening post. It’s as though I don’t listen to shìte radio stations or bother with the daily gossip peddled by shìte “news sites” online. I’d suggest you should try it, you wouldn’t have to expose yourself to the media’s propaganda then, and they would have to find new stories to talk about to regain your attention. I hear Niall Boylan “asks the hard questions”, but his show is a load of shìte really with the same regulars on call who are told about something that he wants them to get wound up about, makes for great listening apparently to witness someone getting worked up into a frenzy over nothing.

Red_Wake

Show me a homeless and I'll show you a criminal.

Seth Brundle

Red_Wake wrote: »

Show me a homeless and I'll show you a criminal.

In fairness, what does their past matter?
A "criminal" may have earned their record thirty years ago for a minor offence. Should they still be punished now?

SEPT 23 1989

Red_Wake wrote: »

Show me a homeless and I'll show you a criminal.

Show me a true homeless and I will show you mental illness

Richard Hillman

They've had 5 major figure heads and movement's and they all turned out to be disasters

Jonathan Corry: Had 2 homes and sold them for drugs
Apollo House: Lots of missing money
Jack Watson: Was a child sex offender
Margaret Cash: Fraud, criminal.
Erica Fleming: Turned down many housing opportunities to make sure she can get her forever home near her mother. Joined Sinn Fein in the end.

Can't wait for the next one

jmayo

ShaneC93 wrote: »

What is it with the Irish media and picking out those with the least credibility to represent homelessness issues? Last year we had Margaret Cash and now only two weeks into the new year they've chosen a new spokesperson - Lee Dillon.

You forgot the first homeless guy that died that it turned out had refused help many time, and the homeless guy that died that was a convicted in Australia of the indecent assault of two girls under the age of 16.

Seth Brundle wrote: »

In fairness, what does their past matter?
A "criminal" may have earned their record thirty years ago for a minor offence. Should they still be punished now?

So would you have gone to the big planned but cancelled vigil for the homesless guy that died, you know the one that was in Apollo house but had been turfed out of Australia as he was seen as a significant risk to the public and was convicted of indecent assault on minors ?

Perhaps you were at the candlelit vigil for him outside the Dail.

DebDynamite

Richard Hillman wrote: »

They've had 5 major figure heads and movement's and they all turned out to be disasters

Jonathan Corry: Had 2 homes and sold them for drugs
Apollo House: Lots of missing money
Jack Watson: Was a child sex offender
Margaret Cash: Fraud, criminal.
Erica Fleming: Turned down many housing opportunities to make sure she can get her forever home near her mother. Joined Sinn Fein in the end.

Can't wait for the next one

Don't forget the older couple in Castleknock who were living in a tent after their house was repossessed who, it turned out, owned about 20 properties

yosser hughes

DebDynamite wrote: »

Don't forget the older couple in Castleknock who were living in a tent after their house was repossessed who, it turned out, owned about 20 properties

That was in Killiney.The "Occupy' movement supported them.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.joe.ie/amp/uncategorized/remember-the-evicted-coupled-from-killiney-they-have-13-flats-in-london-too-35226

retalivity

Dont worry, those bastions of investigstive journalism and owners of this site will no doubt blow the lid on these frauds. Sure were they not asking for stuff to investgate before?? Im sure they will be on it as soo as they can!!

ðŸ€£ðŸ€£

Underground

I would imagine the journalists know all too well about the guy's past, assuming they did go to the small trouble of taking five minutes to Google him.

As mentioned earlier though, it's all about clickbait, earning that sweet ad revenue for their employers. Seems there's more ad revenue to be made in annoying people with false narratives than in telling both sides of a story. The truth is an unfortunate casualty of that.

Dyr

The old media and political parties are always looking for some poster boy to pivot an issue on, it used to be that by the time the reality is exposed everyone has moved on. Not anymore lads, you'd think they'd learn the lesson but they don't.:D

marieholmfan

That doesn't speak to whether he is or isn't homeless.
All seems irrelevant frankly.

ShaneC93 wrote: »

What is it with the Irish media and picking out those with the least credibility to represent homelessness issues? Last year we had Margaret Cash and now only two weeks into the new year they've chosen a new spokesperson - Lee Dillon.

If you've been online or tuned into the radio over the last week or two you've probably heard of this guy.

The story of how a vulnerable man lost his dad followed by his job in AIB and then tragically fell into homelessness while his family did nothing to help him and now has set out to expose the failures of the system by documenting it on social media.

He has been interviewed on 98FM & FM104 this past week which saw people calling in offering him a job and an apartment, had a number of sympathy articles on the various news sites and his tweets have been continuously retweeted by Labour, Sinn Feinn & PBP politicians, charities and media figures while having his tweets re-posted to Facebook and shared thousands of times.

Problem is..

His sob story is untrue or at least devoid of most of the facts as a quick five minute Google would have surfaced to any journalist or radio host that had bothered to look him up.

The guy has near 30 previous convictions, for a Hit & run, Drug-dealing, Theft & Assault (which presumably had something to do with the loss of his job in AIB and in-ability to get a job in the 2-years since despite many offers in recent weeks) and had been banning those who try and share this info on his tweets before now resorting to privating his Twitter account under the guise of being forced to by a homeless hostel.

Seriously, when are the Irish media going to start doing an ounce of research into these people
before going along with their stories and willingly misleading the public in the process.

ShaneC93

marieholmfan wrote: »

That doesn't speak to whether he is or isn't homeless.
All seems irrelevant frankly.

The big reason they're focusing on him, which is evident if you listen to the interviews (one linked in OP) or read the shared posts are that he claims to have a clean background - even to go far as saying he's unlike the rest of those that are homeless in that he's just a good guy with no addictions that lost his job and has been unable to get another (despite many offers of one in the past weeks) and he has been happy to point out the past crimes of others on Twitter.

Presumably his inability to maintain a job, especially in the financial sector (that has background checks) is due to his past.

He's unlikely to bring it up but the fact the Irish media have just ran with his story as fact without any research is the problem when even Googling his name brings up an article on his past crime within the first 3 results.

obby1

hit them whee it hurts, dont give them clicks for ad money use https://web.archive.org

yosser hughes

ShaneC93 wrote: »

The big reason they're focusing on him, which is evident if you listen to the interviews (one linked in OP) or read the shared posts are that he claims to have a clean background - even to go far as saying he's unlike the rest of those that are homeless in that he's just a good guy with no addictions that lost his job and has been unable to get another (despite many offers of one in the past weeks) and he has been happy to point out the past crimes of others on Twitter.

Presumably his inability to maintain a job, especially in the financial sector (that has background checks) is due to his past.

He's unlikely to bring it up but the fact the Irish media have just ran with his story as fact without any research is the problem when even Googling his name brings up an article on his past crime within the first 3 results.

Is it definitely the same person?

ShaneC93

yosser hughes wrote: »

Is it definitely the same person?

Yes, he's the exact right age & it's quite an uncommon name, from the same small area and he said on 98FM that he lived in a cottage which matches up. Plus a couple of people claiming to be past friends & girlfriend were replying to his tweets before they got blocked.

yosser hughes

ShaneC93 wrote: »

Yes, he's the exact right age & it's quite an uncommon name, from the same small area and he said on 98FM that he lived in a cottage which matches up. Plus a couple of people claiming to be past friends & girlfriend were replying to his tweets before they got blocked.

It really is extraordinary the way the media have left out salient facts about this person. Not surprised though. They have zero integrity .

gctest50

jmayo wrote: »

You forgot the first homeless guy that died that it turned out had refused help many time, and the homeless guy that died that was a convicted in Australia of the indecent assault of two girls under the age of 16.

So would you have gone to the big planned but cancelled vigil for the homesless guy that died, you know the one that was in Apollo house but had been turfed out of Australia as he was seen as a significant risk to the public and was convicted of indecent assault on minors ?

Perhaps you were at the candlelit vigil for him outside the Dail.

Little bit more than that to it :

Steven 'Jack' Watson was jailed for 18 months in April 2008 after he was convicted in Bendigo County Court in the state of Victoria of indecently assaulting two girls under the age of 16.

He was later jailed after a court heard he knowingly passed on the HIV virus to a woman.

After he was deported to Ireland Watson began sleeping rough and in homeless shelters across the city.

During the Home Sweet Home protest last December/January Watson cooked for those who occupied Apollo House.

Seth Brundle

jmayo wrote: »

So would you have gone to the big planned but cancelled vigil for the homesless guy that died, you know the one that was in Apollo house but had been turfed out of Australia as he was seen as a significant risk to the public and was convicted of indecent assault on minors ?

Perhaps you were at the candlelit vigil for him outside the Dail.

Me? Never been to any kind of housing protest and disagree with the Apollo House scam.
Still won't make assumptions on someone who made past mistakes and has already paid for them. Also you are referencing one example of a criminal which is not what was earlier said.

corner of hells

Richard Hillman wrote: »

They've had 5 major figure heads and movement's and they all turned out to be disasters

Jonathan Corry: Had 2 homes and sold them for drugs
Apollo House: Lots of missing money
Jack Watson: Was a child sex offender
Margaret Cash: Fraud, criminal.
Erica Fleming: Turned down many housing opportunities to make sure she can get her forever home near her mother. Joined Sinn Fein in the end.

Can't wait for the next one

I don't think Jonathan Corry set out to become a " figure head " at any level.

His name suddenly became synonymous because if where he died and gets dragged up every so often with the usual "****e talk " attached to it saying he had two houses and was offered loads of help.

Birneybau

I flagged up the Lee Dillon convictions on the thread in Dublin City Forum. Disgraceful. Someone said that people deserve second chances on Twitter in reply to someone pulling him up over them. He 'liked' the Tweet. Obviously same bloke.

[Deleted User]

marieholmfan wrote: »

That doesn't speak to whether he is or isn't homeless.
All seems irrelevant frankly.

it speaks to whether or not we should give a fcuk tbh

no homeless crisis.

housing crisis yes. but lets get our priority cases straight. chancers, non-contributors, asbo's and substance abusers back of the line thanks.