Who is Ireland's worst journalist?

[Deleted User] wrote: »

There’s a lot of very ‘black and white’ sorts who don’t realise that Barry Egan’s columns are firmly tongue-in-cheek.

fryup wrote: »

not at all, far from it

he was the only one brave enough (at the time) to call out Jack Charlton on his caveman like football tactics

Tomaldo wrote: »

What about John Hume, Ronaldo (Portuguese) and Glenn Whelan, do u agree with his opinions on them?

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Or that complete and utter misery guts Fergal Bowers, who not only is incapable of smiling but he never calls anyone by their name when he is addressed, no matter who it is. He would put you to sleep only looking at him.

fryup wrote: »

he got away with tactical murder and secretly he knew it, taking advantage of a then soccer naive country (80's eire) and Dunphy was damn right to call him out on it

he gave the country a boost? but at the expense of good football...personally speaking italia 90 left me cold

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

They use his name, but he never responds to them in kind. Hes the only one who does that.

Snickers Man wrote: »

This is what's wrong with threads like this: people are holding up those whose opinions they don't like as being "bad journalists" when in fact the reverse is often true. They are very good journalists, they just write things expressing points of view that people don't like.

Tom Humphries was an excellent journalist. He might be a ****ty human being, and indeed he was thrown in jail for his crimes against a young woman, but that has nothing to do with his ability or his track record as a journalist. He was a sublime writer (probably still is, but who would employ him?) and I still have several of his books on my shelf and delve into them from time to time.

None of which is to justify or mitigate his crime. It was reprehensible and society "called him out" for that by locking him up.

Fintan O'Toole too is an excellent journalist. His arguments are cogent, well argued, beautifully phrased and unambiguously expressed. Some people may not like them (I do, mostly) but it cannot be denied he is a particularly accomplished journalist. The OP said he "states the obvious" which is such a back handed compliment. Remember what George Orwell said in 1984: "The best books are the ones that tell you what you already know". It's not what somebody says that makes them a good journalist: it's how they say it.

People who misrepresent facts, make straw man arguments, use loaded language as innuendo or indulge in other cheap tricks are not good journalists. I particularly dislike Loony Doolally, not only for her opinions but for how she puts them. I don't rate her at all.

I think Eoghan Harris is a complete prat too, but I read what he writes because he expresses himself well. Just so I can disagree with it. It's important to keep up to date with what the reprehensible in society are thinking. Again: ****ty person, good journalist.
There's a difference.

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

The Sunday World has churned out some horrendous excuses for journalists.

Snickers Man wrote: »

This is what's wrong with threads like this: people are holding up those whose opinions they don't like as being "bad journalists" when in fact the reverse is often true. They are very good journalists, they just write things expressing points of view that people don't like.

Tom Humphries was an excellent journalist. He might be a ****ty human being, and indeed he was thrown in jail for his crimes against a young woman, but that has nothing to do with his ability or his track record as a journalist. He was a sublime writer (probably still is, but who would employ him?) and I still have several of his books on my shelf and delve into them from time to time.

None of which is to justify or mitigate his crime. It was reprehensible and society "called him out" for that by locking him up.

Former Irish Times sports journalist Tom Humphries has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for grooming a girl from when she was 14 years old before sexually abusing her.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard Humphries exchanged at least 16,000 text messages with the girl during a three-month period leading up to March 2011 as part of the grooming process.


In her lengthy sentencing remarks, Judge Karen O’Connor said the offences deserved a “headline sentence” of four years in prison. However after taking into account mitigating factors including Humphries’s previous “high profile” and his fall from that position, she reduced this by 18 months.

“It would be difficult not to have sympathy for him. That’s not to excuse his behaviour,” Judge O’Connor said.

“It’s something of a truism to say the higher the profile and success of a member of society the greater the fall.”

Judge O’Connor also took into account Humphries’s mental and physical health issues both now and at the time of offending. However she rejected a defence submission that he was suffering from a “neuro-cognitive” disorder which might have impaired his judgement at the time of offending.

She said the most important mitigating factor was Humphries’ guilty plea but noted that this came late in the day, meaning the case dragged out for years.

She also took into account character references from chief sports writer with the Sunday Times, David Walsh, and from Cork hurling star Donal Óg Cusack, as well as references from his family.

The judge said the aggravating factors included the disparity in age and “position” between Humphries and the girl as well as the fact that Humphries targeted a “vulnerable” victim.

She said the most relevant aggravating factor was the affect the offending had on the injured party. Judge O’Connor noted she suffered from feelings of guilt, shame and self hatred and that she lost her passion for GAA.

Judge O’Connor imposed a two-and-a half year term for the defilement and a two-year term for the grooming offences, both to run at the same time. She declined to impose a post-release supervision order.

She also backdated the sentence to when Humphries went into custody three weeks ago.

There was no apparent reaction from him as the sentence was read out.

The journalist, who has not written for The Irish Times since 2011 and was let go from the newspaper after pleading guilty to sexual offences charges last March, sexually abused the girl on five occasions after asking her to meet him.

Humphries (54), from Sutton, north Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement of a child in Dublin between December 5th, 2010, and February 19th, 2011, and four counts of inviting a child to participate in a sexually explicit, obscene or indecent act between January 2010 and March 2011.

Prosecuting counsel Shane Costello SC told Judge O’Connor the offending first came to light in March 2011 when Humphries’ daughter was collecting old phones for charity. Her father donated his old phone and she turned it on to make sure it still worked.

On the phone she found a large amount of sexually explicit text messages Humphries had sent to someone stored in his phone under a false name.

She went to her mother with the messages and her mother contacted her brother, Humphries’s brother-in-law.

Humphries was estranged from his wife at the time and living separately from her.

The brother-in-law and daughter then confronted Humphries, who made a partial admission and said he was going to take his own life. At this stage, Humphries’ daughter checked another two of his old phones and found further messages.

Humphries was brought to hospital as a suicide risk while the Garda were alerted and given the three phones.

A large-scale investigation began involving the Garda Computer Crimes Unit. Gardaí discovered the recipient of the messages was a girl Humphries had started contacting in 2008.

The contact started after Humphries obtained the girl’s number from a third party and sent her an unsolicited text offering her encouragement on her camogie playing.

He also texted her about personal issues she was going through at the time and encouraged her to keep playing GAA with her local club.

After a while, the messages became sexually explicit.

Humphries twice sent the girl pictures of his genitals which caused her to get very upset. She asked him not to send such pictures again and he apologised.

After this, the messages became more innocent in nature before becoming sexual again over time.

Mr Costello read out some of the messages in court, describing them as “a snapshot of the types of texts exchanged between the accused and the complainant when she was 16.”

Humphries would ask her about her sex life and repeatedly referenced his own genitals and what acts he would like to perform on the girl.

He would exchange emojis and smiley faces with her. On one occasion, after she thanked him for buying her a burger, he replied with an explicit reference to his genitals.

As well as explicit messages he also sent other texts such ones wishing her a happy birthday.

On New Year’s Day 2010, he texted her “Happy New Year” to which she replied “Shall we make it one to remember?”

In the same conversation she told him “I love you” to which he replied “you too.”

The Computer Crimes Unit uncovered thousands of texts sent between Christmas 2008, when the girl was 14 years old and April 2011, when she was 17 years old.

In one three-month period in 2011, Humphries exchanged at least 16,000 messages with the girl. The texts eventually built up to him asking her to meet him in person. The girl thought he was joking at first but then realised he was serious.

On the first occasion they met, he picked her up from her school at 10am and brought her to an apartment where counsel said “oral sex” occurred.

In April 2011, gardaí interviewed the girl, who was 17 at the time. She told them she had met Humphries on five occasions during which sexual acts took place, including oral sex but not full intercourse.

After the text messages were found, Humphries spent about a year in a psychiatric facility. He was arrested by appointment in September 2012 but declined to say anything in interview.

The victim, who is now in her 20s, was in court for the hearing on Tuesday during which she declined to accept a letter of apology from Humphries.

In her victim impact report, which was read by counsel, the woman said that “dealing with sexual encounters with a man three times my age made me physically, mentally and emotionally ill”.

She said she has been suicidal and has lost her childhood and her trust in men because of Humphries.

She now has “permanent flashbacks and severe panic attacks” as well as depression which has caused her to lose friends. She also missed school and exams because of the “dragging out” of the case.

“I never felt as low and as small about myself when this happened to me,” she wrote.

In a passage which Mr Costello called “remarkable”, the woman thanked Humphries’ family for bringing the abuse to the attention of gardaí.

“Without them reporting this I do not know where I would be today. I hope you can all get past this and go on to live a normal and healthy life,” she wrote.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Had a read of Gene Kerrigan’s latest moanfest in the Sindo today. The lad has spent the last 30 years writing a variation of the same article - giving out about something. I’m sure some rudimentary AI could probably write the articles at this stage.

Great lad for pointing out problems but wouldn’t be able to come up with a solution if it bit him on the arse. Very simplistic thinker I’d imagine.

Deleted User wrote: »

Eoghan Harris, by some distance. John Waters/Gemma O'Doherty don't qualify as they are only fit for a padded room.

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Just in case anyone is not aware of what you attempt to downplay to as "crimes against a young woman", here are the details of what he did. He is a dangerous predatory abuser who has shown little remorse for his actions.