I agree Stephen, but we must take small wins when we can. I have sometimes wondered if Mr McGuirke chooses some positions as a shield, (even for selfish reasons) like a fox covering himself in feathers to gain access to the henhouse to obtain a meal.
I do believe that we need a variety of people to get to where we want to go each with their own talents and approaches. Philip Dwyer is a rare exception, a man who has shown great fearlessness in the face of personal harm to highlight what others try to conceal and he has my respect and admiration for that.
Likened to a football team, Philip is the solid midfielder with the powerful kick and steely determination to launch the ball from a great distance and difficult angles toward the oppositions goalmouth. I see John McGuirke as the leaner agile man weaving around the goalmouth unthreateningly, who sometimes (not often successfully I might add) gets his fingertips to the ball kicked from midfield and slips it past the mainstream keeper into the damp sagging net of normie awareness.
In my opinion, without men like Philip Dwyer there'd be no John McGuike. Without John McGuirke there'd still be Philip Dwyer, but both have a role to play before the final whistle sounds.
I think youre right. The goalposts have been moved. Its a new spectrum/pendulum. RTE is dead.
Philip Dwyer is on the scale and McGuirk is somewhere else on the scale. Stephen Sutton is doin a great job holding McGuirks feet to the fire and deserves acknowlegement for exposing info sooner. The idea of whats acceptable reporting is in in flux, thankfully and theres room for different types now that RTE is dead.
I agree with you. It’s disappointing to see this. McGuirk is keeping his distance while still subtly painting Philip Dwyer with the “far right” label. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. More power to Philip.
Great post Stephen! I certainly have mixed feelings about John McGuirk and some of Gript’s output. But on balance, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that, as a publication, Gript’s contribution over the past few years has been overwhelmingly positive. Regardless of McGuirk’s editorial stance or his possible long term ambitions, Gript has been an excellent source of reliable, objective information on several important topics. Gary Kavanagh and Matt Treacy are both very good researchers and are adept at ferreting out detailed nuggets of information. Ben Scallan is a witty but hard hitting scribe, a fearless interrogator and appears to be genuinely patriotic.
Unfortunately, this otherwise solid track record is sullied by McGuirk’s complete refusal to recognise the enormity of the damage wrought by the recent biotechnology assault and attendant totalitarian measures. Thank God for Patrick E. Walsh. Indeed, McGuirk is the fence-sitter par excellence. When times are changing and events unfolding as rapidly as they are, it’s quite a skill to be able to always find that sensible middle ground from which some comfortable condescension can then be dispensed.
While I haven’t assiduously followed all of Philip Dwyer’s work, to me he represents a perfect example of somebody who should have been left alone to get on with his life in peace. He is the embodiment of what is now a big, big problem for our appalling political establishment. Most people are apolitical and have no real interest in the “game” of politics. And who could blame them? I suspect that if our would be betters hadn’t gone full-blown authoritarian and decided to make enemies of their own people, we would never have heard of Philip Dwyer. But now he’s here and he’s not going away. And worse still, people are listening to him and watching his videos. Oh, the horrors!
When I look at Philip Dwyer, his demeanour, his approach to reporting what is going on in our country, it is clear that he is complete anathema to them. He reminds me of that corny software acronym, WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get. Honest. Direct. No frills. No posing or posturing. Hasn’t anyone told him that’s not how you’re supposed to be as an aspiring politician?! When I consider the prospect of voting for someone of that calibre, my view is pretty straightforward: I’d much rather vote for a novice who has my back than vote for an expert who has a knife in my back.
I think your gut instinct regarding McGuirk is correct when you observe “… I always get the sense he is hedging his bets in the event of a radical reform within RTÉ or the Irish Times, where he is given a top job”. Another of your comments was also rather uncomplimentary but gave me a good laugh: “his insufferable, incessant twerking at Montrose damages all that.” Not a pretty picture!
I’ll finish up with another quotation, this one straight from the great man himself. This is taken from an episode of McGuirk’s weekly podcast with former Fianna Fáil Dublin City Councillor, Sarah Ryan, THE WEEK THAT REALLY WAS. The episode in question was entitled THE ONGOING COVID HANGOVER, uploaded on November 3rd (and linked below, go to 41:29). "The mania that took over, really was, it was so classist in that we are obviously governed by a class of people like you and I. You and I would both comfortably fit into the Irish ruling class". Bingo!
There you go, the last comment proves the point. But yes Gript have done good work and Philip has done great work but is a monster entirely of their own making. We were chatting yesterday and we both said we would rather be doing anything else, but felt duty bound to get involved. I don’t know where the man gets his energy from.
You are spot on about McGurk I listen to him and Sarah on Fridays just to see what direction they are taking, on the odd occasion they sound like they have "got it" but then you realise they are playing very carefully. It is like they are trying to draw the like's of me in by giving a few fuck's into the conversation but then revert back to the positive thing's such and such a politician done , they eith don't get the shift or they are trying to draw us in to staying with what we have. I left a comment yesterday telling them how annoyed they didn't mention John Waters running as an MEP and that they should get Ben Scallon to interview him . They know he is running and an interview with JW would show they are willing to look at our side of the fence at least. I didn't know Phillip is running I wish him the best of luck.
Unbelievable piece of writing here Steve
Philip rang me and we just had a 2 hour phone discussion that would have made a great podcast. Must get him on for a chat in the near future.
I agree Stephen, but we must take small wins when we can. I have sometimes wondered if Mr McGuirke chooses some positions as a shield, (even for selfish reasons) like a fox covering himself in feathers to gain access to the henhouse to obtain a meal.
I do believe that we need a variety of people to get to where we want to go each with their own talents and approaches. Philip Dwyer is a rare exception, a man who has shown great fearlessness in the face of personal harm to highlight what others try to conceal and he has my respect and admiration for that.
Likened to a football team, Philip is the solid midfielder with the powerful kick and steely determination to launch the ball from a great distance and difficult angles toward the oppositions goalmouth. I see John McGuirke as the leaner agile man weaving around the goalmouth unthreateningly, who sometimes (not often successfully I might add) gets his fingertips to the ball kicked from midfield and slips it past the mainstream keeper into the damp sagging net of normie awareness.
In my opinion, without men like Philip Dwyer there'd be no John McGuike. Without John McGuirke there'd still be Philip Dwyer, but both have a role to play before the final whistle sounds.
I think youre right. The goalposts have been moved. Its a new spectrum/pendulum. RTE is dead.
Philip Dwyer is on the scale and McGuirk is somewhere else on the scale. Stephen Sutton is doin a great job holding McGuirks feet to the fire and deserves acknowlegement for exposing info sooner. The idea of whats acceptable reporting is in in flux, thankfully and theres room for different types now that RTE is dead.
Absolutely, Stephen is doing a fantastic job and has a brilliant succinct style of writing that is a pleasure to read.
Thanks folks
I agree with you. It’s disappointing to see this. McGuirk is keeping his distance while still subtly painting Philip Dwyer with the “far right” label. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. More power to Philip.
He’s still trapped in the mainstream paradigm although he claims to be an alternative
Great post Stephen! I certainly have mixed feelings about John McGuirk and some of Gript’s output. But on balance, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that, as a publication, Gript’s contribution over the past few years has been overwhelmingly positive. Regardless of McGuirk’s editorial stance or his possible long term ambitions, Gript has been an excellent source of reliable, objective information on several important topics. Gary Kavanagh and Matt Treacy are both very good researchers and are adept at ferreting out detailed nuggets of information. Ben Scallan is a witty but hard hitting scribe, a fearless interrogator and appears to be genuinely patriotic.
Unfortunately, this otherwise solid track record is sullied by McGuirk’s complete refusal to recognise the enormity of the damage wrought by the recent biotechnology assault and attendant totalitarian measures. Thank God for Patrick E. Walsh. Indeed, McGuirk is the fence-sitter par excellence. When times are changing and events unfolding as rapidly as they are, it’s quite a skill to be able to always find that sensible middle ground from which some comfortable condescension can then be dispensed.
While I haven’t assiduously followed all of Philip Dwyer’s work, to me he represents a perfect example of somebody who should have been left alone to get on with his life in peace. He is the embodiment of what is now a big, big problem for our appalling political establishment. Most people are apolitical and have no real interest in the “game” of politics. And who could blame them? I suspect that if our would be betters hadn’t gone full-blown authoritarian and decided to make enemies of their own people, we would never have heard of Philip Dwyer. But now he’s here and he’s not going away. And worse still, people are listening to him and watching his videos. Oh, the horrors!
When I look at Philip Dwyer, his demeanour, his approach to reporting what is going on in our country, it is clear that he is complete anathema to them. He reminds me of that corny software acronym, WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get. Honest. Direct. No frills. No posing or posturing. Hasn’t anyone told him that’s not how you’re supposed to be as an aspiring politician?! When I consider the prospect of voting for someone of that calibre, my view is pretty straightforward: I’d much rather vote for a novice who has my back than vote for an expert who has a knife in my back.
I think your gut instinct regarding McGuirk is correct when you observe “… I always get the sense he is hedging his bets in the event of a radical reform within RTÉ or the Irish Times, where he is given a top job”. Another of your comments was also rather uncomplimentary but gave me a good laugh: “his insufferable, incessant twerking at Montrose damages all that.” Not a pretty picture!
I’ll finish up with another quotation, this one straight from the great man himself. This is taken from an episode of McGuirk’s weekly podcast with former Fianna Fáil Dublin City Councillor, Sarah Ryan, THE WEEK THAT REALLY WAS. The episode in question was entitled THE ONGOING COVID HANGOVER, uploaded on November 3rd (and linked below, go to 41:29). "The mania that took over, really was, it was so classist in that we are obviously governed by a class of people like you and I. You and I would both comfortably fit into the Irish ruling class". Bingo!
https://gript.ie/podcasts/the-ongoing-covid-hangover/
There you go, the last comment proves the point. But yes Gript have done good work and Philip has done great work but is a monster entirely of their own making. We were chatting yesterday and we both said we would rather be doing anything else, but felt duty bound to get involved. I don’t know where the man gets his energy from.
You are spot on about McGurk I listen to him and Sarah on Fridays just to see what direction they are taking, on the odd occasion they sound like they have "got it" but then you realise they are playing very carefully. It is like they are trying to draw the like's of me in by giving a few fuck's into the conversation but then revert back to the positive thing's such and such a politician done , they eith don't get the shift or they are trying to draw us in to staying with what we have. I left a comment yesterday telling them how annoyed they didn't mention John Waters running as an MEP and that they should get Ben Scallon to interview him . They know he is running and an interview with JW would show they are willing to look at our side of the fence at least. I didn't know Phillip is running I wish him the best of luck.