Dear Madam, - I generally don’t get too involved involved in what the Impartial Reporter prints or indeed doesn’t print. However on Thursday, May 28 I felt your newspaper breached the so-called impartiality clause with a bombardment of coverage given to the GAA.
As a Protestant reader, I and many from my community have become somewhat disillusioned with the amount of coverage the GAA takes up in your newspaper on a weekly basis but on May 28 not only were readers subjected to a mini newspaper exclusively about the GAA but the sports pages were also dominated with GAA coverage. The merit to such extreme coverage is farcical due to the fact it was linked to a home Ulster Championship game Fermanagh were expected to easily win. However something I did not know was that Fermanagh, despite weekly coverage dominating the sports section of your newspaper, has never won this competition.
It should be noted that when Fermanagh GAA were running riot over an unfavoured Antrim at Brewster park, 405 Orange members accompanied by 115 band members were participating in a very dignified memorial church parade and service in Enniskillen to remember and honour 31 Brethren who were murdered at the hands of Republican terrorists.
The 31 murders were all so called unsolved cases of the Troubles but were emblematic of Republican ethnic cleansing in Fermanagh. It was therefore extremely hurtful and disgraceful that around 50 GAA followers/members shouted sectarian abuse at the people on parade including IRA chants. This is becoming a regular occurrence at this parade.
Will Fermanagh GAA be condemning this behaviour?
As an Orangeman with a more liberal outlook on the GAA than many in my community, I have toyed with the idea of attending a GAA match. However Sunday’s antics not only upset me but turned me off this organisation and I await with interest the collective response of the GAA community in Fermanagh to this event. Fermanagh GAA may have won on the pitch but they suffered a heavy defeat off it.
I will conclude this letter with this thought, if the Impartial Reporter is serious about its name then it needs to balance its coverage to include more from the Protestant and Unionist cultural scene including parades otherwise your newspaper faces becoming a parody. Have the courage to print my letter!
Yours faithfully, Bemused Orangeman Dear Madam, - I generally don’t get too involved involved in what the Impartial Reporter prints or indeed doesn’t print. However on Thursday, May 28 I felt your newspaper breached the so-called impartiality clause with a bombardment of coverage given to the GAA.
As a Protestant reader, I and many from my community have become somewhat disillusioned with the amount of coverage the GAA takes up in your newspaper on a weekly basis but on May 28 not only were readers subjected to a mini newspaper exclusively about the GAA but the sports pages were also dominated with GAA coverage. The merit to such extreme coverage is farcical due to the fact it was linked to a home Ulster Championship game Fermanagh were expected to easily win. However something I did not know was that Fermanagh, despite weekly coverage dominating the sports section of your newspaper, has never won this competition.
It should be noted that when Fermanagh GAA were running riot over an unfavoured Antrim at Brewster park, 405 Orange members accompanied by 115 band members were participating in a very dignified memorial church parade and service in Enniskillen to remember and honour 31 Brethren who were murdered at the hands of Republican terrorists.
The 31 murders were all so called unsolved cases of the Troubles but were emblematic of Republican ethnic cleansing in Fermanagh. It was therefore extremely hurtful and disgraceful that around 50 GAA followers/members shouted sectarian abuse at the people on parade including IRA chants. This is becoming a regular occurrence at this parade.
Will Fermanagh GAA be condemning this behaviour?
As an Orangeman with a more liberal outlook on the GAA than many in my community, I have toyed with the idea of attending a GAA match. However Sunday’s antics not only upset me but turned me off this organisation and I await with interest the collective response of the GAA community in Fermanagh to this event. Fermanagh GAA may have won on the pitch but they suffered a heavy defeat off it.
I will conclude this letter with this thought, if the Impartial Reporter is serious about its name then it needs to balance its coverage to include more from the Protestant and Unionist cultural scene including parades otherwise your newspaper faces becoming a parody. Have the courage to print my letter!
Yours faithfully, Bemused Orangeman
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