The 'sketch' on the John Murray show was totally shocking and deeply offensive and hurtful to the Harte family. How it ever passed the editorial team on that show is baffling. I believe RTE should broadcast a full public apology to the Harte family, make a donation to the Michaela Fund and both parties should move on from there. Mickey is a very decent, Christian man who lost his only daughter and the trauma and grief will never leave him. My only criticism of him is that I don't believe he should have expressed opinions on who should have got certain sports jobs in RTE radio, that is for RTE to decide themselves.
Royal, you may be right about Irish unity not being a priority but if you think this is going to go away you are sadly mistaken. The Nationalist population in the North will equal the Unionist population within a decade and this topic will come to the fore even more in the near future. I also agree the 1916 commemorations were farcical as they emphasised a 26 county perspective which is what the signatories of the Proclamation most certainly did NOT envisage. Most of the events didn't even mention partition and it was if the 6 counties didn't even exist. Revisionism of the most sickening kind.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9705 - 25/04/2016 16:12:59    1849298

Non story - RTE behaved badly towards St Mickey and he has decided on his pathway and that's grand with me. Tyrone and indeed most in the north owe RTE nothing so TT lads..

Id swap the "predicament" Tyrone are apparently in for what happening in Down football any day of the week

Tim_Burr (Down) - Posts: 460 - 25/04/2016 16:25:50    1849317

First off no one is forbidding the Tyrone players not to talk to RTE, its their own decision in solidarity with their manager.

After what RTE done after the death of Mickey Hartes daughter he is dead right not to speak to them, if everyone in Tyrone decides the same then fair play to them. In todays world its refreshing to see a bit of solidarity rather than bowing to do the "right thing", the right thing would have been a fullsome public apology which they havent received, maybe RTE should answer the question why havent they done that?

The Brian Carthy issue is a secondary one which had the support of more than just Mickey Harte but he seems to be labelled with it. Brian Cody, Conor Counihan and Kieran Mc Geeney were others who adressed that issue and signed a letter of protest with Harte.

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1343 - 25/04/2016 16:29:42    1849321

An entirely fatuous analysis , followed by daft analogy.
Do you or do you not think that RTE owe MH and family an unreserved apology . ..?
Finsceal

There is no justification for a group punishment based on the actions of one faction in the group.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts:15436 - 25/04/2016 15:54:12 1849282

Oh totally agreed - but maybe your post was edited - In this case RTE has not publicly distanced or condemned the actions of said 'employed faction ' ergo ,in essence, there is no faction - Just RTE.

So .. again .. its a brainless analogy . .

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 25/04/2016 16:39:03    1849331

Considering they didn't condemn him or publicly distance themselves from his show I would say they ow him an apology. They handled it very badly.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 25/04/2016 16:48:33    1849346

Thanks for the show of solidarity MedwayIrish. Although I'd just say that Lynagh was,I'm sure,a proud Monaghan man.

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 25/04/2016 16:51:41    1849350

Well said Ulsterman

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1676 - 25/04/2016 16:53:41    1849354

Yeah he was from Monaghan Town, Seanie, that's why I called him an honourary Tyrone man :)

MedwayIrish (Wexford) - Posts: 2324 - 25/04/2016 17:04:01    1849361

Lol medway,I know what you meant. Just wouldn't want our Monaghan neighbours to think we were being mischievous :)

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 25/04/2016 18:26:32    1849401

I'm intrigued as to why the Down folks are so desperate to hear the views of a man they clearly dislike about a county they have absolutely no respect for! All of this of course could be a means of distraction from the slow but sure demise of Down football, they should really be concentrating on the real issues like trying to bring the Down footballers up a notch, which in my book brings them up to notch one.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 25/04/2016 18:33:59    1849408

I don't know that anyone on the Tyrone team has been forbidden from talking to RTE, I think they just choose not to as a show of solidarity with their manager. That's commendable, in my opinion. RTE should be utterly ashamed of what was said on their airwaves in light of Michaela Harte's death. If I was Mickey Harte, I wouldn't speak to them either.

ZeitChrist (UK) - Posts: 154 - 25/04/2016 18:39:18    1849411

Seannie let me be quite clear I was at the commemorations as my grandfather was involved in 1916. However like everything else times change and things move on, people in the republic dont want to pay for water that they use, how is anyone going to get them to pay substantially higher taxes for a united ire, that and moving into eurozone and automatic takes on all eu treaty's etc would be a logistical nightmare, the only notable advantage would be sentimental reason, it won't happen Imo , the Celtic tiger left a us v them attitude in many, and uniting the country would be difficult no matter what sentimental attitude would be, people now think with their pockets.
Um I agree Catholics will outnumber protestant in near future but research has shown that even Catholics would be split on a border poll, and as I said there is no guarantee that it would pass in the 26, this is same electorate that refused to have less politicians in a non elected seanead on 75k+ expenses. How the hell that didn't pass ill never know, there is no senate reform it was never on the agenda but people voted for it, doesn't make sense. Now I'm not getting into a political discussion just merely pointing out that the 26 may pay lip service to a united ire (including all political parties) but when the cost of same is giving to the people they will find it very hard to vote to pay more. Not me personally just pointing out the reality of what is the modern mindset.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 25/04/2016 19:35:31    1849438

For the record RTE did issue an apology for a stupid/insensitive sketch weeks after Michaela's death but it was deemed worthless by follow up comments by the presenter a few days later of "it was only fun , where is your sense of humour ?"
I gather that there is no ban on players talking to the broadcaster but many of the now senior players would have been close to Michaela and may feel a sense of loyalty.
I do feel that Tyrone got harsh treatment from RTEs pundits e.g "puke football", "eat my hat if Tyrone win an AI with BD on board", " don't talk to me of SK as a man", " bad smell" etc .. no hint of an apology after any of this. I like Michael Lyster as well but the only time that he and RTE objected to a panelist's comment was when one of their own (Marty) was insulted .. cue a statement/apology from RTE. Makes me wonder what their agenda is?

Curlew66 (Roscommon) - Posts: 506 - 25/04/2016 20:10:47    1849458

Royaldunne, I agree with you about modern society but not everyone is a selfish, feck you I'm alright capitalist who only know how to judge a situation by how it looks on a balance sheet.

Also, you're talking as if the north would be a horrendous financial ball and chain to the rest of Ireland but I would point out you're also looking, in respect of unification, at (excluding kids, unemployed etc), what, a million and a half additional working people who would all be paying taxes into the Irish economy, not the British economy.

MedwayIrish (Wexford) - Posts: 2324 - 25/04/2016 20:14:51    1849462

Royaldunne, I agree with you about modern society but not everyone is a selfish, feck you I'm alright capitalist who only know how to judge a situation by how it looks on a balance sheet.

Also, you're talking as if the north would be a horrendous financial ball and chain to the rest of Ireland but I would point out you're also looking, in respect of unification, at (excluding kids, unemployed etc), what, a million and a half additional working people who would all be paying taxes into the Irish economy, not the British economy.

MedwayIrish (Wexford) - Posts:855 - 25/04/2016 20:14:51

A report from a finance expert in 2012 stated that "The running cost of Northern Ireland is £20bn a year of which we contribute about £9bn in taxes. The balance comes from the British Exchequer"

jimski (Kildare) - Posts: 381 - 25/04/2016 20:25:16    1849466

Big bad Tyrone will not "roll over" to the RTE sports dept. That is one of the reasons Tyrone will be in the All Ireland reckoning again this year.
Alex Ferguson did'nt talk to Match of the Day. He regarded it as Pro Liverpool TV. It certainly never effected him or his team.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2520 - 25/04/2016 20:28:29    1849470

Couldn't care less.

I have yet to hear an interview with a manager after a game that was worth listening to.

They should take a leaf from Tyrones stance and cut back on a lot of the analysis as well,

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 25/04/2016 20:41:31    1849481

Well said Curlew66

cuchulainn35 (Armagh) - Posts: 1676 - 25/04/2016 21:06:48    1849489

I agree with M Hart on his stance against RTE. I admire the Tyrone players for not talking either and being 100 per cent behind M Hart
After the 2011 semi final against Dublin J McGuinness got some stick about how he set up Donegal( to me the sad thing was we did not win) The media in Dublin plus the Irish examiner went to town on Donegal. After the fallout from the game JMcG told them all , P Spillane included that when Donegal went training in Castlefin on a winters night they would not be too worried about what Spillane or the media thought about Donegal All that mattered was the county team , management and Donegal supporters and how they played ---- no ones else business
They same applies to Tyrone and fair play to them for taking this stand and for staying loyal to M Hart
I'd say before 2003 no other county who had never won Sam wanted it more than Tyrone
To win one and make the breakthrough was a fantastic achievement but to add two more was incredible
Micky Hart was the man who led Tyrone to the promised land and Tyrone fans owe the mana massive debt
So I would surely think they will stand by him
Royaldunn
I agree with what you say about unification and know myself a lot of people are not bothered about a united Ireland Typical what has happened over the last 10 to 15 years and as you say 'people now think with their pockets'
What about the men or women who gave their lives or spent lengthy spells in jail--- they did not think about their pockets
Also good posts by Medwayirish and seanie boy
As a Man who has spent 48 years in Britain, I and many other emigrants here from all over Ireland never gave up on a 32 County Ireland
To see Donegal won the all Ireland and to see a united Ireland were my two great wishes----one wish has come through but I doubt I will go to the grave without seeing the other one

SamOnErrigal (Donegal) - Posts: 1427 - 25/04/2016 21:09:59    1849492

A report from a finance expert in 2012 stated that "The running cost of Northern Ireland is £20bn a year of which we contribute about £9bn in taxes. The balance comes from the British Exchequer"
jimski (Kildare)

Oh well fair enough then. If "a finance expert" said it then it must be true. I mean, they've never been wrong and had to be bailed out to the tune of billions have they?

MedwayIrish (Wexford) - Posts: 2324 - 25/04/2016 21:11:12    1849493