Madam, – Why didn’t Enda Kenny come up with an original speech on Monday in College Green? Instead we got a facsimile of a speech from another time, another culture (and a better speaker). What Ireland needs right now are new perspectives, fresh ideas and originality – not rehashed copies of what’s come before. Wait a minute . . . – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is hard to understand what is behind the charges against Enda Kenny over his speech welcoming Barack Obama to Ireland. The media could never be so stupid as not to see that Mr Kenny was simply and deliberately repeating and imitating Obama in clear recognition of the American president’s inspiring leadership in the world.
We, the people, understood perfectly what our Taoiseach was doing. The media understood too but want to create controversy in order to sell their newspapers and airtime space. What a disgraceful contribution at the end of such a historic week! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – He came not to barrack Obama but to plagiarise him. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I watched Taoiseach Enda Kenny and President Barack Obama’s speeches earlier this week, and was surprised to see Mr Kenny borrow so liberally from Mr Obama’s presidential victory speech. We are famed for our literary ability in “the land of saints and scholars”; such laziness and unprofessionalism from high-ranked Government speechwriters is embarrassing. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – There we have it. Enda was not speaking to the nation, he was flattering Mr Obama. As we all know, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As soon as I heard that Enda Kenny’s reference to Mr Obama’s speech was deemed as plagiarism my thoughts were: first, Mr Kenny is not so foolish; and second, it was because Mr Obama was behind him that he used it.
I could not believe that all of the supposedly noted and well-established journalists could not even see that! Instead, they chose to undermine our new Taoiseach at a time when he’s trying to boost the morale of the country. It’s little more than tabloid journalism.
I am a 17-year-old student and never thought for a moment that Mr Kenny’s speech was plagiarism. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was very pleasantly surprised to hear An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, deliver such a powerful and passionate speech to the crowds in College Green on Monday before he introduced President Barack Obama. My delight was shortlived, however, as I learned on Wednesday that Mr Kenny had used direct quotes from President Obama’s inaugural address. Was this blatant plagiarism or, as Mr Kenny claimed today, a tribute to the American president? Sadly, I must concur that Mr Kenny committed an act of plagiarism.
When one quotes from text written by another, one is expected to attribute the quotation used to its original author. If this is not done then one is claiming the words used as one’s own. This is basic etiquette and applies across the board. It is even more urgently applicable when the speech in question is being delivered by An Taoiseach, is being broadcast around the world and, when the words being used belong to the President of the United States, who just happens to be standing right behind you at the time. Mr President, he quite literally took the words right out of your mouth. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The rapturous reception accorded President Obama thrilled the hearts of those of us whose ancestors were forced to take the boat. And the accusation that Taoiseach Enda Kenny plagiarised some of President Obama’s words also gave us great comfort to know that whingeing and begrudgery are still alive and well in Ireland (“Kenny plagiarism claim denied”, Breaking News, May 24th).
This plagiarism claim reminded us of our experience while living in Ireland in 2002 when then taoiseach Bertie Ahern lashed out at the press for attacking his proposed national stadium, “the Bertie Bowl” and said, “I’ll not have it whinged to death in the press”. The next day, RTÉ had a contest for the greatest whinge uttered in Ireland. The winner was Pegeen Mike’s famous lament: “Oh my grief, I’ve lost him surely. I’ve lost the only Playboy of the Western World”.
It seems to us that if there is anyone out there who still doubts that Ireland is a place where a good whinge is still possible; who still wonders if the begrudgery of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of poaching a good line, this allegation and your headline (“Kenny plagiarism claim denied”, Breaking News, May 24th) are your answer. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Of all the speeches on College Green on May 23rd, the words that resonated most strongly with me were those from Brendan Gleeson. His talk of looking up rather than at the ground, of breathing, of realising that although this is an imperfect, currently banjaxed country, it is our imperfect, currently banjaxed country. That Ireland and her people are so much more than an entry in an IMF/EU ledger.
Aside from a small self-manufactured elite and their acolytes (many of whom bear responsibility for our national crisis), everyone in our Republic is suffering at this moment; financially, mentally or simply quietly. “Yours is the harder course I can see. On the other hand, mine is happening to me”, as Philip Larkin noted.
The sage contribution from Mr Gleeson will not help pay credit cards nor will it clear negative equity. It will not keep the wolves from the door (be they in the form of solicitors’ letters, final demands or come with a loan-shark’s malice). No words can do that.
What I do hope Mr Gleeson’s words have done is to reaffirm to people (as they did to me) that while we’re all facing desperate challenges, there is also a future for this country and every person on this rock has both a place and a stake in building it.
Bloody sure we can, indeed. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – On the day Barack Obama left Ireland, many flights were delayed: mine, arrived in Dublin Airport three hours late, at 10.30pm. It was a cold, windy evening. Also waiting for the airport bus for Belfast were children in shorts and a lady who was terminally ill. Everyone was cold, some very cold. A bus finally arrived, already full, after 1am and lifted only three of the 30 people there. The driver did his best, but the company had apparently cancelled two of the hourly scheduled services “to take the gardaí home”, leaving adults and children who had got off delayed flights without information or protection from the weather. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In view of the chaotic scenes and poor crowd management in College Green, Dame Street and the surrounding areas, one wonders why Mr Obama was not invited to speak to more people at either Croke Park or the Aviva Stadium – would the image have not suited his election campaign advisers? Why close off the centre city when these wonderful modern arenas used to accommodating large attendances (built with taxpayers’ help) were available and could have accommodated many more of the public in comfort? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As a Belgian living in Ireland for 34 years, I was perplexed – and disappointed – by the absence of an EU flag on top of the Bank of Ireland on College Green on Monday. There were three masts, one flying the Stars and Stripes, the other two flying the Irish Tricolour. Was this a deliberate action or a faux-pas? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – May I correct John O’Connor (May 25th), who stated that one hour on Irish roads was too much for Barack Obama’s limousine. The incident occurred on an American road on American soil in Ballsbridge. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It should be noted that while Barack Obama basks in the adulation of the Irish media, he is held in low regard among progressives in the United States and Canada. In Windsor, we live across the river from Detroit where banks bailed out by the Bush and Obama administrations still foreclose on mortgages. Windsor is an outpost observing the American empire.
There is no discernable difference between the monstrous Bush regime and its policy of torture and complicity in crimes against humanity and the Obama regime. Obama came to power with a promise of change because of the hard work of millions who believed in him. They had the same sense of hope in him as I’m sure the 50,000 people in your country did listening to him speak in Dublin. All that hope has been betrayed. Today, Obama is just another celebrated assassin, with regular drone attacks in Pakistan and a military hit squad sent to kill Osama Bin Laden. He presides over the Guantánamo gulag and the illegal wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He protects Israel even as that country continues to commit atrocities against the Palestinians. He protects the same bankers who caused the global economic disaster that Ireland is a victim of. Why cheer this man? His high-sounding rhetoric has fallen flat for North Americans who can see a servant of the global power elites when they see one.
I’m sure many in Ireland shunned Obama’s visit as surely as they did the Queen’s. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In your Editorial (“Obama’s different visit”, May 24th) you suggest that the recent visit by the President of the United States of America was somehow different to others.
Not so, as once again one of the main events on the Obama itinerary was a visit to a pub: just like presidential visits by Clinton and Reagan before him. Indeed in keeping with our national fascination with alcohol, last week’s visit by the British monarch also included a visit to a brewery.
Contrast this with today’s visit in Britain by President Obama, where he visited a school – instead of a pub.
State visits are major opportunities to present Ireland as a modern knowledge-based economy and forward-thinking society. However, if we want to be taken seriously, we are going to have think bigger and show more imagination than bringing visiting world leaders “down the pub”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Who’s coming next week? – Yours, etc,