I was sorry to read of the death of Seamus Heaney but am no fan of his work. The BBC went into a paroxysm of activity, with Andrew Marr telling us this morning Heaney had been our greatest living writer! Talk about hyperbole. I have endured a stream of abuse from alleged Heaney fans for simply suggesting that IN MY OPINION, Heaney was dire. But that’s beside the point. What irritated me was the BBC 10 News on Friday evening repeatedly stated that Heaney was born in “County Derry”. There is NO such place. He was born in County Londonderry, the only name for that county. Why did the BBC feel the need to repeat Irish Republican slang? Can’t they be bothered to actually research what they say?
SEAMUS HEANEY
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Bless. I have family all over co Antrim & Londonderry – all Presbyterian, none Republican – and none of them give a fig about whether people call it Derry or Londonderry, as long as they’re not disrespectful about the place they love.
I learned from a very young age that the people who get so het up about the name have their priorities in the wrong place.
awww bless, you’ve obviously never been the bogside or a load of other places in Londonderry where calling it Londonderry will get you killed
oh and btw its deeply offensive to the vast majoroty of people in Northern Ireland to call Londonderry “Derry”. Lots of people have died to protect it. but you probably think PIRA bombers are Hot and class them as freedom fighters
its deeply offensive to the vast majoroty of people in Northern Ireland to call Londonderry “Derry”
Well, you know all about being deeply offensive, of course, considering how many times you’ve descended to base abuse on this site. But hey.
im only abusive to leftist terrorist supporting scumbags like you Scott, you traitor
‘vast majority’? You mean the 48% of the population that is Protestant? Or rather the smaller proportion that get worked up about such things? Having lived and worked in Stroke City, where 75% of the population is now Catholic, I know that most of the locals would disagree with you. That said, David is actually right, since there’s no such entity as County Derry (the local council calls the city Derry, however). I disagree with him about Heaney, though. It’s not often that a poet pleases the critics and also sells huge numbers of books, and there is a reason when it happens.
yeah derry city, majority catholic thats why its called Derry. its a dump isnt it compared to the waterside. we used to call the people there bograts. most of them were grasses for a british army unit called the forces research unit.
i spent 2 and half years walking the streets there, i even threw a few paint bombs at the free derry wall as well when off duty. happy dayz
Vast majority !!
43.8% catholic versus 48.1% all other christian!
And in Derry it is massively catholic.
Heaney was a great poet. The Nobel prize in literature is a big deal and he was a professor at Oxford and Harvard.
The IRA where terrorist. But when will you self-righteous a……s accept that you ran a nasty little Jim Crow shit hole called Ulster, with all the apparatus of segregation and second class citizenry for one part of the population.
Its County Derry. So go beat your tribal drum and wear you Orange sash like the good little minded bigot you really are.
Oi! Bassists are seen and not heard so back in yer box bass boy.
Pretty poor trolling today.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Well said Scott.
His work made me finally ‘get’ Tennysonn et al. He spoke to me with lyrical effortless that brought me much joy. I think his passing was handled very well and as such think the post was vindictive.
I rarely drink Bushmills but did raise one in honout
I’ve read his work and I found it pants.
I’ve read your posts which seem to include an obsession with excrement. Deep issues.
Good job you don’t exist then ain’t it? as we can ignore you !
I hate the IRA. I hate them for how they hijacked a peaceful civil rights movement. I also hate them because they allowed nasty hate filled protestants some moral high ground to spread their hatred of catholics.
‘…they allowed nasty hate filled protestants some moral high ground to spread their hatred of catholics.’
Would that be all protestants? Were there no protestant-hating catholics outside of the IRA membership?
Yes there were some. But for the republicans it was hatred of the British and protestants because they wanted ireland to be ruled by the irish. For the protestants it was hatred of the catholics because they simply hated catholics. After all, that is why the english chose those lovely scottish presbyterians to settle ulster.
I suspect that Vance is one of these. I met loads when I worked in belfast. And what was most ironic was that these bigots all had little fish symbols on their cars signifying that they were christians when they were about as christian as osama bin laden.
In all my time there I never met a catholic who hated a protestant because of his religion. But I met loads of protestants who despised catholics.
“In all my time there I never met a catholic who hated a protestant because of his religion.”
Very imaginative use of violence for people who don’t hate. You were never asked by a Catholic (usually within the first five minutes) which school you went to?
And ask a few Italian Catholics what they think of their Irish brethren.
Of course I played the game of “guess my religion”. Everyone does. But it’s not done by catholics to hate. It’s just done so that you know what you can and cannot say. For example a protestant meeting another protestant will call it “county derry”. But when he meets a catholic it becomes “county londonderry”.
I’m sure you know perfectly well that Catholicism has its own bloody history. Ireland simply carried on the tradition longer than most.
Say what you like, I’ve seen the snarling faces directed at Protestant children. I’m not defending Protestants but to argue that they hold a monopoly on hate is ridiculous.
A while back when I earned my corn as a lowly Translink PR lackie, An elderly portuguese couple were refused seats imon a coach from Belfast and Londonderry because they proffered their tender asking for ‘Derry! Por favor.
A:No such place.
They missed the bus. Cashier disciplined but not dismissed. That is my most striking image when this farcical nonsense rears its head.
‘After all, that is why the english chose those lovely scottish presbyterians to settle ulster.
Really? Nothing to do with a Scottish king then?
“nasty hate filled protestants”
He typed through gritted blood flecked teeth
And horribly whitened fingers
will I be published ,do you think?
I was once in Antrim trying to hoik a server into the back of a rented Mini Metro (gee thanks rent-a-wreck Belfast) when two blokes in balaclavas jumped out of the bushes, baseball bats I hand.
‘What religion are you?’ They asked.
Now I immediately thought if I said Protestant they’d be Catholics and beat the crap out of me. Conversely, if I said Catholic then they could be Protestants – and beat the crap out of me.
So, with a hint of ‘aren’t I a clever dick’ I said ‘ I’m Jewish.’
Then one of them said ‘Well bejabus! Aren’t we the luckiest Muslims in all Ireland … ‘
IGMC
Yes you probably read a few lines this morning just so you could dismiss it without lying. And you wanted to hate it because that is how you are.
Of the 28 likes, how many of you read Heaney before today?
It was the BBC’s none stop propaganda in the 80’s on behalf of the republican side in Ulster that made me realise what a biased, anti British lot they were. Since then the BBC has become increasingly bold and now flaunt their liberal left, metropolitan, bias without restriction across a wide range of issues and causes.
Immigration is their number one cause at present, their best opportunity to parade their liberal consciences to the world. At every opportunity they try and ram the message home that immigration is a good thing and we have a moral duty to support it in order to atone for our past sins . Anyone who disagrees is a racist , which in their book is the worst possible crime ever imaginable. No debate is allowed, no facts ever broadcast which may give rise to doubt, no consideration ever given to how this monstrous social engineering experiment may end, other than we will all be enriched, live better lives and be happier than ever. It might as well be something that years ago would have been on Children’s Hour.
Poor Vance
He’s found no support for his view on Heaney so he comes to the last hope for hate left (and where his socks reside).
” Heaney was dire.”
Which is why he won the Nobel, was a Prof at Harvard., sold large quantities of books and was genuinely liked. What have you achieved beyond distributing yoghurt?
He was a Catholic born in Northern Ireland who considered himself Irish. But he was first and most an Ulsterman:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/editors-viewpoint/editors-viewpoint-seamus-heaney-a-legend-whose-genius-will-live-on-forever-29540575.html
You aren’t anything. You have no identity as you don’t consider yourself Irish. Ian Paisley considers himself Irish. And is British. You can be both.
You go at the BBC is particular reprehensible after the all the time and trouble the BBC took when Radio One visited Derry/Londonderry and constantly referred to it as such. (Heaney would have considered it Derry of course.)
Take a hint: the reason for the abuse on twitter is apart from a few equally lost souls here, no-one shares your views on anything.
How sad.
How sad you came you bleated we laughed !
‘You aren’t anything. You have no identity as you don’t consider yourself Irish.’
There’s no arguing with bollocks like that.
I found Heaney a god awful poet and I am entitled to my opinion. Personally he could have been been born in County Durham for all I care – he is [IMO] still a superficial writer with little talent and lots of ego; but with an ability to use a lot of words to say almost nothing – which tells you all you need to know why the BBC thought he was wonderful.
He had a wonderful use of the english language. Some of his early stuff is wonderful. The imagery, the rhythms and so on. And I have never known him to be full of ego. He is a modest man with a huge talent.
“…Which is why he won the Nobel, was a Prof at Harvard., sold large quantities of books and was genuinely liked.”
A typical example of an ‘Appeal to Authority’ – a tactic so beloved of the ridiculous, pompous Left. ‘He won all these prizes – look! – he must be a genius/expert/better than you, etc).
Yeah, sure. Next thing you’ll be telling us that the sainted Al Gore – Climate Alarmist-in-Chief) is an ‘expert climate scientist’ because, well, you know, he won that Nobel prize an’ all, right?
Why are the Left quite so repulsive?
I don’t know anything about the literary quality of Seamus Heaney (I am not familiar with any of his poems) but I know that the BBC determine merit entirely on political grounds, and so given the uncritical adulation he has received on the BBC since his death I assumed that he ticks sufficient numbers of boxes for the Left to view him as an approved writer.
“write whatever you like”. Thanks Mr Heaney. But will we all get to be published?
“God is a foreman with certain definite views
Who orders life in shifts of work and leisure” – dickhead.
How about this for a bit of parody :
“Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon.
The hillside blushed, soaked in our broken wave.
They buried us without shroud or coffin
And in August… the barley grew up out of our grave.”
That’s what islam is doing to Christians and without any sense of irony by either him or those who purport to lead us.
“Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon.
dire, drivel, makes `The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay` seem sophisticated.
given his butcher’s republic passport preference, the words were probably intended as an insult to the dead.
no doubt the reaction of critics made him die laughing.
Well, for Beeboids, Heaney passes the basic political test for its approval: being anti-British.
My test of his worth is that of Kevin Rowland/Dexys Midnight Runners…another plastic paddy like myself.
In his list of great Irish poets and writers(Dance Stance), I don`t hear the name of Seamus Heaney in the rollcall…but it might be there, so I reserve judgement.
That said-Tom Paulin is THE worst Irish poet/writer…so Heaney could only be good in comparison.
Sounds like they’re having a dry run for the death of St Nelson.
Apparently, unlike with the deaths of certain people, the BBC doesn’t feel the need to include any balance this time (although it is kind of cute how liberals still think Ivy league credentials and a Nobel prize mean something to normal people outside of their weirdo cult).
If Harold Shipman had left behind a book of obscene limericks about Lady Thatcher, lefty academics would be hailing him as a tortured artist with a dark side.
Yes. Churchill only got his nobel prize in literature for being a lefty.
Seamus Heaney my arse, he was the embodiment of everything the faux political elite class as art. Here is
something that puts everything he wrote to shame, yet the so called ethical lattes drinkers wouldn’t even stick their noses up at it:
Take time to see the wonders of the world
To see the things you’ve only ever heard of
Dream life the way you think it ought to be
See things you thought you’d never ever see
Take a cruise to China
Or a train to Spain
Go round the world
Again and again
Meet a girl on a boat
Meet a boy on a train
And fall in love
Without the pain
Everybody needs love and adventure
Everybody needs cash to spend
Everybody needs love and affection
Everybody needs 2 or 3 friends
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
Take a lift to the top of the Empire State
Take a drive across the Golden Gate
March, march, march across Red Square
Do all the things you’ve ever dared
Everybody needs love and adventure
Everybody needs cash to spend
Everybody needs love and affection
Everybody needs 2 or 3 friends
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
Like fun and money and food and love
And things you never thought of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
New York, ice cream, TV, travel, good times
Norman Wisdom, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, good times
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
These are the things
These are the things
The things that dreams are made of
Well if you like utterly banal repetitious mediocrity, knock yourself out. But if you think that rubbish has a tenth of the artistry of this, you’re an idiot.
They seem hundreds of years away. Brueghel,
You’ll know them if I can get them true.
They kneel under the hedge in a half-circle
Behind a windbreak wind is breaking through.
They are the seed cutters. The tuck and frill
Of leaf-sprout is on the seed potates
Buried under that straw. With time to kill,
They are taking their time. Each sharp knife goes
Lazily halving each root that falls apart
In the palm of the hand: a milky gleam,
And, at the centre, a dark watermark.
Oh, calendar customs! Under the broom
Yellowing over them, compose the frieze
With all of us there, our anonymities.
Fine. But what’s he on about?
Is this the best you can offer, Fred?
‘Miss Walls would tell us how
The daddy frog was called a bullfrog
And how he croaked and how the mammy frog
Laid hundreds of little eggs and this was
Frogspawn. You could tell the weather by frogs too
For they were yellow in the sun and brown
In rain.’
Reads more like the diary of a 7 year-old than Wordsworth.
That’s the whole friggin point of that section. It is supposed to sound like the diary of a seven year old.
‘For they were yellow in the sun…..
Yeh, right.
The great potato famine, at a guess. You know, the one half the world believes was the fault of the English.
The cause was not your fault. But you did nothing to help.
That’s because the country was still bankrupted by the Napoleonic wars
But despite that millions of pounds in aid was raised by public appeal ,mainly by protestant churches and the Irish middle class did?
‘But you did nothing to help.
One million Irish immigrants? Are you avin a larf? Call that nothing?
Yep. We built your railways for you. I suppose you want us to pay. And we have a million scottish immigrants in british occupied ulster who stole their land from the irish.
You took our jobs and housing, which is why you caused so much unrest not to mention rioting. Then there was America, where you persecuted American black citizens who you felt less deserving of jobs than the newly-landed Irish immigrants.
But hang on, you said we did nothing to help. So you do acknowledge the lifeline of jobs and housing 1 million Irish found in England then?
Any road up (no pun intended), don’t let me keep you from perpetuating the world’s best eternal victimhood story.
PS Who bailed you out of your financial mess to the tune of £7 billion? (clue: it wasn’t the legendary ‘40 million Irish Americans’ – they couldn’t give a stuff).
What did the Irish ,in the republic eat before , us English bought over the potato in the Elizabethan Period ? Why the f**k did they not go back to the diet they had pre Drake & Raleigh,no doubt us English would of done that too ! You can`t blame us for everything & after all we gave the Irish something else to eat , & when the f***king crop fails we get the blame , its not on !
Fred, sorry to bother you with this but
The Scoti were an Irish tribe, some of whom invaded Scotland, some of whose descendants decided to return home.
Typical beeb, when they’re not agitating for war in Syria, they’re stirring it up in Ulster.
His translation of Beowulf was good. As with Ted Hughes, you either like that sort of unrhymed ‘modern’ poetry or you don’t.
Personally I’m more of a Philip Larkin man myself.
Does a decent translation of Beowulf (who he?) make anyone worth the adulation the BBC has been giving Heaney ?
Now Cliff Morgan – THERE was a real figure who died this week, a man with multiple achievements and folk popularity
Who he! The first hero of English literature
And by the way Heany’s translation is both a gimmick and gimmicky
(and yes I have read it)
Hwæt!. Must agree with you there. the Penguin Classics version has more life than Heany’s attempt.
Attend!
We have heard of the thriving of the throne of Denmark,
how the folk-kings flourished in former days,
how the royal athelings earned that glory.
or Heany:
So, the Spear-Danes in days gone by
and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.
He couldn’t even start with ‘Listen!’ a staple of many an Anglo-Saxon poem.
It’s much better in Anglo-Saxon:
Hwæt!
We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Heany’s translation was a calculated insult. Motivated by that hatred of the English that his admirers on here ,and at the BBC love so much
Despite what Marr said would Heaney have considered himself ‘our’ anything? Or does ‘our’ just mean the whole English speaking world?
I knew next to nothing about Heaney and am incurious to know more.
Seamus Heany – A Tribute
Class them as freedom fighters,
apart from a few equally lost souls.
Disrespectful about the place they love.
A paroxysm of activity,
you’ve descended to base abuse.
There is a reason when it happens
which may give rise to doubt.
Ethical latte drinkers
with little talent and lots of ego,
incurious to know more,
class them as freedom fighters.
Intended as an insult to the dead,
why are the Left quite so repulsive?
My thanks to all who (unknowingly) contributed.
Talk about going off on a tangent! There is no such thing as ‘County Derry’ so it’s simply a question of accuracy. It DOES matter when you get things wrong, regardless of whether locals approve.
You are the banjo-plucker from Deliverance and I claim my 5 pounds.
You know, I put up a post simply pointing out a plain inaccuracy, and how it could be seen to indicate a bias in a political direction, and I am called a hateful moron and two people like it. To be honest, it takes away my motivation to write at times. I wonder will anyone “like” this?
Just seems a bit sad that a man who reached the pinnacle of his field, who happened to love his country has passed and sectarianism becomes the main focus. I can’t recall if Larkins passing was featured heavily on the news. I feel sure it did.