Since the sacking by The Herald newspaper of journalist Graham Spiers and blogger Angela Haggerty (after only eight weeks in her first real job – the CV is looking good Angie!), a plethora of previously unheard of amateur social commentators have appeared to voice their one-sided and misguided opinions.
More often than not, a quick Google search uncovers that these slanted and often dishonest souls are part of the diminishing group “The Friends of Phil” (Phil of course being the “tarred with a sickening sectarian brush” blogger Phil What-ever-his-latest-name-is).
Most recent to jump aboard the meandering three-wheeled Phil-wagon is one Robin Smith, or as he has re-branded himself Bob Smith-Walker (what is it with the Celtic-Minded and changing their names?). Use of the aforementioned Google reveals Mr. Smith-Walker to be the publisher of Celtic-supporter Phil’s literary flop “Downfall”, a low-sales book about eh.... Rangers. The hilarious tome is best summed up by reproducing The Scotsman newspapers review:
“The sirens started to sound at the first of several references to Rangers supporters as “the Ibrox klan”. The author makes no attempt to disguise his hatred for Rangers, stating at one stage “please let this football club die”. And yet he yearns to be taken seriously as a journalist, repeatedly complaining that no-one from the mainstream media ever calls him. As the tale unravels, Mac Giolla Bhain starts to disappear up his own rear, declaring: “I am aware of my own contribution and I rather like the guy I see in the shaving mirror every morning.” These are two classic mistakes: believing you are the story, and wanting a story to be true. When it’s not.”
The dimmest of journalists out there, even the handful left on Planet Phil, know that when you print a story you have to be able to verify it. Bloggers like Phil and Angie know it too, although Phil often struggles with the concept. Mr. Smith-Walker seems to have a problem grasping the idea altogether. Spiers produced a fable he couldn’t stand up. His employers, the Herald, apologised. End of story. Or at least it should have been.
Spiers, showing total disregard and disrespect for his employers, undermined them by seemingly mocking their apology and his position became untenable (any editor out there thinking of employing this pompous mono-themed bore should take note). Tatty-bye Graham. Many of your former colleagues were delighted to see you depart. Don’t let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.
Step forward the hapless wannabe Angie. Whilst the more intelligent out there on Tweet Street conceded that Spiers had been a fool, Angie, her wafer thin cerebral cortex stretching, just couldn’t help herself. The chance of a dig at her object of hate, namely Rangers (it’s that Poison Phil disease again) was simply too good an opportunity to miss. Ignoring a message from Herald hierarchy requesting staff refrain from commenting on Spiers’ departure, the misguided over-confident Angie spewed forth and The Herald was left with no choice. Back to blogging it is then Angie. Downfall indeed. Now perhaps you know how Hugh Dallas felt when your mentally ill pal hounded him out of a job.
Mr. Smith-Walker, in his blog “We've Got To Talk About Billy” is the latest in a rapidly diminishing line of Friends of Phil to ignore the idiocy and unprofessionalism of the jettisoned journalist and the bulleted blogger, oddly choosing to somehow blame their fall from grace on a song occasionally sung at football matches. Exhibiting the usual complete lack of balance associated with The Friends of Phil, Mr. Smith-Walker supplied his readership of more than a hundred people with a short history of the Billy Boys street gang. A semblance of balance would of course have seen Walker-Smith explain that Celtic FC and their fans are in a similar situation regards their pseudonym of choice. Mr. Walker didn’t seem keen to provide that balance.
The term “Tim”, like the term “Billy”, is derived from a notorious 1930’s sectarian Glasgow razor gang, namely The Timalloys. Celtic supporters refer to themselves as Tims, sing about being “Timalloys” and open shops called Timland. In addition, Celtic Football Club whose consideration for the welfare of children has been called into question previously, have named a large group of Thai infants after a street gang who slashed, stabbed and coshed their way through Scotland’s biggest city. This may be uncomfortable for Mr. Smith-Walker, but it’s true all the same. So, in the interest of balance Bob.... We've Got To Talk About Timmy too.
To further enhance his faux-offendedness Mr. Smith-Walker attempted to defend his favourite blogger’s constant use of the word “Klan” to describe the Rangers support. Notably, he didn’t try to defend the same pus-filled individual’s ongoing use of the word “Herrenevolk” thus risking opening up a real can of worms for someone unable to hide away in a foreign country. Any of the Celtic-minded trying to point-score or espouse hatred by linking Rangers fans to Hitler’s Nazis is opening them self to ridicule. Their Irish terrorist heroes were awash with them.
Let’s look at Mr. Smith-Walker’s fascist claims, or more specifically let’s look again at his complete lack of objectivity. Last week at Pittodrie thousands of Celtic fans sang the praises of one of their heroes, “Sean South of Garryowen”. On New Years Day 1957, IRA member South led an attack on a Brookeborough police station, opening fire from the back of a lorry with a Bren gun. An extremist ultra-right wing Roman Catholic, South was also a member of Fr. Denis Fahey’s fiercely anti-Semitic and anti-Protestant Maria Duce organisation, establishing the Limerick branch in 1954. His antipathy towards the Jewish Faith is well documented. Sean Gannon, in an article for the Old Limerick Journal entitled “Schools of Corruption: The Contexts for Sean South's Antisemitism” also described South’s association with the elitist Ailtirí na hAiséirghe (Architects of the Resurrection), which he described as “a proto-fascist Gaelic revivalist political organisation”. Herrenvolk you say?
That the hard-of-thinking and easily-led like Haggerty and Smith-Walker continue to allow themselves to be used by the Donegal Blogger, losing jobs in the process, is rather amusing. Angie should have taken note when her pal Spiers asked of Phil:
“Phil. why do you unfailingly come over as an odd and slightly vulnerable man?”
Years after his Irish Republican former pals described him as “mentally unstable…..a fantasist……religiously sectarian and a bigot” there are still a handful of fools taken in by Donegal’s very own David Icke.
You just keep on setting up your gullible idiots Phil. We’ll just keep knocking them back down.