CAVANAGH DISCOVERS THERE’S ALWAYS SOMEONE WAITING TO DRAG YOU DOWN
AT TIMES we are all guilty of paying too much attention to social media, of falling into the false belief that it represents the world in its entirety. It’s not hard to do. Social media is an incredibly powerful tool. It’s usefulness can be seen in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Easily digestible but crucial pieces of information delivered right into a person’s palm time and again to help form new habits almost overnight.
Even the ‘flatten the curve’ mantra made for a neat and tidy hashtag, and in an instant reminded everyone of their responsibilities.
At its worst, it’s a cesspit where anonymity and physical separation provides cover and false courage for people to behave in a way they never would in ‘real’ life.
Take the racial abuse suffered Ian Wright at the hands of an Instagram user this week. It’s hard to imagine that level of vitriol being hurled at the former England striker had the two met on the street.
Often incidents like that can spark healthy conversations about prejudice and stereotypes and where we are going wrong. But it’s easy to forget that social media represents only a fraction of society.
And in that world, an individual with fast thumbs and a faster mouth can generate the headlines and give the impression of a world constantly teetering on the brink.
Or make you believe that the young man who hurled insults at Ian Wright is somehow representative of the world as a whole. That usually isn’t the case.
And in the media we are guilty sometimes of putting fuel to the fire with the ‘Here’s-the-most-dramatic-reactions-after-famous-person-did-something’ type of stuff we sometimes trot out.
In a world that’s almost always consequence-free, those comments can be dramatic and disturbing. But it shouldn’t be mistaken for the view of all of even a decent-sized part of society.
So it was no surprise that Seán Cavanagh found himself at the wrong end of a storm after referring to the North as the ‘UK’.
When discussing the possibility of restrictions being lifted, the former Footballer of the Year told RTÉ: “Certainly here in the UK it’s a bit bizarre as well because we are all probably watching Leo (Varadkar) and watching the GAA’s announcements and see ourselves as part of that.
“But equally in terms of dayto-day living we are waiting on the announcement from Boris (Johnson).”
His use of the term ‘UK’ sparked
outrage from sections on social media.
And while Cavanagh might be technically correct, it’s important to remember that words and symbols are important – sometimes too important – to people. It’s worth treading carefully around such things.
However, that doesn’t mean that people can take leave of their senses.
The suggestion that Cavanagh, a businessman in Tyrone, was out to offend anyone is faintly ridiculous. For what it’s worth, the address of his accountancy firm is listed online as ‘Moy | NI | Ireland’.
However, Cavanagh is afflicted with the Rory McIlroy gene, in that he’ll usually answer questions head on.
Perhaps he didn’t endear himself
The suggestion Cavanagh was out to offend anyone is faintly ridiculous
to some in the North when he branded a leaked video showing some on the Tyrone team bus singing ‘Come Out You Black and Tans’ as a flute band marched by as a “clumsy embarrassing mistake” in a newspaper column.
He’s also been critical of Mickey Harte in the past as part of a general theme of speaking his mind that he has carried throughout his playing career and beyond, even if it wasn’t always in his own best interests.
Sometimes people are just waiting for a chance to cut the head off the tall poppy. And this week they took their opportunity and took the headlines.
It passed the time for someone but, please lord, send us some live sport. Lockdown is getting the better of us.