‘Tubridy badgered me in Late Late interview’: Murphy
ANTI Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy yesterday claimed he had been a victim of ‘badgering’ by the media and railed against his treatment on The Late Late Show on Friday night.
Following his appearance on the programme and interview with host Ryan Tubridy, Mr Murphy’s supporters took to social media to decry what they labelled ‘bias’ on the programme – and the TD himself also posted unhappy comments on twitter and Facebook.
Tubridy had repeatedly questioned him on air about his involvement in the Jobstown protest, which resulted in Tánaiste Joan Burton’s car being trapped for over two hours – and Mr Murphy repeatedly told the RTÉ presenter that he had had nothing to
do with the organisation of the Jobstown protest and only became involved at the request of the gardaí.
Mr Murphy was also asked what he thought about a disparaging verbal comment by protester Derek Byrne regarding President Michael D Higgins.
‘I’ve had some people on to me asking about one bit in last night’s interview, about the Michael D protest. Just to clarify, what I intended to say last night and what my position is and always was, from the first moment a journalist asked me about it and then splashed a wrong headline on a front page – is to condemn the verbal abuse of the President, and to defend the right to protest against any political figure. If I came across as condemning people for simply protesting against the President, I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention. I do think it’s not strategically or tactically useful but people have the right to do it,’ he wrote on Facebook yesterday.
‘The whole interview was an exercise in badgering and trying to make me responsible for things that are nothing to do with me, so by the time I got to that stage, I was fairly frustrated and didn’t answer exactly as I’d like. If I could do it again, I’d say something like, “I condemn the personal abuse, which had nothing to do with me as I wasn’t there. Much more importantly, I also condemn the fact that 1.4 million people experience the effects of poverty in this country – and I think that’s what we should really be talking about…” Anyway, live and learn.’
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday yesterday: ‘I do think RTÉ presenters in general – not all of them, but most of them, and I include Ryan Tubridy in this, reflect the establishment generally, the political and economic establishment. They reflect that outlook and attitude to protests.
‘They’re focused on insignificant issues like water balloons, as opposed to the real impact of cuts from austerity and the whole reason people are protesting. It’s a very homed-in, out-of-context discussion.
‘So I don’t think it’s a big conspiracy, but I do think RTÉ, like most media, reflect the outlook of the establishment.’