Question Time last Friday night
To connect to the original post about being "innundated" with media coverage on the situation in the partitioned six counties did anyone watch this on BBC1?
I admire Jonathan Dimbleby's intelligence, integrity and people-skills and never thought it possible he would ever encounter a panel and audience so difficult that he would have to stop the programme.
On Friday Question Time was recorded in Belfast and the panel comprised Geoffrey Donaldson of the DUP, Mark Durkin of SDLP, David Trimble (UUP), Paul Murphy, Secretary for State for Northern Ireland, and Martin McGuinness, Sinn Feinn.
I settled down to watch what I hoped would be a productive exchange amongst these eminents. Instead Dimbleby ended up having to shout over a shouting-match between Trimble and McGuinness. He had to remind them there were about 4 million viewers who would prefer to hear what they were saying rather than have to switch off to get away from the pandemonium. The elementary rules of dialogue and engagement - that you listen when the other one speaks, and they listen when you respond - were not in operation.
The mode of address of Donaldson, Durkin and Trimble and a good number of the audience towards McGuinness was taunting and inflamatory. A member of the audience so much as called McGuinness a murderer.
I don't know anything about Paul Murphy's form as a statesman (and didn't learn as much as I could have from this opportunity due to the near-riot) but he came across as an intelligent and fair man.
The muddle between Sinn Fein and IRA is palpable. I wondered if a solution might be for Sinn Fein to split, the moderates/doves continue as a political party, the rest go off and do whatever it is they do best.
I felt sad that dialogue still appears to be such a remote possibility. Too much coverage? Unfortunately not of the right calibre to properly publicise the issues. If people are bored by complexity they can switch channels.