Given the vitriolic nature of Mr Kevin Myers’ media musings it’s interesting to note that when it comes to Kevin himself the Indo is apparently sensitive about protecting his finer feelings.  I popped a response off yesterday to yet another  remarkably silly article by Myers – this time about the role of the Catholic church in schools.  The letter is in today’s paper and can be read here.   I don’t remember the exact form of words that I used in a sentence that has been edited out at the end of the letter but I know that it conveyed that Kevin’s preoccupation with attracting attention to himself by straining to be offensive about people was becoming increasingly tedious.    But it was too much for the Indo and/or for Myers to bear having that said about him publicly, apparently. 

Meanwhile Myers himself is free to lash out as unpleasantly as he can manage at all and sundry.  Along with many others, I challenged the Deputy Editor, Frank Coughlan, about the racism of one of Myers’ columns in 2008 and in which I believe he referred to Africans as ‘perpetually tumescent indigents’.  Coughlan’s response was to say that no matter how much he might disagree with Myers (and he didn’t say whether he disagreed or not) he would defend Kevin’s right to have his views published.  Even so, the article appears now to have been taken down and it certainly drew a ferociously critical response at the time.   Myers was still festering with rage about the reaction a year later – and quite unrepentant. 

Excuse me. Just what on earth are we doing, continuing to sponsor, subsidise, promote, encourage and reward population growth at such catastrophic levels? What will we get, but only tens of millions more Ethiopians expecting us to feed them? Then scores of millions; then hundreds of millions. Though of course, at some stage, sooner or later, we shall stop feeding them, simply because. . . oh, just because.

And about the people who dared to challenge him about this sort of poison:

When I wrote on this subject last year, I was subjected to a criminal investigation by An Garda Siochana, one half-witted prig in the ‘Irish Daily Mail’ virtually compared me with Eichmann, and the Press Council said my remarks were “offensive to Africans in Ireland”.  Ah, the poor dears.

For a columnist and a newspaper who can so determinedly defend such vile talk about an entire continent, surely a complaint about Myers-inflicted tedium from a Clonakilty housewife ought not to be too much for their censors? 

Double standard?  Definitely.