SCORES OF VIEWERS FURIOUS AT INSULT
Scores of viewers furious at 'insult'
By GORDON ADAIR
OMAGH councillor Oliver Gibson, who lost his niece in Saturday's atrocity, has joined with scores of angry viewers to label a TV programme "an insult" to the victims of the bomb horror.
The programme, Thursday Night Live, was produced by London-based Carlton TV and anchored by Nicky Campbell, who also chairs a live phone-in on BBC's Radio Four.
A studio audience in London, which included several leading politicians, debated the issue while a group of victims in Omagh contributed via a satellite link.
Callers to the News Letter offices, however, accused the programme makers of insensitivity and of failing to afford the Omagh victims suitable respect.
Omagh SDLP councillor Patrick McDonnell was among the guests in the town studio and he openly criticised the programme-makers live on
air.
He was particularly critical of a phone poll which was conducted during the programme asking people across the UK if they felt the peace agreement would work. Mr McDonnell condemned it as a "frivolous" exercise, labelling the programme as a "circus".
Mr Gibson, whose Sunday school teacher niece Esther died in the blast, said the programme was an insulting charade.
"This was supposed to be an Omagh programme; the researcher said this was a programme about how Omagh feels, and how it sees the way forward.
"Johnny Irvine was the presenter from Omagh. He was doing his best to convince London that they should take more interest in Omagh, but they ignored him and turned it in to nothing but a political propaganda campaign.
"The people of Omagh were ignored. It turned in to a charade."
Large sections of the programme were given over to a one-to-one interview between presenter Campbell and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness.
Mr Gibson added: "At the end of the programme I confronted Paul Murphy and told him to get out of Northern Ireland. He had orchestrated this and abused the good nature of the people of Omagh who had come in to do a genuine programme.
"It was turned in to a propaganda campaign for Martin McGuinness and others who have nothing to do with Omagh. Those were the people who were concentrated on."
Mr Gibson said all those who took part were furious as they left the Omagh studio.
"We were suffering the grief of this atrocity. We have plans we want to put forward about how to get Omagh going again. But instead of asking us about the way ahead, it turned in to a farce and a propaganda exercise. It certainly was doing nothing to help Omagh.
"I, and others like me, sat there for three and a half hours to discover we had been misled.
"The researcher had misled us about the points they were going to cover."
Mr Gibson urged those with any interest in Carlton Television to distance themselves from the programme.
"I want them to feel the hurt that they imposed on us.
"The programme demeaned us and was an insult on the level of the so-called Real IRA's statement."
A spokesman for Carlton Television, however, defended the programme. He admitted it had produced a strong response but claimed the producers had gone to great lengths to be balanced.
"After the worst tragedy in Ulster's history they considered it right and fitting that the people of Northern Ireland should be given the opportunity to air their views," he said.
"The producers have the utmost respect for the people of Omagh and their thoughts and feelings were uppermost in their minds when they made the programme."
He said criticism of the amount of air time given to Martin McGuinness was not unexpected but claimed: "The producer felt it was very important that when Martin McGuinness was talking about where Sinn Fein stood on a variety of issues, security and otherwise, that he should be pushed on that point which is why he was, in fact, given so much air time which some people might have objected to."
He also pointed out that another participant, Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena died in bomb, had thanked the producers for giving him the opportunity to tell his story.
By GORDON ADAIR
OMAGH councillor Oliver Gibson, who lost his niece in Saturday's atrocity, has joined with scores of angry viewers to label a TV programme "an insult" to the victims of the bomb horror.
The programme, Thursday Night Live, was produced by London-based Carlton TV and anchored by Nicky Campbell, who also chairs a live phone-in on BBC's Radio Four.
A studio audience in London, which included several leading politicians, debated the issue while a group of victims in Omagh contributed via a satellite link.
Callers to the News Letter offices, however, accused the programme makers of insensitivity and of failing to afford the Omagh victims suitable respect.
Omagh SDLP councillor Patrick McDonnell was among the guests in the town studio and he openly criticised the programme-makers live on
air.
He was particularly critical of a phone poll which was conducted during the programme asking people across the UK if they felt the peace agreement would work. Mr McDonnell condemned it as a "frivolous" exercise, labelling the programme as a "circus".
Mr Gibson, whose Sunday school teacher niece Esther died in the blast, said the programme was an insulting charade.
"This was supposed to be an Omagh programme; the researcher said this was a programme about how Omagh feels, and how it sees the way forward.
"Johnny Irvine was the presenter from Omagh. He was doing his best to convince London that they should take more interest in Omagh, but they ignored him and turned it in to nothing but a political propaganda campaign.
"The people of Omagh were ignored. It turned in to a charade."
Large sections of the programme were given over to a one-to-one interview between presenter Campbell and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness.
Mr Gibson added: "At the end of the programme I confronted Paul Murphy and told him to get out of Northern Ireland. He had orchestrated this and abused the good nature of the people of Omagh who had come in to do a genuine programme.
"It was turned in to a propaganda campaign for Martin McGuinness and others who have nothing to do with Omagh. Those were the people who were concentrated on."
Mr Gibson said all those who took part were furious as they left the Omagh studio.
"We were suffering the grief of this atrocity. We have plans we want to put forward about how to get Omagh going again. But instead of asking us about the way ahead, it turned in to a farce and a propaganda exercise. It certainly was doing nothing to help Omagh.
"I, and others like me, sat there for three and a half hours to discover we had been misled.
"The researcher had misled us about the points they were going to cover."
Mr Gibson urged those with any interest in Carlton Television to distance themselves from the programme.
"I want them to feel the hurt that they imposed on us.
"The programme demeaned us and was an insult on the level of the so-called Real IRA's statement."
A spokesman for Carlton Television, however, defended the programme. He admitted it had produced a strong response but claimed the producers had gone to great lengths to be balanced.
"After the worst tragedy in Ulster's history they considered it right and fitting that the people of Northern Ireland should be given the opportunity to air their views," he said.
"The producers have the utmost respect for the people of Omagh and their thoughts and feelings were uppermost in their minds when they made the programme."
He said criticism of the amount of air time given to Martin McGuinness was not unexpected but claimed: "The producer felt it was very important that when Martin McGuinness was talking about where Sinn Fein stood on a variety of issues, security and otherwise, that he should be pushed on that point which is why he was, in fact, given so much air time which some people might have objected to."
He also pointed out that another participant, Kevin Skelton, whose wife Philomena died in bomb, had thanked the producers for giving him the opportunity to tell his story.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/088
Published Date: 22-Aug-98
Related Images
