The fall of the Web Summit’s CEO Paddy Cosgrave was entirely his own fault. For some time, previous, Paddy had taken to social media, particularly Twitter, to promote his political views by sneering at his opposition. Sneering at others is a common or garden pastime in Ireland, with the barstool Zorgons at the vanguard.
In the aftermath of the evil Hamas attacks on civilians on October ninth, Cosgrave sent out a few tweets which he thought were promoting his pro Sinn Féin stance, while at the same time pursuing his anti-Fianna Fáil and anti-Fine Gael agenda (FFG). The main problem for Paddy is that Sinn Féin is a pro-Palestinian party and was, until recently, the political wing of the IRA. Sinn Féin’s political enemies were quick to intimate that they were supporters of Hamas and therefore bore some responsibility for their atrocities. Paddy initially set out to defend Sinn Féin, tweeting…
The following day, with the world’s media depicting the gruesome details of the savagery used by Hamas and with public revulsion rising, Paddy, blissfully unaware, continued to sneer at his foe…
That might not seem like much of a sneer, but his true attitude is revealed in many of his previous tweets, with this one standing as a good example. Sent only a few days before the Hamas atrocity…
Like many Irish people before and now, Paddy is obviously uncomfortable with his low birth status. He thinks that by putting other people down, he is superior to them, outranking them in the social order. Paddy’s attitude reveals one of Irish society’s most powerful cultural biases, that once installed, remains in-situ despite personal success. It causes immense harm to the holder, to other people and is the main cause of Paddy’s resignation as CEO of the Web summit company.
This cultural bias has many names from self-loathing and begrudgery, to Seoneenism and Jackeenism. Many people who hold and express these biases remain unaware that their opinions are based on nothing more than prejudices, which in turn, are reinforced through a highly selective view of the evidence.
Self-loathing is responsible for many of what ails Irish society, including its love affair with false history, emigration of young people, public service incompetence etc.
Indeed, Paddy, like the rest of us, sick of poor performance and corruption in the Irish political system set up The Ditch website, employing three journalists, to expose political corruption. Unfortunately for Paddy they only managed to rake over old coals, dragging up old much publicised cases from the past, cases that were dealt with long before. Again, Paddy’s plan appears more to be about embarrassing the political establishment to favour Sinn Féin.
Corruption exists in all political systems in all countries. It is a fact of life. However, Ireland has a particular problem with public service incompetence, it far outranks the problem with political corruption. Recently released statistics show that in a five-year period, the public health services managed to kill 3,000 people, accidentally, and injured 140,000 others. The cost overruns and the tomfoolery over the building of the National Children’s Hospital is a disgrace. The list is endless and grows with each passing day.
Corruption is much more rife within the public services than in the political system, but it goes almost unnoticed. It is in this area that The Ditch should have concentrated its efforts, thereby making it more likely to be an effective agent for change. However, the agenda of The Ditch, as dictated by its owner, is to grow support for Sinn Féin and the far left.
Ireland is crying out for an organisation like The Ditch to expose and challenge the country’s incompetent officials. Such officials continue to operate freely, without any fear of being exposed, due to the diversionary nature of our cultural prejudices. Press the right button and people like Paddy will take aim at the wrong target, time and time again because sneering at others makes them feel smart and imperious. Moreover, it can alleviate the stress of the inevitable failure and maintain its delusions, holding that it was due to the stupid plebs who were unable to appreciate the greatness of the sneerer.
Regretfully, as it happens all too infrequently, reality can hit like a wet fish across the gob. Poor auld Paddy got hit with a sardine. An impact with a small fish, but it was just big enough to knock him off his pedestal.
EJ
He went to Glenstal Abbey to school as a boarder current fees Full Boarding €21,704.He is delusional.