Debate over the lyrics to Fairytale of New York has dominated conversation this week
RTÉ DJ Eoghan McDermott brought the discussion to the fore when he said, after discussion with his staff, that he felt it would be appropriate to censor the word "f***ot," just as it would be if it featured in a modern day song.
McDermott was then supported in his argument by RTÉ presenter Stephen Byrne, who gave his own experience with the song, saying: "I was in a club the other day and they played that song, I stood in a room as over 200 people screamed a word thats been used to make me feel like an outsider, with such joy and cheer."
Byrne also pointed out that: "You'll see I in no way asked for Fairytale of New York to be banned. Its a gorgeous, poetic piece of art, one of the best Christmas songs, if not even Irish songs. I spoke about beeping a word in the same way you wouldn't play Scarface on tv at 2pm."
These comments were followed up by an
official statement from RTÉ, the Irish broadcaster, saying that their radio stations would continue to play the song uncensored.
Similarly,
Pogues singer Shane McGowan has defended the lyrics of the song, saying "The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person."
Now, famous rugby referee and LGBT activist Nigel Owens has weighed in on the debate. On his official Twitter page, Owens wrote:
"Seriously now if we dont stand up to this stupidity then society is broken. The world has gone PC mad. If your so easliy offended by something then dont bloody listen to it and switch it off or change channels."
"And the simple solution to this PC madness is lets us all sensible people stop listening to any platform that censors this song. They will then realise how bloody stupid they will have been. [sic]"
https://twitter.com/Nigelrefowens/status/1071338555291721729
https://twitter.com/Nigelrefowens/status/1071340408549109760
