Sunday Independent - 3 December 2023

So they're trying the Great Replacement theory on us

They are in too deep to see themselves as suckers, the kind of people who trashed the US Capitol for Trump - many of whom have gone to jail for a long time, while their main man is still out there, denying all responsibility. They are McGregor without the money - and when you consider how angry he is despite all that opulence, the mind boggles at how angry they are without it.

Yet because they live in a world of Steve Bannon's bullshit, somehow they will never be angry about the right things.

I keep going back to the great film Nomadland, about this world of people abandoned for the greater good of Corporate America, and that moment when it hits you: that the evil genius of the far right is to persuade such victims of the oligarchs that their problems are caused by those who have even less money than they do.

And that those with the most money - Trump, Musk, Carlson, McGregor - are somehow on their side.

They're not... obviously.

Sunday Independent - 3 December 2023

Icons of hope have much more to offer: McGregor's brand of Irishness is fuelled by hate

Much condescending rubbish was written about the authentically proletarian nature of McGregor's behaviour by those apparently convinced that working class life consists solely of telling people to f**k off and punching them in the mouth.

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Some Irish people would like to disown McGregor, but to a certain extent he both embodies and magnifies the worst elements of the national character. Take his declaration to Mayweather that he didn't need to be told about racism because, "My people have been oppressed our entire existence. And still very much are."

This particular trope proved popular with the right-wing Yanks who during the Black Lives Matters protests never tired of saying that African Americans had nothing to complain about because Irish people had it just as bad. The same belief, that Irish history is so uniquely harrowing it's made us experts in suffering, is common here too.

In reality we enjoyed a much less terrible 20th century than most European nations by dint of avoiding World War II. But much of the commentary on the immigration issue suggests we still feel so sorry for ourselves there's not much sympathy left for anyone else.

A man who says he loves his home city shouldn't want to see it in flames.

The riot was greeted with barely concealed glee by people who oppose curbs on hate speech yet seem fine with the harassment of library staff by homophobic cranks, use women's sport as a vehicle for attacking trans people and hint that climate change doesn't exist. They highlight crimes by immigrants while ignoring crimes against them, admire Trump and Musk, never stop banging on about Wokeness and will have got a kick out of Russia banning the gay rights movement. When called out, they affect indignation like footballers rolling on the ground feigning injury.

There are those too who, while disapproving of the riot, will be happy if it results in the Government adopting a draconian immigration policy. By showing just how ugly this stuff is when you strip away the veneer of respectability, McGregor might actually have done Ireland a favour.

Well done champ.