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John Waters (columnist)

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John Waters
Born (1955-05-28) 28 May 1955 (age 69)
Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland
NationalityIrish
OccupationColumnist
Years active1981 – present
EmployerThe Irish Times
Known forWriting in The Irish Times,
Entering the Eurovision Song Contest
ChildrenRóisín
Websitehttp://www.johnwaters.ie/

John Waters (born on 28 May 1955) is an Irish journalist. Waters's career began in 1981 with the Irish political-music magazine Hot Press.[1] He went on to write for the Sunday Tribune and later edited In Dublin magazine and Magill. Waters has written several books and, in 1998, he devised The Whoseday Book — which contains quotes, writings and pictures of 365 Irish writers and musicians – that raised some €3 million for the Irish Hospice Foundation.[2] Waters is an ardent supporter of the fathers' rights movement in Ireland.[3]

He writes a weekly Friday column for The Irish Times. He was briefly fired during a dispute with the then editor, Geraldine Kennedy, but was shortly thereafter reinstated.[4][5][6]

Personal life

He was born in Castlerea, County Roscommon.

He had a daughter in 1996 named Róisín with singer Sinéad O'Connor.[3]

Politics and advocacy

Waters has referred to himself as a "neo-Luddite"[7] or later as a "luddite".[8] At one stage he refused to use e-mail and stated his concern that society ignores the negative aspects of the Internet.

In his articles titled Impose democracy on Iraq and Bush and Blair doing right thing, Waters explained his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a position based on his belief that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the West due to its possession of weapons of mass destruction.[9][10]

He wrote an article titled Two sides to domestic violence, which criticised the lack of gender balance in Amnesty International's campaign against domestic violence in Ireland. Waters cited the National Crime Council report, conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which found approximate gender symmetry in most measures of domestic violence and he pointed out that despite these statistics, funding for women victims of domestic violence (€15 million) disproportionately outstrips funding for male victims.[11] Waters' article led to a response from the head of Amnesty International's Irish branch.[12]

Waters also devotes much of his column space in The Irish Times to discussing the role and importance of religion and faith in society. In an interview, he has described people of faith as "funnier, sharper and smarter" than atheists.[13] In a 2009 article titled "Another no to Lisbon might shock FF back to its senses" Waters voiced his opposition to gay marriage stating that it was "potentially destructive of the very fabric of Irish society".[14]

He is an active participant in the Catholic cultural movement Communion and Liberation.[15]

He has given at least one talk to the Iona Institute.[16]

Non-fiction and drama

Waters has written a number of works of non-fiction as well as plays for radio and the stage. The title of his first non-fiction book, Jiving at the Crossroads, is a quotation of Irish president Éamon de Valera's vision of a rural Ireland including "comely maidens dancing at the crossroads". In the book, Waters comments on modern Ireland. Another non-fiction work, Lapsed Agnostic, describes his "journey from belief to un-belief and back again."

Eurovision Song Contest

Waters has entered the Eurovision Song Contest on a number of occasions.

In 2006, he entered a song, "The Words That Never Wear Out", for the Irish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The song was not accepted for the selection final. Waters publicly criticised the fact that the selected singer, Brian Kennedy, had been allowed to enter his own composition, "Every Song is a Cry for Love", in the final and alleged favouritism towards Kennedy. He referred to people who had publicly criticised his song as "corner boys" in a column in Village magazine.

"They Can't Stop the Spring", the song he co-wrote with Tommy Moran, was shortlisted for Ireland's entry to Eurovision Song Contest 2007.[17] On 16 February 2007, "They Can't Stop the Spring" was selected on RTÉ's The Late Late Show to represent Ireland in that year's final in Helsinki. After a telephone vote of viewers, "They Can't Stop The Spring" won the selection. The song finished last in the European competition final, receiving only 5 points.

In 2010, RTÉ announced that Waters had sought to represent Ireland again at Eurovision, with the song "Can I Borrow a Feeling?", co-written with Tommy Moran.[18] In the Irish National Final on 5 March 2010, the song was performed by Leanne Moore, the winner of You're a Star 2008, and finished in fourth place.[19]

Electric Picnic 2010

Waters attended the Electric Picnic music festival in 2010 and wrote that he felt a sense of dissatisfaction with the event, concluding that there was a lack of meaning underpinning events at the festival.[20] Sunday Tribune journalist Una Mullally replied that if John Waters felt disconnected or out of place at the Electric Picnic, that it was because the country had changed, and continued "perhaps this is the first Irish generation who have purposely opted out of tormenting themselves by searching for some unattainable greater meaning and who have chosen instead just to live".[21]

Blogging controversy

During a newspaper review on radio station, Newstalk 106, Waters declared blogs and bloggers to be "stupid".[22] He then repeated those claims[23] the following week, sparking controversy amongst Irish bloggers[24] who took exception to his views. In the same interview, Waters claimed that "sixty to seventy percent of the internet is pornography".[25]

In the Irish Mail on Sunday of 6 July,[when?] Waters bemoaned vandalism and untruths in his Wikipedia entry, called for increased regulation, and backed legal action against Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and the Wikipedia foundation in such cases. He said he set up his own web site as a response to Wikipedia.

On 26 November 2009, he contacted RTÉ's radio programme, Today with Pat Kenny, during an interview with Jimmy Wales to say that "only crackpots write for Wikipedia".[citation needed]

Television

In 2008, he took part in a television programme which researched his family's past.[26] Parish records revealed that his great-granduncle, also called John Waters, died of starvation during the Great Famine.[26]

He has also stripped off to be painted for an RTÉ programme, simply titled Naked.[27]

Jailing over parking fine

In September 2013 he was jailed for around two hours in Wheatfield Prison over non-payment of a parking fine.[28] The case dated back to 2011 and Waters claimed that he returned to his car one minute over a 15-minute grace period.[28] He refused to pay the fine as a matter of principle.[29]

RTÉ Censorship / Homophobia Controversy

On January 11th, 2014 Irish drag performer Panti a.k.a. Rory O'Neill, appeared on The Saturday Night Show with Brendan O'Connor. Comments made by O'Neill on the topic of homophobia, during the interview, mentioned individuals involved in Irish journalism, including Waters, and the conservative lobby group The Iona Institute. O'Neill's view was that those mentioned displayed homophobic behaviour due to their opposition to homosexual equality on issues like gay marriage and gay adoption. Those mentioned, in-turn, threatened RTÉ and O'Neill with legal action.[30] RTÉ subsequently removed that section of the interview from their online archive.[31] The legality of Waters' display of support for censorship was subsequently questioned since he was a member of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.[32] Two weeks after the initial incident on The Saturday Night Show, Waters resigned from his post at the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.[33] There was further comment on the lack of coverage of the event by The Irish Times who regularly publish Waters' articles.[34]

On the January 25th episode of the RTÉ Saturday Night Show O'Connor issued a controversial public apology on behalf of RTÉ to those mentioned by Mr. O'Neill in the interview held two weeks previously.[35] The fact that the Irish State broadcaster (RTÉ) censored a citizens opinions, and then was rumoured to have offered compensation to those promoting the censorship, became a controversial issue, discussed by members of government.[36][37][38][39]

RTÉ paid €85,000 to John Waters, Breda O'Brien, and members of Iona. €30,000 of the €85,000 went to Waters directly who commented: "I do not believe RTE is any longer capable of fairness on certain issues..."[40]

See also

Publications

Non-fiction

  • Jiving at the Crossroads: The Shock of the New in Haughey's Ireland (Blackstaff, 1991) ISBN 978-0-85640-478-8
  • Race of Angels: Ireland and the Genesis of U2 (4th Estate/Blackstaff, 1994) ISBN 978-0-85640-542-6
  • Every Day Like Sunday? (Poolbeg, 1995) ISBN 978-1-85371-423-8
  • An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Ireland (Duckworth, 1997) ISBN 978-0-7156-2791-4 New edition (2001) ISBN 978-0-7156-3091-4
  • The Politburo Has Decided That You Are Unwell (Liffey Press, 2004) ISBN 978-1-904148-46-3
  • Lapsed Agnostic (Continuum, 2007) ISBN 978-0-8264-9146-6
  • Beyond Consolation: or How We Became Too Clever for God... and Our Own Good (Continuum, 2010) ISBN 978-1-4411-1421-1
  • Feckers: 50 People Who Fecked Up Ireland (Constable, 2010) ISBN 978-1-84901-442-7

Plays

  • Long Black Coat (with David Byrne) (Nick Hern Books, 1995) ISBN 978-1-85459-263-7
  • Holy Secrets (on BBC Radio 4, 1996)[3]
  • Easter Dues (1997)
  • Adverse Possession (on BBC Radio 3, 1998)[3]

References

  1. ^ "Is Hot Press still cool?". Marketing Magazine (Ireland). Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  2. ^ Books Written By John Waters johnwaters.ie
  3. ^ a b c d Biography johnwaters.ie
  4. ^ John Waters and The Irish Times Eamonn Fitzgeralds Rainy Day
  5. ^ Irish Times fires columnist John Waters, RTÉ News, Sunday 23 November 2003
  6. ^ Waters is reinstated at The Irish Times, RTÉ News, Monday 24 November 2003
  7. ^ The Irish Times
  8. ^ The Irish Times
  9. ^ Bush and Blair doing right thing Irish Times 24 March 2003.
  10. ^ Impose democracy on Iraq Irish Times 24 March 2003.
  11. ^ Garda Vetting & working with children OneinFour.org 18 May 2005.
  12. ^ The Irish Times
  13. ^ Count Me Out (MP3 audio file)
  14. ^ http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-10919006/Another-No-to-Lisbon-might.html
  15. ^ The Risk of Education by John Waters. Retrieved: 201104-15.
  16. ^ O'Gorman, Tom (14 December 2012). "John Waters on 'Ireland and the Abolition of God'". Iona Institute. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  17. ^ http://www.hotpress.com/news/.html
  18. ^ Eurovision Song Contest
  19. ^ All Kinds of Everything
  20. ^ John Waters (10 September 2010). "Soul poison hides lack of meaning for Picnickers". Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  21. ^ Una Mullally (12 September 2010). "If John Waters feels lost or disconnected from the new reality of Ireland, it's because this isn't his country anymore..." Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  22. ^ John Waters on blogs Twenty Major Blog. 10 January 2008.
  23. ^ More on John Waters and blogs Twenty Major Blog. 16 January 2008.
  24. ^ No child of John Waters will ever marry a… blogger... The DOBlog 16 January 2008.
  25. ^ Audio of Newstalk interview with Waters 10 January 2008
  26. ^ a b Past comes back to haunt us, The Irish Times, 13 September 2008, retrieved 4 July 2009
  27. ^ "Naked". RTÉ.
  28. ^ a b Lally, Conor (3 September 2013). "John Waters briefly jailed over non-payment of parking fine". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  29. ^ "Journalist Waters jailed for two hours after refusing to pay fine". Irish Independent. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  30. ^ Irish Central Irish Central retrieved January 26, 2014
  31. ^ Byrne, Brian (16 January 2014). "RTE cuts part of show after legal complaint from Waters". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  32. ^ Broadsheet retrieved January 26, 2014
  33. ^ Independent retrieved January 26, 2014
  34. ^ Our Man In Stockholm retrieved January 26, 2014
  35. ^ The Journal retrieved January 26th, 2014
  36. ^ The Journal retrieved January 30th, 2014
  37. ^ Youtube retrieved January 30th, 2014
  38. ^ The Journal retrieved January 30th, 2014
  39. ^ Clare Daly TD retrieved January 31st, 2014
  40. ^ [1] Independent.ie retrieved January 2nd, 2014

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