Celtic v Cliftonville in Glasgow, Apparently
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
― George Washington
Ted Folkman is a Boston lawyer who blogs at Letters Blogatory. In many ways, his views constitute an adversarial stance with which I have locked horns over the Boston College subpoena case. I think he has called the ethics of the issue wrong although his predictions have more often than not been on the money. Even on an unrelated political issue like Israel we have found ourselves in sharp disagreement. In any event none of our differences have inhibited a nurturing of the respect I have for him, finding him a judicious font of legal opinion. And I am always mindful of the courtesy and decency he afforded my wife while she was in Boston lobbying on behalf of the campaign to stop PSNI incursion.
When I was the target of a wrongful accusation levelled by two Belfast journalists, Allison Morris and Ciaran Barnes, he gave space in Letters Blogatory to the flawed verdict delivered against me by the Ethics Council of the National Union of Journalists. In doing so he was enhancing public understanding. Good for him.
When the verdict was overturned by the NUJ Appeals Tribunal, Ted Folkman, quicker than anybody else, sprang out of the traps to publish that on his blog also, giving it roughly the same amount of coverage as he had the original mistrial. Whatever I might think of Ted Folkman’s views on some things, I most definitely cannot question his fidelity to fairness and balance.
In his piece flagging up my success, he raised questions about the fact that the two Complainants had not turned up at the London appeal hearing. Ciaran Barnes replied that he did not attend because he had chickenpox. This corresponds with what I was told after the hearing by one of those in attendance: that one of the two complainants could not make it due to chickenpox.
Allison Morris also replied to Ted's question, during the course of which she alleged that I was economical with the truth. Hey ho. Criticism is legal and ethical, and even if that is a philosophy she seems to resile from, she has every right to have a go at me. While she, like many others, will find it difficult to believe what flows from her pen, I will hardly complain to the Ethics Council about it or lift the phone to a libel lawyer in a bid to silence her. I will, however, write what I like and call things as I see them.
Unlike the reason offered by Ciaran Barnes for his non attendance at the Appeals Tribunal, I find the reason put forward by Allison Morrison spurious and simply unworthy of belief.
In her comment to Letters Blogatory Morris stated:
Ted, I didn’t attend because of work commitments, I’m a working journalist. July is one of my busiest months. Also financially we had to fund the trip ourselves including flights and hotels, as a single parent I couldn’t justify the expense.
So, there we have it: Allison Morris could not attend the Appeals Tribunal hearing in support of her own complaint because she was working - she is a single parent and could not justify the expense of flights and hotels, and would have had to fund the trip herself.
While I could claim to be an impoverished orphan because both my parents are dead and no longer a source of pocket money, I have no intention of demeaning myself through such an oleaginous attempt to court public sympathy.
Her Twitter account confirms she was indeed otherwise occupied.
"En route to Glasgow," Allison tweets, the day before the NUJ Appeals Tribunal hearing |
View tweeted by Allison from her seat at Celtic Park the night before the NUJ hearing in London |
The account on Letters Blogatory of why she was not in London is in flagrant contradiction of Ms Morris’s own contemporaneous tweets, including one made at the very moment I was inside Headland House at the NUJ hearing of my appeal against her complaint.
The meeting started at 10:00am and continued until the early afternoon. At 11:49am Morris tweeted, in response to queries about her activities, ‘I have had my fill of riots for one year and not working on a well earned break.’
Contrary to what she wrote in her reply to Ted Folkman regarding her inability to attend the NUJ hearing, it appears work commitments did not stand in the way of her attending a Celtic v Cliftonville match in Glasgow. Maybe Morris really meant July was a busy month for Cliftonville supporters. In fact her own tweet from two nights prior to the July 24 hearing, indicated she was not working but taking a break from it. At 8:28pm she tweeted, ‘I’m off and taking a hiatus from all news coverage’.
"I'm off and taking a hiatus from all news coverage" |
Perhaps she was on the Sports Desk that week reporting on the Celtic-Cliftonville game in Glasgow. She must have been sleeping rough in the streets too given that as a single parent she couldn't justify the expense of a hotel.
So was she lying or just being ethical in a way that she alone understands? If she was lying, when was she doing so ― via her tweets about her holiday to Glasgow, or to Ted Folkman giving him an beal bocht? To her Editor, Noel Doran, or to her work colleagues and her Union? To her sources, or to her readers? Or does she just lie to everyone, whenever and wherever it suits her at any given moment?
Allison Morris & her partner in their Cliftonville supporter tops, 25 July 2013 |
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Dear oh dear. Dangerous wee bastard ..'that twitter' lol
ReplyDeletelarry,
ReplyDeleteTwitter is indeed dangerous to false narratives.
Ha Ha poor girl she should open up in Derry she is a real pro ,what a fuckin Wally ,but this post clearly shows that these people who publish on a regular basis in Morris,s case the Vatican Times aka the Irish News,we are expected to take her word as gospel truth, now maybe its time readers of this paper should now take the Atheists view on this particular would be journo,s words,once a liar always a liar Allison, as for Barnes he sure is chicken and he says a pox on that Ethics Council,
ReplyDeleteFM- thats real creppy that you would looking on my Facebook to go that far for a photograph- is it me or Allison u have the obsession with? creep! stick to meeting Owen Patterson then sec of state in creepy places in England.
ReplyDeleteEconomical with the truth?.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if she is economical with the truth when claiming tax credits, housing benefit etc as a single parent.
She sounds more like an MP/MLA/TD.
They don't lie, they just tell Untruths.
A very untrustworthy woman to say the least.
Just received on Facebook this unsolicited message from Fernando Murphy, Allison Morris's partner
ReplyDeleteJust read yer man Morris partner,(did she not describe herself as a single parent) comment on FB re you meeting with Owen Patterson and his comment "republican my balls" makes me wonder then what he must think of quisling $inn £einds ?and his reference to your lack of male attributes could that be Freudian slip on his own behalf ?
ReplyDeleteit wasn't unsolicited i just reminded you that you went on my facebook to take photos off. as previous remark on here that you met with Owen Patterson to grovel about your case- to the secretary of state of united kingdom- thats republican? you have my permission this time, to use it! creepy person
ReplyDeleteheres my message cause u have no balls to respond and block me:
ReplyDeleteI JUST WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT I CAN GO ON YOUR FACEBOOK ALSO- PLUS WHEN WILL YOU TELL EVERYONE THAT U MET OWEN PATTERSON IN CAMBRIDGE 2 YEARS AND GROVELED WITH HIM- REPUBLICAN MY BALLS-FM
Isnt fido a dogs name and is 69 not a sexual position
ReplyDeleteMichaelhenry,
ReplyDeleteSpot on. 5 minutes to verify if the person has striven "to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair” and bingo. Here this is demonstrably not the case and so we now see the house of cards begin to fall apart.
Marty,
ReplyDeleteI spent the day reading a brilliant novel Heart Shaped Box not paying attention to Fido barking.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThe closing lyrics in Abba's 'Fernando' come to mind -
'If I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando
Yes, if I had to do the same again
I would, my friend, Fernando...'
@ fido6969:
ReplyDeleteYour face book page is public, I just downloaded the same photo Anthony downloaded, You have to change your settings to "Friends Only" otherwise you are open to hacking and abuse.
Anthony and others, myself included have done nothing illegal by downloading the pic of yourself and your partner. I can honestly state, I have deleted the photo from my hard drive. Eire Nua fernando.
Laughing really out loud here Mackers.
ReplyDeleteA thought occurred of a certain spoilt child caught with chocolate on her face and hands and her still denying she ate all the Mars Bars...or Macaroons.
And did I notice her boy friend attempting to SHOUT using a keyboard when no one took a blind heed of him ranting about Owen Patterson?
SAY THAT AGAIN fido6969 WE DIDN'T HEAR YOU THE FIRST TIME...L-O-FECKING -L!!
Dixie,
ReplyDeleteHas Fido kept it a secret for two years and told nobody that I put it to Owen Paterson about the BC tapes in a university bar in either Cambridge or Oxford? Don't recall which city as the conference alternates between the two each year but if Fido says Cambridge it probably was.
And who really gives a toss? That act takes away any republican credentials I have! Well here's news - not really news as I wrote it in the Guardian last year some time -
I have shaken the hands of Labour ministers, Tory MPs, a former SAS officer, former members of the British Army, DUP and UUP members, loyalist paramilitaries, PSNI personnel, prison officers, former prison governors and clergy men of all denominations
I suppose you will find Owen Paterson in there amongst that lot! Fido has really hammered my republican reputation.
But again, it is never nice to see somebody's credibility - that I neither dislike in personal terms nor wish to see harm come to, I just happen to be on the opposite side in a serious dispute - go into freefall at their own hand. It was all so avoidable. Even here, had she not fed Letters Blogatory a narrative that I felt was demonstrably untrue, the above article would never have seen the light of day.
I guess the one question in need of being settled, for which no explanation has been forthcoming, is how the whole issue was handled so poorly. What Allison did not want discussed is now openly and widely talked about.
Even so late in the day you would have imagined she would have taken a leaf out of Ciaran Barnes' book. He took his case, lost it and gave what very much seems an honest account of why he could not attend the Appeals Tribunal hearing. There is nobody here suggesting dishonesty on his part in that regard. Allison put in the public domain information she must have known would have been interpreted as sleight of hand once the facts were known. After that it was always going to be fair comment to opine that her behaviour amounted to dishonesty and that she had contravened the very same NUJ clause that she hauled me in front of the Ethics Council on: she failed to ensure "that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair”. Was what she told Letters Blogatory honestly conveyed, accurate and fair? In my view not at all.
And despite the beal bocht defence she offered for not making it to the London hearing, I felt compelled to go out and fight the wrongful charge she laid against me. I fail to see how I should be out of pocket for that. But there we go: if you really believe in something you take the hit cost wise. On the day Allison seemd to believe in Cliftonville more.
Robert,
ReplyDeletesome might think Waterloo more appropriate. Or maybe if the libel lawyer is hired in a futile bid to gag me we could sway to the tune of money, money, money!
If ever we lose the ability to laugh at ourselves it will be a dull old place.
I'm not republican I'm a youth worker- as for damaging ur Republican credentials-I think you fighting ur Cell mate in Jail being shunned by the Republican movement many years ago speaks volumes- hide behind a computer down South have ur own wee band of micro bloggers while real people up in Belfast do the real work pro and anti agreement workers on the ground! Which I happily work with both! The fact that u pretend to be a journalist and blog is beyond me! my sense of u grovling back to the NUJ because they took ur ball- is nothing short of u being in ur own bastion of wankerdom! Get a life, u sad bastard! I have a number for Teresa Villers if u need a shoulder to cry on because of ur mistakes.
ReplyDeleteChickenpox’s and hardship both sound enough reasons for a no show. One would imagine they both would have wanted to defend their good reputations and put in an appearance.
ReplyDeleteI am sure they are legitimate reasons though I would assume they had been wired off in advance that their petty claim was not going to give them the result they wanted.
I think that would be the reason for a no show, after all why spend a few quid to be informed you have no case.
Fido, much ado about nothing.
Fido is sounding a bit rabid... or maybe it's the parvo?
ReplyDeleteThe only youth workers with the exception of a very few in any nationalist area that I know of are in their positions as a gift of quisling $inn £einds,as a "micro blogger" from Belfast I find the rant from fido very much in that quisling vein,fido your nasty rant is very much in keeping with the modus operandi of that party,its a wonder that someone that is as obviously as nasty as yourself is allowed to work with kids,you must must an embarrassment to your partner who herself has been seriously exposed .fido you should cock your leg against her tree because you are pissing on your own ego.I for one wouldnt let you near any of my kids with your nasty mindset,fuck I wouldnt leave my cat with you either...
ReplyDeleteLarry he sounds like a bad version of Bangers with or witout the hat.
ReplyDeletefido6969
ReplyDeleteBeing shunned by the so called Republican Movement is hardly a put down. That lot need British funding in order to buy loyalty.
FFS they make Gerry Fitt look like Dan Breen.
Fido:
ReplyDelete"I have a number for Teresa Villers if u need a shoulder to cry on because of ur mistakes."
You must be very high up the British Ladder to have her number!.
Can you give her a call and ask her to Implement par 20 of the weston park accord?. That would end Internment for ever.
Dixiethe Dan Breen quip its a cracker a cara,
ReplyDeleteItsjustmackers a cara I have a number for Theresa Villiers (which he misspelled) so fido says,well I to have a number for all those in the brit establishment 666
mackers
ReplyDeleteas reader of this blog fido sounds very sinister and menacing.
could i suggest you record all these threats and pay a visit to kevin winters; and after that maybe approach the nuj about persecution from allison's partner because you won a case she and barnes instigated.
Fido,
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to read you denying republicanism and then attacking someone for their republicanism or lack thereof.
Were you just an ODC then? Note I allow for reform, everyone can make a mistake and change or just change. Though it would be an indication of great personal bravery if you stayed in the general prison population given what your previous conviction related to.
However, that is off the point like much of your intervention.
It is nice to see the little man (metaphorically as we are talking about a justifiably rotund Anthony) take on the might of several seemingly more powerful bodies with deep pockets and questionable morals and win.
I always like to see the underdog win. Maybe in this case I should have been backing Mr Barnes and Ms Morris as it was apparent at an early stage that they were unlikely to triumph in any fairly established arena or under scrutiny of a nimble mind?
But well done everyone this has been most entertaining.
Kev,
ReplyDeletethat is the most insulting comment of the day - rotund! Even Fido can't match that.
But not any more. Believe it or not it is on the way down to 13.2.
heard you called many a thing mackers, but "rotund" ????
ReplyDeletefat bastard.....
Gerard,
ReplyDeletethings are fine, very fine indeed.
Gerard,
ReplyDeleteindeed. There must be some Ethics Council that I could take Kev up in front of. Some journalist once said I was a mound of a man - the stick I took after that! But I told Alex at a funeral in Roscommon I was bringing it down to 13.2 and there is 21 lb of it gone! He should be fatter than me now. A pound every 5 days; hardly a challenge.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI apologise. I should have guessed you'd be at fighting weight when I read Mr Folkman's reference to shadow boxing.
I had assumed he meant you were facing opponents that lacked any substance not a training regime ill advised for a man that must be approaching his half century not out.
Further forgive the McGuinessesque cricket reference but I, like him, regard cricket as a new field of struggle for republicanism - unlike Declan Kearney who regards everything as new fields of struggle including old fields that aren't struggled with.
Kev,
ReplyDeleteapproaching his 50 not out! You are the sort of guy that grows on us very quick. If only I was the right side of 50. Appreciate your reasoning earlier. To learn he was a prisoner was like being hit with a hammer! But my respect for Allison has gone up. She won't be backing Jim Allister's bill and discriminating against ex prisoners, well, only this one.
Have to head to bed here but I have a confession to make. I interviewed Hugh Orde up at Knock while he was chief constable. But unfortunately he did not give me a job reference. I should have asked Sergeant Craig McDowell. He gives them out although in return for what I am not quite sure. Fido might tell us.
ReplyDeleteHoggy - stood along side u @ alliance party over maghaberry situation-met at the hotfield- I was in maghberry and seen it for myself-this lunatic is an embarrassment looking at photos of my kids and her kids-creepy bastard- he made it personal that's where I came in he isn't a real republican for grovling over a british aid so he can speak about his british secretary of state in a private meeting!
ReplyDeleteScroll down to ,"Leniency Called For In Case Of Rioter"
ReplyDeleteFernando Murphy gets 2 years for rioting, Former Mayor Martin Morgan and Holy Cross priest Fr Aidan
Troy have appealed for a reduction in the two-year prison
sentence imposed against Ardoyne youth worker Fernando
Murphy.
Judge Tom Burgess described the "father-of-two’s"!
imprisonment as “inevitable although regrettable”.
A Moment of Madness, and , He is still a youth worker?.
Leniency Called For In Case Of Rioter Fenando Murphy.
Fernando Murphy sentenced to two years
Anthony:
ReplyDeleteYou just have to Google "Fernando Murphy".
" I should have asked Sergeant Craig McDowell. He gives them out although in return for what I am not quite sure. Fido might tell us."
I think Fido is in shock , He doesn't Know what can be found on the GOOGLE NET , and , he sure as hell wont reply to your question. But, we don't need an answer to it, McDowell's name is enough.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteSometimes you hit the nail on the head and all is clear. When you do it's a riot.
If your republicanism wasn't under question by the likes of Fido maybe you could hammer your point home harder in a difficult situation in a way that younger readers, including a visiting squaddy, would understand?
Fido - any ideas on how Anthony could hammer his point home to young people that may include young British squaddies?
Mackers, put all my posts up-dont censor them! about u having a hunger strike outside Connolly house about kids! u have a freedom of speech operation going on and stop the censorship- I'm not a republican just a Youth worker- I work with everyone in the community not like u having sneaky creepy meeting with the sectary of state in gardens of Cambridge to get ur embarrassing enhancement. people cant be put down and I wont!
ReplyDeleteha ha, Anthony- as I say Im not Republican- Im sure SM & SW will continue to try to give you info- ur supposed to be the Republican, look after ur kids ohh thats right they arent urs!
ReplyDeleteMackers
ReplyDeleteSlagging aside, I now despair that people would be of a natural inclination to assume all journalists would possess a certain degree of intelligence.
Fido makes me wonder just what level of intellect this woman has being in a relationship with Fido AND not tightening his leash on here. He is doing her no favours to my way of thinking. After making a fool of herself in taking the case against you and then the debacle of her twitter exposure as a blatant liar; unleashing her partner and rabid 'dog' Fido just magnifies her stupidity in my eyes by THREE. Three strikes and you're out. A confirmed fool.
Definitely a malicious and inarticulate piece of work is the aptly named fido,and like the dog he wants to be his bark is far worse than his bite,I am still in amazement that someone of such a nasty nature is allowed anywhere near children, I dont know how he got the clearance from the psni/ruc but hey if he,s connected to quisling $inn £einds then he wouldnt have found it a problem after all it wouldnt be the first time persons of dubious character connected to that party were allowed to work in that sector,fido is not in the slightest bit interested in the message but again like a dog he wants to attack the messenger.you would think that such a mutt would be chipped and kept firmly on the lead for his own sake..
ReplyDeleteLarry,
ReplyDeletemaybe she didn't unleash him at all. Maybe the problem is that she can't keep him on a leash and as a result is experiencing death of credibility from friendly fire. Maybe she took out a non molestation order against him, if that is how he behaves in the house, and now he is getting his own back on her by engaging in this verbal thuggery and damning her by association. We never know. Despite my criticism of Allison I have never made things this bad for her.
Fido6969-
ReplyDelete" Stood along side u @ Alliance party over Maghaberry "
There you go Marty-a fcuking disso and you trying to paint him into the Sinn Fein corner-what kind of
sissys protest outside a Alliance office these days along with the loyalists-take that with your tae and bap Marty-lol-
Michaelhenry,
ReplyDeletetrust you to put manners on us all with a flash of humour!
And still that Belfast bap is tantalising.
Fido
ReplyDeleteI had absolutely no intention of commenting on this thread until I read "look after ur kids ohh thats right they arent urs!" Children are innocent and should never be used as leverage in any slagging match,argument or debate irrespective of it's context.
I feel you should remember that before you put something in writing you need to be prepared to stand over and substantiate it. You should also keep in mind that this stuff can be used against you at any time.
Anthony has backed his article up with facts you may not like them but they are facts were as you have engaged in nothing but harmful insults. At this point I feel your idea of support may be doing more harm than good and I say this as someone with no axe to grind either way.
Mickeybroy lol "a fucking Disso" yip I,ll stand up for that....you get the heel of my bap today a cara and I,d usually kill for that ...
ReplyDeleteThe above link is to Irish News.
ReplyDeleteThis is the link to the Case.
Scroll down to "Leniency Called For In Case Of Rioter".
Don't click on any links, just read about the case.
Murphy sentenced to 2 years
Itsjusmackers a cara it was a case of god didnt again work in mysterious ways,mind you it could have been worse had it been a recent charge he could have ended up banged up with Wee Willie or Ruthie,that surely would drive anyone barking mad..
ReplyDeletewee dogs seem to be getting their owners in all sorts of trouble these days, seems to be in vogue. Makes me glad our wee dog is already away to a good home before we emigrate. Christ knows what the wee skitter might have dug-up.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many times she's lied to her partner and the twat hasn't caught on!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnthony,
ReplyDeleteI can't recall who said that, 'temper is a weapon we hold by the blade', but it is clearly applicable to the bizarre and very public display of 'self harm' that we have witnessed here. The meltdown appears to have abated but one can never let one's guard down when dealing with a 'handbag dog'! Alison must be furious with her pooch doing his business all over the internet. While he licks his wounds I'm sure she is contemplating a clean up but how does one scoop all this poop?
Anthony,
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/FMk-Utvym80
Robert,
ReplyDeletetha baddest ruffest!
There is no doubt he must have made Allison distinctly uncomfortable. We did nothing other than provide the horse and he rode it all the way to hell.
It has abated for now but should have abated after our 'Buiochas' piece because I had little inclination to return to it - certainly not in terms of Allison's role, although there were issues I intended raising but she would not have been affected by them. A number of people will verify that I had resisted pressure to go on the attack and they felt the original press statement by me was very weak and letting both her and Ciaran barnes off the hook. But I had already committed myself to NUJ colleagues and friends to making no vitriolic attacks on either of them.
I think the fact that Ciaran Barnes is virtually forgotten about in all of this demonstrates that I was never going to endlessly do laps of victory around my opponents in this case. It could so easily have been the same for Allison. But she refused to let go. The issue is no longer about their taking a charge to the Ethics Council but about one of them behaving unethically in the wake if the Appeals Tribunal verdict.
She had no need to go onto Letters Blogatory and invent this false narrative. Once that happened I felt it would have been foolishly negligent of me not to present the evidence that so demonstrably proved her account wrong.
It is never ever nice to see people taken down unless we really dislike them. I never disliked her. People should not be punished too greatly for their mistakes or weaknesses and if punishment is avoidable, all the better. I hate societies that punish severely and treat their prisoners like dirt. But when they are malign and seek to bring harm to others for no good reason the inhibitors against punishment are weakened in the sense that there is less sympathy. And I have to confess that I do have an opinion that Allison behaved badly. I feel I have the grounds for disbelieving her narrative on her Dolours Price interview, and the alleged risk to her life, just as I have grounds for disbelieving her explanation for not being at the London hearing. I might be wrong but the balance of probability would lead me to think I am right.
And yet, despite whatever issues I have with her, I have not dragged her down the way her partner has. Her critics probably feel it is manna from heaven.