Opinions Matter with Adrian & Jeremy

00:00 It's Ireland's most talked about podcast. The only podcast with live callers and live debates. It's Opinions Matter with Adrian and Jeremy. 00:12 You're very welcome to this latest Opinions Matter podcast with Adrian and Jeremy recorded live at our studio at the White Sands Hotel in Port Marnock in North County, Dublin. If you're in this neck of the woods, why not swing by the White Sands Hotel, the Oasis Bar and Grill and Below our studio here is well worth popping into. Great food, great atmosphere they do. 00:36 Carvery of the weekends. And it's just, it's a great spot. Pop in. Say hello to Rob and all of the staff. Rob's a nice, decent skin, isn't he? 00:45 No. What? I found out something about Rob recently. What? Well, you can't say it publicly. He's a Shelburne supporter. 00:53 Ah, sure. No better man. 00:54 Sorry, what? Absolutely bang on. I won't have that said on my time. 00:58 Fair play to you, Rob. Rob is supporting Shelburne. Yeah. I can't. I can't. stand over that I can't stand over that anyway Rob and all the staff ok Rob's not a nice member of staff apparently no he just doesn't he has a terrible taste in football that's all I'm saying but he does he does love the chicken wings he doesn't cook the chicken wings does he I doubt it no no but he's he's always got a smile on his face as Rob doesn't he except when you walk in 01:20 Yeah. And you start going on about same pants, same pants in that voice as well. Anyway, welcome to today's Opinions Matter podcast. What do we want to talk about? Killian is the guy who's been in contact with us. And I want to read what Killian had to say. 01:34 And I want to get your reaction to this. 01:36 I know you guys cover racism issues a lot, but this has never been covered. Why white Irish racists get so triggered over black Irish people. My friend recently appeared in an advert for an Irish company. She is 100% Irish. She just happens to be black. Her parents came here 30 years ago from Kenya. 02:02 The level of trolling this ad has received is sickening. Can I show you some of the screenshots? And lo and behold, Killian did. Sent us some of the screenshots and some of the comments from people. And I'm going to quote them. We didn't write these. We're just reading them out. Sorry. Yes. Hello. Is there any need to read them out? 02:19 Yeah. We should have debated this before we press record. 02:23 No, no. There isn't a need to read them out. Well, certainly the last one shouldn't be read out. 02:28 Uh... 02:29 Let me read you. 02:29 I wouldn't read out the last one. 02:31 Sorry, I wouldn't read out that word. 02:32 Using a blank. Using a blank. Why is an African promoting this product? Could they not find an Irish person? That's one comment. These are all legit comments. 02:44 I won't be using blank ever again, naming the company. Now, we're not naming the company because I think it's irrelevant. By the way, this is a company that every single one of you not only knows, but I've no doubt purchases from. And again, I don't want to give away the identity of this company, but I have absolutely no doubt you have bought product from this company. Anyhow, I won't be using blank ever again. They are anti-Irish, says that message. Okay. 03:13 Woke Muppets using a... Oh, Jesus. The word that was used here is... It's the N-word. Yeah. Woke Muppets using an N-word in an ad. Get fucked, is what another one says. And the question that we want to ask you is why... Well, in fact, Killian asks the question... Why are these pigs so triggered? Do they not realise you can be Irish and black? Duh. 2% of the population of Ireland is black Irish. 03:44 Should they not be allowed to represent us? I'm disgusted by this. And that's from a guy called Killian. 03:51 Now, I've seen that ad. I've seen the ad that he's talking about. I've seen it myself. Excuse me. It's for a well-known Irish company. 03:59 And they obviously made a decision to use, I don't even know if they even thought of skin colour. They probably just thought, oh, this person, it's a female, by the way, that's in the ad. And this female is actually a model. 04:10 I assume she is. Yeah, no, she is. She is. Oh, okay. Because we looked into her, she's actually a model and she does quite a lot of work, but she happens to be a black girl. Anyway, this company chose to use her image to promote their company. 04:24 And yeah, that's it. 04:25 But the amount of people, when we put this up on our Facebook page, and I'll read out some of the comments, and I'll name them as well, because they've named them on a public Facebook. And this is just what you're dealing with here. Okay, so John Kehoe is his name, or John Kehoe. And he says, there's no such thing as a black Irish person. So that's what John was saying. Okay, then we go on to Jason Suffen is his name. 04:47 And he says, no such thing as a black Irish person either. Why are companies doing this? What is wrong with white skin? Is white skin now a thing of the past? And that is from Andrew Kennedy. No relation to you, I hope. 05:01 Absolutely not. So that's what you're dealing with. So, my question... Okay, let's firstly deal with... No, let's ask the question and see if we can get the answer. Okay, this isn't the question that he's asked, but I want to know. I believe he can be black and Irish. 05:14 This is the most ridiculous statement. No, I want to know. So, are we going to deny... 05:22 Phil Lynott and Paul McGraw and people like that. Are we going to deny them as Irish? No, we're not. We fucking revel in the fact that they were Irish. Phil Lynott, one of the best rocking musicians ever to grace this planet. Was he Irish? Fucking right he was. Paul McGraw, one of the best footballers ever to put on a green jersey. Was he Irish? Fucking right he was. Yeah, absolutely. And yet this model who is modelling isn't seen as Irish by clowns like that. 05:49 So why do people get so triggered when they see a black person in an ad for an Irish company? Have you ever seen some of the ads on there? They pop up in my Facebook timeline for JD Sports. 06:00 And it will show a black person in a pair of Adidas trainers. And you'll see people in the comments getting so triggered. Oh, could you not find an Irish person? Here's the thing. I believe you can be black and Irish. 06:13 It's not a belief. It's a statement of fact. But then what do you say to these clowns on their Facebook page? It's a statement of fact. Again, would you deny Phil Lin as an Irishman? No. Would you deny Paul McGrath as an Irishman? No. No, I believe... 06:29 If you don't believe that you can be black and Irish, what is your reasoning for that? What is your evidence? What is your evidence? Well, you don't believe there's people who feel that way. Obviously there is. Look at them in the comments on our Facebook page. You can't be black and Irish. My answer, if you believe in that statement, you can't be black and Irish, why can't you? Why can't you be black and Irish? 06:52 what's the name of the girl from and sorry apologies to her cause I'm a big fan of hers but her name just escapes at the moment from Tala the runner Adeleke yeah Adeleke she's Irish yeah and she's black Samantha Mumba yeah black Irish as Irish as they come how are you but Samantha would be mixed race I suppose yeah she'd be mixed race but still she is Irish who else have we got Those people. 07:17 I don't know why we have to single people out just because of their skin colour. That's the point I'm trying to make here. It's the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard. Can you not find an Irishman? Yeah, we did, actually. We actually did. So, here's the thing. We live in a country... And you see that fucking clown there? Paul McGrath and Phil were both born in England. So what? They're Irish. Paul McGrath is Irish. Listen to the guy talk, for God's sake. He's as Irish as they come. He may have been born to England to an Irish mother. 07:50 Okay, we both myself and Adrian and anybody with more than a brain cell knows that you can be Irish and black. But there is a huge percentage of the population, Adrian, who don't believe that you can be Irish and black. What would you say to these people? 08:04 Get a grip of yourself. Give your fucking head a wobble. I just get so... I don't like using language, but it's just bugs that live in daylights out of me. 08:13 Somebody who left... 08:16 Ireland 150 years ago and went to live in America and their great great great grandchildren are when I hear them saying they're Irish they're not fucking Irish they're American they've been living there for generations similarly when somebody comes to live here and they are living their lives here they're born here and everything else they're Irish by the way this particular woman who we're not going to mention who is in the ad is born and bred in Ireland yeah 08:46 Absolutely born and bred in Ireland. 08:47 As was said in the message, her parents came here 30 years ago from Kenya. This particular lady, and by the way, a lot of you would know this lady if you saw the photograph. She's a fairly well-known model in Ireland. Is she? I didn't know she was. Yeah, she is, yeah. And she gets trolled for doing an ad for an Irish company. And by the way, the company did as well. The company got trolled online for using this Dublin young one as a model for their company. 09:18 Sad, sad existence. 09:20 Opinions matter. 09:23 A daily podcast from Ireland about opinions. 09:42 And if you're considering a bigger makeover, explore their great value laminate flooring and vinyl ranges. Perfect for busy family homes. Friendly service, expert fitting, and unbeatable value. That's Carpet Luxury Bedding & Furniture. Visit the showroom or learn more at carpetluxurybeddingandfurniture.com. 09:58 Anthony, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Anthony? I'm good, Adrian. How are you? Good, thanks, Anthony. What do you make of that message from Killian? He's asking why people get so triggered by an ad for an Irish company featuring a black model. Why the issue? 10:16 Well, let's put it this way. So if you were in America and you had that advertisement, it would make sense because it is representative of the population of the country. And if it was in, even in the UK, it might be representative of the population. person said 2% of the population of Ireland is black. According to census data, less than 1% of the population is black and an Irish citizen. So having advertisements and having billboards and whatever else And it's a constant representation of a tiny, tiny minority of the population constantly represented. 10:58 It doesn't make sense. It's DEI. And it's harmful to the minority population themselves. It's harmful to their relationship. 11:09 Sorry, how is it harmful to the minority population themselves? 11:13 Because look at the response on Facebook today to your podcast. 11:17 Is that not ridiculous? Is it not embarrassing to see people carrying on like that? 11:21 It is. But the problem is it's not a natural response. It's a very angry response. I do understand it a little bit, but the Okay, sorry, you understand it a little bit. Explain why, or explain how. So it would be far more productive if the, I suppose, the way that minority populations in the country were put forward in a more natural way. But it is done through DEI. 11:52 It is being forced. It's being engineered. And that is what most people are angry about. 11:58 again i don't want we're deliberately not naming this company and i'll tell you why and it's sad that i can't have to let you know the name of this company because this company has been trolled to within an inch of its life uh by people online since that ad was published and um the bottom line is that they don't want their name mentioned so i'm not going to mention their name because they don't want any more trolling but that's sad is it not 12:22 It is a little bit, Adrian. But at the end of the day, you have to look at what is going on, not only in Ireland, but in the UK, in the rest of Europe, in America. DEI is going rampant. It's crazy. And it undermines meritocracy. It undermines the relationship between minority groups that have come into the country and the native population. Sorry, hang on. Hang on. 12:46 Hang on for one second. This particular model that I'm talking about, and again, I'm not going to name her for similar reasons that she'll be bloody trolled over it, but this girl... Like the Dublin Rosa Tralee, the abuse she got. Yes, the abuse she got. This particular model is Dublin-based, born in Dublin, just happens to be a black girl, and she gets offered a gig. Like any of us, she gets offered a gig to be the face of this particular company and she takes the gig. Happy days. 13:16 And I just don't understand why people have an issue with it. It's because it's representative of the tiniest minority. So what? 13:26 So what? She was chosen because she's a model. 13:29 When you take into account diversity, equity and inclusion policies throughout the country, not only for the government, but other employers throughout the country, it doesn't make sense to have those policies pushed so rapidly and so much. 13:46 You're making it sound like this company was forced to use a black model, which is absolute rubbish. 13:54 I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is they are willfully pushing their own policy. 13:59 No. Hang on for one second. Hang on. 14:03 Just hang on for one second. This particular company obviously was dealing with a model agency and the model agency would have come to the company and said, here's all the portfolios of all the models on our books. You pick whichever one you think represents your company best. And they picked this girl. She happens to be black. Yet the place was absolutely trolled within an inch of its corporate life. over their choice of model. They weren't told to do that. They weren't instructed by DEI or anything of the sort to choose this model. 14:38 They chose this model. 14:39 And Anthony, as this woman is Irish, would you agree that she's Irish, by the way? 14:44 I don't even know the model, so I don't know. 14:46 No, but she was born in Ireland and she happens to be black. Is she Irish in your opinion? I don't know. What do you mean? No, but she's born in Ireland. No, but am I Irish? 14:54 We don't have automatic Irish citizenship for someone born to migrant parents. 15:00 That's correct. 15:01 So I don't know if she's Irish or not. 15:04 Okay, and she didn't have automatic citizenship, you're right. And she's not Irish. No, no, no, but this model has since acquired Irish citizenship. 15:13 So she's an Irish citizen. 15:15 She acquired Irish citizenship. She's not an Irish person. Am I an Irish person? Just like if I went to America and I was in America since I was two years old and I got American citizenship. I'm not American, but I have American citizenship. That's a very simple, simple thing to comprehend. 15:35 Again, I'm asking you a question. What is the issue with this company out of a list of different models? 15:43 And this company chooses this particular model who happens to be a black girl for its advertising campaign. What is the issue here? 15:53 Personally, for me, there's no issue. But I see how a lot of people take that as, I suppose, an affront to their, I suppose, Irish heritage or to their nationalism or to their, I suppose, understanding of what it means to be Irish. OK, so we should all be wearing tweed jackets and flat caps. No, absolutely not. I think you're maybe trying to make a little bit of a farce about it. 16:16 OK, we should all have red ringlets in our hair. Absolutely not, no. So what is Irish then? What is that image? It's many things. 16:25 And it's probably a deeply personal thing as well for a lot of people. It's not one all-encompassing thing. 16:32 For me anyway, I know what it means to be Irish for me. I'm not going to be able to tell you what Irish means to you. 16:39 Okay, but you also can't tell this black Irish woman born in this country, raised in this country, who speaks as Irish as you do. What difference does that make to her having been chosen for this advertising campaign? 16:54 The only thing that would make me, I suppose, even the slightest bit annoyed about it would be if she was being portrayed as Irish, as an Irish person, because she's not Irish. 17:06 Okay, again, I'm I'm not in a position to tell you the name of this company because this company doesn't want to throw petrol on the fire here. 17:22 I was a little bit annoyed when the Dublin Rose was announced, for instance, because that person doesn't represent Irishness, in my opinion. She's a Somali person born in Ireland. Yeah. But that's not Irish heritage. She's born of Somali heritage. 17:39 Okay, but I would argue that she's probably more Irish than half the people who take part in the competition whose great-great-great-grandfather happened to be Irish. 17:46 And by people saying that, do you not understand how some Irish people would find that deeply offensive? 17:52 Deeply offensive that a black girl is a Dublin rose? No, to tell someone that someone who isn't Irish is more Irish than them. I would argue that somebody born and bred in Ireland is more Irish than a fifth or sixth generation Irish person living in Australia. Yeah. That's not what you said, though. No, that is what I said. That's exactly what I said. Somebody who was born in this country and who has lived in this country since birth, who happens to be black, is probably more Irish than a sixth generation Irish Australian or Irish American or whatever the case may be, who thinks they're Irish. 18:27 They're more Irish now than I am. 18:29 Yeah, that'd be fair enough. But what about all the other people in Ireland who are Irish citizens, who are Irish by their ancestry? Do you not see how saying something like that, they would feel offended by that? 18:43 No, I actually think it is wonderful to see a young one like that who... Now, by the way, she hasn't won the Rose of Tully. Her name is Sawad Moosh. Yeah, yeah. 18:57 She is the Dublin Rose. I think it is wonderful to see a young one like that integrating into our society in a way in which people accuse people of not integrating in our society. Here's a young one who's integrated so well she's taken part in the Bloody Rose of Tralee. What more do you want? I just don't understand the outrage over this. 19:19 The only outrage I understand is that she's been portrayed as Irish. She's not. 19:25 No, she's not. She is being portrayed as the Dublin Rose. 19:29 That's it. Well, I would disagree with that. 19:32 Okay, so again, back to the ad. You can understand why some people are triggered by it. 19:39 Absolutely, yeah. But if she was white, yeah, supposing in this ad, supposing it was a blonde white woman that was being used in this ad, Anthony, yeah? Yeah. 19:48 We wouldn't even be having this conversation now. No, we wouldn't. 19:51 And you wouldn't be triggered. Jeremy, we are a 98% white country. 19:54 Let me finish by saying this. So supposing this ad, for argument's sake, supposing it's an ad for jewellery, it's not. Supposing it's an ad for jewellery, yeah? And an Irish jewellers. And the woman... with the diamond on her finger, she's blonde, blue eyes, and pale-skinned, okay? Nobody would have a problem with it. The ad wouldn't be trolled online. Nobody would say anything. And then you found out that the woman was from Sweden, or she was from Norway. 20:19 Or Russia. Actually, believe it or not, in Dublin, there is a Russian-born model operating on the Dublin circuit. Oh, yeah, I'm sure there is. And she's absolutely gorgeous, and she would pass as an Irish person in a heartbeat. So my point is, when you peel it all back... 20:35 The problem really we have here, Anthony, is the skin colour that is not representative of Ireland. And I get you, the majority, the vast majority of Irish people are indeed white. Indigenous Irish people are indeed white. But she also represents a percentage of the population. In the same way, well, it's not the same way, but in the same way, I'm a blonde-haired male, okay? Okay. I represent less than, I think it's less than 7% of the Irish male population. The majority, the vast majority of Ireland's male population are not blonde hair and blue eyes. 21:08 So I don't have what you would supposedly call the Irish look. Do I not deserve to be represented? 21:16 And why wouldn't you deserve to be represented? And at what point did I say that this woman or her portion of the population did not deserve representation? 21:26 But then she belongs on the ad then. So we all agree she belongs on the ad. 21:29 I didn't say she didn't belong on the advertisement. I said I understood people's misgivings about it. 21:36 But they wouldn't have those misgivings if she was a blonde haired Russian. 21:39 Because we are a 98% white country. 21:44 No, you're completely missing the point. Russians don't represent the Irish population. This particular model that I'm talking about. 21:51 It's not about nationality. As you rightly said yourself, it does appear to be about race. 21:59 It doesn't just appear to be. It is about race. Stay there for a second. Let me go to Joey. You're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Joey? Not too bad, Adrian. How are you? Good, Joey. What did you want to say on this? 22:10 No, I only had a comment on regards to the thing with Phil Lyna and Paul McGrath. I 100% agree they are Irish, but they're mixed race. Like, I'm mixed race myself. I have a Zambian dad and an Irish mother. But a lot of people don't seem to... I think it's more of a media thing that brainwashes people to just see these people as, like, black Irish, but they're biracial people, you know? We're biracial, so we're both. And just like the correct terminology for us is biracial. 22:41 I know there are a lot of mixed race people who refer to themselves as black, but a lot of us don't. There are a lot of us as well that like to be called biracial because it includes both sides of our heritage, you know. So as you said, like, for me, someone who would be considered black Irish, in my opinion, would be like someone, you know, whose both parents are black African, but they were born and reared in Ireland. So they're Irish citizens and their race would be black. But for someone like myself, it's just different. You know, we're different. We're not like white or black. We're basically a race of our own. 23:13 We're in the middle. So we're mixed race, you know. That was just... I wanted to just explain that in the comment section. 23:18 But why do you feel the need to highlight that as a difference to this model that we're talking about, whose parents came to Ireland 30-odd years ago from Kenya, but this young one that we're talking about, a Dublin-based model, who's absolutely, by the way... To see the photographs of her, and we were sent in some photographs from her portfolio. Honest to God, this girl is stunning looking. 23:48 How people are even questioning her being chosen to front the face of this company. 23:53 Because they don't believe a lot of people, Adrian, it comes back to what we had, and I'm sure you'd even agree with that, Joey, a lot of people, bigoted people, do not believe that you can be black and Irish, or even mixed race and Irish. I mean, to look at you, Joe, I don't know what you look like, we'll have a look at your Facebook page now in a second, but would people know that you're mixed race to look at you? 24:12 Yeah, well, I grew up with a lot of people calling me half-cast, but that's not really the accurate term either, that's a bit discriminatory. Now, I know people don't mean it, because they're rare to just kind of 24:23 think that way but if you actually look into the origins of it from the caste system it actually means like someone is half pure okay now I'm looking at her I'm doing a bit of creeping on your Facebook page apologies for that but I just wanted to see what you look like and I'd say you know you definitely um look mixed race, you would know to look at it. And the problem here is, Joey, if you were used in an ad tomorrow, say Lifestyle Sports were doing an ad for... Yeah, people probably wouldn't be happy with it. 24:48 They'd be like, oh, this person is not white, so you shouldn't be using the ad because everyone thinks that way. 24:55 What do you say? And agreed, not everybody thinks that way. In fact, I think a minority of people think that way. 25:00 I think it's a bit more than... 25:02 Okay, what do you say to people who would have an issue if you were to appear in a lifestyle sports ad? What would you say to those people? 25:12 I'd say we'll just get over it. I mean, it's an ad. It's not affecting you personally in your own life, is it? And it's not taken away from other people who may look a certain way. Everyone can have a right to be in an ad. It's just an ad. And if you go to other countries as well, even in Zambia, there's a lot of... 25:29 white people in some ads with clothes mixed in with black people and mixed race people and no one really has a problem so like just the way the world is I mean the world has different people in it for a reason we're all like God's children and when you hear people and these were some of the comments why is an African promoting this product could they not find an Irish person and the implication being you can't be black and Irish what do you say to that attitude 25:57 Well, I'd say like, If we're talking, I'm not going to be, I don't want to sound prejudiced either, but I can say it because I'm mixed, so it shouldn't be. But I think what people are coming at is that I think they mean like ethnically, you know what I mean? Like ethnically, if your origins are from, if you're fully African, then you're an African person who's born in Ireland. So you'd be an Irish citizen, okay? But ethnically, you would be an African person. 26:24 Okay, but again, it goes back to what you just said a second, a minute ago. What difference does it make if a company chooses to use a black person, a Chinese person? 26:35 It doesn't really make any difference. It doesn't really matter. To me personally, it doesn't really matter. But obviously, I can't change people's minds. 26:43 People are going to have their way of thinking. But personally, yeah, it shouldn't really matter. You know what I mean? Unfortunately, it does for some people, but to me it doesn't. 26:51 I know when they're looking at your picture there, that if you were used, say for instance, Dublin Bus next week, we're doing a new drive, or we want new male bus drivers, and they put a photograph of you driving the bus with your little Dublin Bus hat on and stuff like that, that literally people would, you'd have the citizens... 27:08 They'd be triggered by it. They'd be like, oh, yeah... 27:11 You'd have the citizen journalists, and they don't look at facts. They just go, look, another invader. Can we not get our own? Purely based on your skin colour. 27:21 Yeah, and that's the same. Let's say if people didn't know who Phil Lyon was, because he was a biracial Irish man, right? But let's say if he wasn't famous and people didn't know who he was or who Paul McGrath was, If they were used as the poster as well, there'd be people like, as you said, oh, another invader. But because they know that they're part Irish heritage and they've done so well for the country, people are not going to discriminate. Oh, they'd be like, oh, yeah, Phil and Paul, you know what I mean? But if they didn't know who they were, like me, I'm not a famous mixed race Irish person. 27:51 So as you said, some people would be like, oh, they're using another foreign lad or whatever, you know, or just a Brazilian. Some people think I'm Brazil because a lot of Brazilians are mixed race as well. So I get like, are you from Brazil all the time? It's not offensive. But yeah, as you said, there would be people that would have an issue with. 28:09 But Joey, I think we should be able to have someone like you advertising a... That's exactly the point. Without having to turn off... I mean, I saw one of the ads and they had to turn off the comments on Facebook because people were commenting, literally fixated on the woman's skin colour. We should be able to use you on an ad for whatever. I mean, do you consider yourself Irish? I assume you do. 28:29 Yeah, well, I consider myself Zambian Irish because I'm half Zambian and half Irish. I was born and read in Ireland. I'm more, you know, culturally Irish. But I am Irish. 28:38 Yeah, you're Irish with Zambian heritage, I would say. 28:41 Yeah, yeah. Personally, I see myself as, like, Irish and Zambian because that's how I'm created. So Zambian Irish... And that's it. Just like Samantha Mumba, she's also Zambian-Irish. Her father's Zambian as well. I'm not sure about Phil Lina now. I think Guyana maybe his dad was. But either way, like we're Irish, we're both. Now when I go to Zambia, it's the opposite. Like a lot of people call me a white man. And I'm like, well, I'm not white. I'm mixed race. But in Africa, a lot of mixed people are. You'd be seen as white, white. Yeah, as white. So they call me Mzungu. 29:11 Mzungu is like a Swahili word for a white European. 29:15 And then they have other words, like in South Africa, they have coloured, which means, like, mixed-race people. So they have, like, black people, white people, coloured people are, like, in between. It came from the apartheid, you know, in South Africa. But in Zambia, a lot of, like, if Phil Linnet was in Zambia or Paul McGrath, we'd all be considered as white people, which is wrong because we're mixed-race. 29:37 Okay, so let me just ask you then, Joey, finally, Does it annoy you when you hear the likes of this particular model that we're talking about, a Dublin-based, Dublin-born black Irish woman being trolled for taking part in an advertising, and the company as well, being trolled for using this woman to promote advertising? And by the way, it's a very Irish brand is the best way I can describe this brand. It is very Irish. It will be a stereotypical Irish brand, a very well-known brand. 30:11 And they chose to use this model, but they're all being trolled. What do you think of people who do that? 30:17 I think they're just idiots, to be honest. Like, obviously, there's racists. Like, you know what I mean? Like, she's just a woman. She's been picked for a particular, you know, to do her job. That's what she, like, it doesn't really matter to colour. I mean, she's not, like, she knows that she's of African heritage. Like, people know. But, like, I mean, I don't know, like, personally, I think it's silly, but as I said, people have their opinions, but I think she should be allowed to, you know, anyone should be allowed to represent in those type of ads. It doesn't matter if you're Asian, mixed race, black, white, it shouldn't really matter, you know what I mean? 30:50 That is the point I was trying to make about my hair colour, that if I was on an ad, people wouldn't be up in arms going, my God, he doesn't look like your typical Irish person because I represent less than 8% of the population, male, blonde haired fellas. And it really is a sad state of affairs where Joey, who's as Irish as we are, couldn't advertise something. 31:12 Good to talk to you, Joey. Let me bring in more of your opinions like Martin. 31:16 Yeah, I believe you can be black and Irish. Why can't you? I mean, by Adrian's definition there, I'm 100% Irish because I was born in England to Irish parents. I've lived here longer than I lived in England. But by these people who say you can't be black and Irish, that would mean that, you know, maybe... My kids aren't Irish because I wasn't born here. 31:39 But they're as Irish as they come and I hammer that into them every day that they're Irish. So yeah, just the old knuckle-draggers letting everyone down again. 31:49 It's the Opinions Matter podcast with Adrian Kennedy and Jeremy Dixon. A podcast from Ireland with a difference. 31:55 Robbie has been on to us with his opinion. It's very simple. These people are knuckle-dragging troglobites. You know, you just ignore them and let them fucking see them their own hatred and fuck them. Knuckle-dragging is obviously a theme today. 32:08 Joanne, you're on Opinions Matter. Hi, Joanne. 32:12 Hi. Now, Joanne, what did you want to say on this? 32:15 Well, firstly, everybody that's ringing in with an opinion, really, they're the people that have the problem with it. 32:27 who are all mixed race. So I have three grown up children and they've gone on to marry people who are not the same race as their self. 32:40 model one of them is blonde blue-eyed stunning another child models she has crazy curly hair a mixed race skin and beautiful dark eyes every single one of my children are beautiful i've also got one who plays for a professional team in england who is signed up to a team that could probably play for Ireland at some point where he's so good. Well, when he's blonde, maybe they'll let him play for Ireland. 33:11 I'm really angry this conversation is going over and over in circles. I mean, sorry you speak. I have a lot to say on this subject. 33:19 No, that's fine, and that's what we're here for. 33:22 So what do you say? I'll give you an example. Somebody sent us in a screenshot earlier on of the window of a Penny's or a Primark store. I don't know if it's in Ireland or in the UK. I don't know where it's from. 33:36 Okay, I've seen that story. I know what's going on, okay? Okay, go on. My one-year-old grandchild is probably going to be available on Smith's toys windows here. 33:51 She is the darkest of my children. 33:54 And they're going to be popping up all over the place on adverts. As I said, the blonde one and the dark one. It makes no difference what color these people are or even where they come from. They are picked for the job. 34:10 And that was the point I was making earlier on about the model being used for this Irish company. 34:15 She was chosen for her look, for her image. Absolutely. 34:30 You must know, much knowledge that bugs the shit out of you, Joanne, that people involved in this business do get trolled or the company gets trolled because of the inclusion of somebody who would be a minority. 34:47 And absolutely, I've seen it happen before. And people complain. When my children were at school, they were chosen for certain subjects to do things. And then I used to have to stand there next to people saying, they've probably been chosen because they're mixed race. No, my children were chosen because they had high grades and were doing well at school. This has gone on and on. It's a never ending story. The people you know who we should, if you could sit down my nine grandchildren in a room and ask them the questions that you've been asking them and let them listen to your readers. 35:22 they actually would be shocked. They refer to themselves as Irish, Jamaican, Greece, Greek, Cypriot, and British. Now, there's a mix for you. It certainly is. That's a mixed bag, all right. An absolute mixed bag. And I tried to ring you all the other day about being in a local DIY shop here, and I had to watch black people being abused by a white Irish man in the shop to the extent not one single person said anything, I had to go to the drunken Irishman and more or less march him out the shop. 36:00 Now, don't get me wrong, the shop has contacted me and I think the police have called and I've been thanked, but I'm seeing this daily. Daily I see this stuff going on. 36:10 You mentioned how one of your grandchildren, or was it two of your grandchildren, are going to be used in Smith's toy store ads, is that right? Two of them, yes. Two of them, okay. Oh, Argos and Smith, quite a few different places. Excellent. That's fantastic to hear. So let me ask you, when you hear the sort of attitude that we've heard from listeners here, but also some of the trolls of this girl that we're talking about, the ad that she has done, how do you feel about the fact that some people will be triggered or will troll your own grandchild for being used in an advert? 36:48 My honest opinion, lack of education. 36:52 I'd be a bit more blunt than that. Fuck them, is what I would say. 36:54 No. Now, I didn't really want to swear on your thing, but... No, you can say whatever you want. 36:59 Say whatever you want. 37:00 Fuck them. And my children have been read to not even think... I have a daughter who was spat in through her window by a road rager before and called a nigger. Like, this is life for my children. So what age was she when this happened? Well, this one now, she is actually in her 30s and she's the one with the children and modelling but what I'm saying is this is just my children are cleverer than most of the adverts that have run into you not most of the people that are ringing into you this is daily have you not seen the video that's gone up today on Facebook where there's a black girl and she's crying her eyes out she's been on a I think it was on a bus in town today And she was attacked verbally by somebody and not one single person on the bus said anything until the same person started to attack, well, verbally attack the bus driver. 37:54 You'll find it. I'm sure she's going to go viral. The girl is devastated. She's an Irish girl born and bred here. And my heart broke for her. And that's why I rang you today. I just said enough to enough. People need to say something. 38:07 And again, as you said, I mean, we don't intervene at the best of times. No, no, people don't. 38:14 And the problem is I do. 38:17 No, and fair play to you, but I think when it comes to somebody of an ethnic minority being attacked or ridiculed or whatever, we're even less likely to intervene. 38:28 And I think that's the point that you're trying to make. You might do us a favour, actually, Joanne, and send us on that video onto our WhatsApp so that we can see it for ourselves. I will, I'll mention that. 38:40 Okay, you're basically saying that it is a complete lack of education if you're an idiot that would have an issue with, for example, Joanne's granddaughter being used in an advert for Smith's Toys. Absolutely. 38:54 What would you say to this, and we'll try and get this fella on. Phil just said... 39:00 as he's listening to this live, this woman is absolutely lying. To me? Yeah, and that is favouritism. 39:06 I assume he's making a... What am I lying about that my children are doing? 39:11 I assume... We'll try and get him... I assume he's trying to make a... 39:14 I don't want to argue with an absolute nutter now. Don't mind arguing, you know... 39:20 I don't blame you, I'll be honest. No, but he's obviously making out, I'm just putting words in his mouth, we'll try and get him on, but I assume he's making out that the only reason your grandkids were picked was to, basically to serve a minority. 39:34 Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. What do you say to that? Oh, I thought I was going to have to speak to him and listen to him. I'm just going to say to him again, another idiot. Lack of education. Go back to school, mate. I hope you're not rearing children. 39:49 It really is. It is sad to hear. Stay with me for one second, if you can, please, Joanne. Our number is 085-825-2626, if you would like to get involved in this conversation. Let me bring in Andrea. Andrea. 40:03 My son is white. 40:05 I was born in Reden Island and moved to the UK about 12 years ago. 40:10 His father is also Irish from the north. 40:14 He has an Irish passport, but on his birthday it says that he's British. If he was on that ad, there would not be a word about it. 40:26 Opinions matter. 40:29 Kennedy and Jeremy Dixon. A daily podcast from Ireland about opinions. 40:33 Ciarán, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Ciarán? I'm good, Adrian. How are you? Good, thanks, Ciarán. What did you want to say on this? 40:39 I just wanted to say, I think there's a, you know, that model who qualified, who went and did that ad. I've no issue with anybody getting any job that's open to anybody. If I question, let's say, a company's policy about it, I get accused of being a racist. 40:58 Now, it was myself who sent in that screenshot from a penny store. 41:04 I would have an issue with... 41:05 So, where is this penny store? In Tralee. In Tralee. And when was this? Last Christmas? I'm not sure. 41:13 I screenshotted it myself from YouTube. Okay. 41:16 Okay. But it was a video of a shop window in Penny's or Primark or wherever, and the people being used were black. 41:28 Yeah, all of them. Okay. And? I would have an issue with why the company are choosing to do that. I don't have an issue with the models or the skin color of the models. But, you know, we're trying to, and what pennies would say, I'm not going to speak for them, but what companies like pennies do. 41:45 I'll give you the answer as to probably why they use that, because there are black families in Ireland that celebrate Christmas. That's the simple answer. So that's it. So they represent, they represent not your typical Irish family, but they represent an Irish family. That's not representative of an Irish family. 42:07 But in the same way, a lot of people would have an issue that in a lot of ads, if you saw, okay, say if you saw an ad for pennies this Christmas. So the ad comes on the telly this Christmas, yeah? And it's a white Irish family. My family, your typical Irish family, three white kids, strawberry blonde, mother and father Irish. You wouldn't have a problem with my family being using an ad for pennies, would you? 42:35 I'd have an issue with the fact that there isn't some representation of other cultures. 42:40 So one of my kids has to be black. That's fine. No, no, no, no. 42:44 Hang on. Any Christmas ad that features a family, yeah? And there are, you know, family odds sitting around the Christmas table or sitting around the Christmas tree or whatever. Yeah. They're all going to be from the one family. So chances are they're all going to be either white or they're all going to be black. So this family that you're talking about. Hang on. They're not. No, but listen to me for one second. The advert you're talking about from the window of pennies. 43:11 They were all black because, of course, the average black family, they are going to be all black. You're not going to have a white child in the middle of the family. 43:19 Let's go to Joanne who's still on the other line, Ciarán. Joanne's granddaughter or grandson is black. That child is Irish and shops in Smith's toys. I presume like most kids do. Why can that child, I'm not saying you're saying they can't, but is it okay with that child representing an Irish company? 43:41 That child can represent whoever they want to. Whatever. Countries. 43:47 in the company and the policies and societal policies. 43:51 Actually, Joanne, just to go back to you, you believe that your grandchild or grandchildren were chosen for them rather than their skin colour. 44:01 Absolutely. And Kieran, one question I'd like to ask you, what in God's name had you taken a photograph of a shop to come back and talk absolute crap about about the colour of the people in the ad. 44:15 I didn't talk about the colour of the people in the ad. I talk about the companies using all black people. 44:21 You're talking about exactly what I've just said. You took time to take a photograph of the shop window. You're the kind of man that's going to go and see my children advertising something and complain about them. I say, get off the radio. You're talking shit. Okay, fine. 44:45 Go back and educate yourself. Educate yourself. Please educate yourself. 44:49 I'm very well-educated, thank you very much. 44:51 Well, you sound like you are, but it sounds like something's missing there. Yeah, well, this is the problem. This is the problem. Education, yeah. Education. 44:58 No. Can you let me finish now instead of dominating the conversation? 45:02 You're going to spell out about companies this, companies that, and stick at the same old story. 45:07 Fine. I'll shut my mouth then until you get off the line and allow someone else to speak. No worries. Okay, thank you. I've no issue with your grandchildren, anyone's grandchildren doing any advert or representing anybody. 45:18 Well, you will because they're not the right colour. I have no... 45:21 I wonder about... Adrian, Jeremy, have you got the opinion from me that I'm racist? 45:26 No, not that you're racist, but you are questioning a company's choice of model. 45:33 This is the problem. No one's allowed to question anything anymore. Yes, you are. Of course you have. The question needs... The advertisement's It needs to be a sensible question. The point I'm trying to make is a lot of adverts that are clearly anti-white or racist against white people, nobody says anything to them. And I can name three or four of them that currently are on Irish media platforms, okay? So when someone comes on and questions an advert, they're accused of being racist. 46:04 I'm not racist. I'm the last person in the world who's racist. 46:07 Why are you questioning the advert? 46:09 Why? Adrian, you gave an example. Adrian, you gave an example of Dublin bus if they were to use the gentleman who called in, you know, who said he was mixed race. If you used him in an advert for a recruiting campaign, for example. 46:24 You know, he would get trolled and wrong, and absolutely that's wrong. But what if Dublin Bus, you know, had 100 people on their recruitment app? 46:34 You're trolling people by taking photographs and windows of shops of models. Okay, okay, so fine. 46:41 You're a troller. You are a troller. If you ask Pennies or any other company why they used five black people, they would say, we want to promote inclusion. That's what they would say. 46:54 What else do you expect them to say to you? What else do you expect them to say to you? Exactly. 46:59 What do you want them to say to you? Yeah, exactly. They're telling the truth. They're telling the truth. They're trying to be inclusive. But they're not. They're being dictated to about what to use in their ads, about who to use in their ads. Would you stop? Would you stop? 47:15 Thousands and thousands of people. Thousands of people apply. for these positions to be able to model for these companies. 47:24 One person gets picked. What would have happened to that model if she didn't get the job and went on Facebook and complained that she didn't get the job because she was black? 47:33 Well, you obviously don't know about models and modelling companies because they just forget about that job and go on to the next job. They forget if they don't get that job. They don't go crying because they never got the job. 47:45 You live in that cuckoo place. 47:47 then that's okay i will no i will nobody's allowed to question anything i i'm not racist i'm just questioning questioning it all but please do it with proper questions not just bullshit okay well answer my question and what was my improper question your improper question was why were they using a black model in pennies or whatever it was that you've never said 48:12 Okay, well then answer the question, Kieran. Why did you send us that screenshot? Exactly. 48:22 I sent that screenshot to make the point that companies are being told what to put in their ads, who to put in their ads. I'm sorry, hang on, hang on. Kieran, who is telling them? Who? Society is telling them, and probably some laws. Society is telling them, yes, because they're moving on. Adrian, where is the couple for Christmas? Where is the ads for Christmas with, you know, the people that were subject to last week's opinions matter? 48:53 Where are the advertisements with gay couples, two men, sitting around the Christmas table? 48:59 You're actually giving me a headache now. 49:03 By the way, if that did happen, Ciarán, there would be... Can you imagine, like, Philip Dwyer with his rosary beads walking around his neck, throwing holy water over the TV? If an ad came out for any product this Christmas, yeah? I know we shouldn't be talking about Christmas now. But if an ad came out, say for argument's sake, it was for Smith's Toys, yeah? And an ad came out in November for Smith's Toys and it showed this lovely Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and the little boy sitting in front of the Christmas tree waiting for Santa to arrive and the two daddies holding hands. 49:34 Can you imagine? 49:35 Can you imagine the likes of Philip Doir? It's only a matter of time, by the way, before we do see an ad like that. 49:39 And we should have an ad like that. And again, every ad shouldn't have a mammy and daddy because the vast majority of families in Ireland are blended families. You have half-brothers and half-sisters and half-aunties and half-uncles and you have people going through... 49:56 second marriages you have people with kids who they don't know who baby daddy is and stuff like that so it's not the nuclear family anymore but I hope that ad comes out because we get a month worth of podcasts out of that so we need an ad this Christmas with a gay couple sitting on the Christmas tree with their child on holidays last week one of the evenings the only way you walk along the strip to go to a bar at night or whatever to go to a restaurant we're walking along the strip where we are and coming towards us you can see this couple coming towards us and it's a little girl about 8 years of age And she's walking along, she's playing with some toy that she's after buying off of Lucky Lucky. 50:31 And behind her, I can only assume that it was, are her two dads and their holding hands. And the two dads walking along hand in hand with their daughter in front of them. And all my kids can see them coming. And what do you think my kids said when they saw this? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. Great. That's good to hear. And in fact, I only said I said it to my wife after they passed. I said, isn't that? I shouldn't even say this to you because it should be a given. But it's just very rare to see it that you had a gay couple who obviously, I don't know, did they adopt the baby or was there a surrogate or whatever the case may be. 51:07 But you had two dads and a daughter who was happy as fucking Larry, by the way. Nothing wrong with that child. She was happy as Larry playing with her little toy. And her two dads, she just happens to have two dads and they're holding hands walking along. And that's the way it should be. 51:20 And sadly, the only issue that child is ever going to have in her life is society. It's Philip Dwyer trying to pour water, hold water over. 51:28 Go to hell. Go to hell. That's what I'm saying. 51:30 It is society that will cause that. It's a breakdown of morals. It's a breakdown of morals. I can just hear it now. Phil, you're on Opinions Matter. How are you, Phil? 51:39 How's it going, Adrian? How are you? 51:40 Good, thanks, Phil. Phil, you were querying Joanne and the truth in what she was saying. Why? Why? 51:48 Yeah, because it's easier for, like, when she has, like, kind of vested interest in herself, she's not fondly there, who obviously are, you know, of different races. So these are part of comment on it. The reason I commented was because, look, I believe that, yes, okay, Ireland is obviously different narratives. 52:05 but it's easier for them to kind of promote like a black person to advertise their thing and inclusivity which I'm a big fan of but I've got kids here who were born Australian but they were born to an Australian mother so I would consider them Australian with Irish heritage but when you've got someone who was born to different parents who were not born in Australia or sorry born in Ireland then they are they're not Irish they're not fully Irish and that's That's just the fact. When they have parents that were never born in Ireland, and they were born in Ireland, they are, wherever they were born, with Irish heritage. 52:39 Sorry, again, you were querying what Joanne was saying. What was your issue with what Joanne was saying? 52:48 It's because she was sitting there talking about obviously whole family, which means she has a vested interest. She has an emotional interest in it. I believe if she looked at it from somebody who didn't have that, she would see things differently. 52:59 Okay, what do you say to that, Joanne? 53:02 Okay, so in the conversation... By the way, Joanne, by the way, I'm not a Nora. I'm not a Nora. I heard what you said about being a Nora. 53:09 I'm not a Nora. Yeah, obviously. No, I don't know if you heard when I was actually speaking as well. One of my grandchildren is, obviously because they're of Irish descent, is blonde-haired. 53:23 He gets picked for as many modelling assignments as his sister, who has afro hair and dark skin. So that blows that thing out of the question, what you're saying. 53:34 And I just also wanted to clarify as well that Smith, my children, were photographed in the UK, and it will be in every Smith store that they own. 53:51 I know what you're saying. I hear it so many times where people go, oh, but we need to include black people because it doesn't look. No, look, give black people their credit, mate. They're working to get where they're getting to be. 54:02 I never said that. I never said that they were just walking, but I'm just saying. There is a hierarchy that includes them, just so it's like social diversity. You include these people. Listen, sorry, sorry. 54:17 Listen, sorry, I don't even know your name. I could sit here all day and tell you how my children had to have hair cut to be able to be going into a certain school. I can tell you all kinds of things that have happened through their lives. 54:32 And it goes on and on. And see this, people telling me, but we need to have enough colours to make it look like it's rubbish. It's all rubbish, just made up by people that just want to cause trouble. And I'm not saying you want to cause trouble. Absolutely not. this. Hold on. 54:49 Now we're going to cause trouble, but everybody's faced social barriers that need to follow. That doesn't mean anything to me. I mean, at the end of the day, people always have to obtain something. What annoys me is when people sit there and say, well, you know, these people are this type of race and this and they're being discriminated. Everybody's being discriminated against. You have a vested interest. That's your family. You're going to sit there and say, well, you know. 55:11 Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. No, no, no. You're going to talk to me now. Hold on. You're going to talk to me now. 55:18 vested interest. Tell me. 55:19 Now, I said I didn't want to argue with a nutter. 55:22 I have an Irish father. I'm not arguing with his English accent. 55:24 Adrian and Jeremy, this is what I said. I'm not listening to nothing. But you're putting him in that category. 55:46 Look, why is he calling out my accent? My accent's on both countries. 55:50 I'm calling out your accent simply because you keep cutting me off. You're not letting me get my foot across. You've literally spoken before I have. This is the first opportunity I've had to come home because I was busy. Go ahead. Go ahead. Well, I literally just said you have a vested interest in what you're saying. And look, I'm not annoyed that you're... 56:06 I'm asking what my vested interest is. 56:07 There you go again. There you go. 56:09 What's my vested interest? 56:12 I was literally about to sit there and say, I'm sure, like, you're very proud of your family. You know, you've got great kids, you've got great grandkids, but at the same time, you have a vested interest in what you're saying. So, therefore, you cannot see where other people are coming from. 56:26 So, because I'm having a straight family, I don't know where people are. 56:30 That's not a bad thing. That's not a bad thing. But at the same time, we take it back to the actual conversation. This person who's a model, I've never seen her. I'm sure she's beautiful. I've heard what Adrian and Jeremy have said. She's beautiful. But it's diversity. It's like, for instance, the Bud Light. You don't want those. 56:47 Okay, the bottom line here is, Phil, and to all of our callers, 57:03 The problem we have here is, on the one hand, we get foreign nationals or people of foreign heritage being accused of not integrating into Irish society. And then when we have Irish people who happen to be black integrating into Irish society, the exact opposite happens. We don't want them integrating into Irish society. Thank you. 57:28 It's just biggest belief. I hear what you're saying about that, but at the same point, these people are chosen just so these companies can appeal to different diversities. 57:37 Okay, but hang on. 57:38 This notion that these people are being chosen... Now, hold on. Jeremy said to Manuel Abel, if this person would be in way with blue words, but then when they hear the accent, Now, at the end of the day, if people in Ireland knew, and let's say this person was a foreign person that was born in the country but was not born to, I don't know, native parents, so to speak, the same outrage would have been. It's just a matter of skin colour. 58:00 It's not really developed. Again, I gave an example of a model that operates on the modelling circuit in Ireland who was born in Russia, wasn't even born in Ireland, And I have never, ever heard of anybody trolling an advert that she was in because she's Russian. Jeez, I'm dying to see the photograph of this woman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's stunning as well. I do like Russian models. But my point is... 58:26 My point is, because she's white and she's got blonde hair, it's going to troll her. 58:31 It's the same question with Eric Katie, who works on the show. You know Katie very well. Eric Katie, who works on the show, has never had her Irishness questioned. And she's spoken about this before. She's got a father who is not from Ireland. So... 58:45 By the accounts of a lot of people, by the Patriots, by the rules that they go by, Katie can never be Irish. But nobody has ever questioned Katie's Irishness because she's pale, white-skinned. That's exactly right. 58:57 All right, look, thank you very much indeed, Phil and Joanne, for your calls. And thank you very much indeed for all of your calls. Very interesting conversation, actually. I found it quite boring, actually. Did you? I'm only joking, isn't it? It was very interesting. And there's a photograph of the Russian model that I'm talking about. 59:13 She's obsessed with Russian models. Yeah, but no, would you know she was not Irish? 59:17 You might, but... 59:20 Nobody's going to troll her. No, but you're less likely to comment because people just can't see past skin colour. That's exactly the point. That's exactly the point. 59:28 Thank you for listening to this latest Opinions Matter podcast with Adrian and Jeremy. If you enjoyed it, please hit subscribe or follow. Click on the bell icon on Spotify and you'll be notified when our next episode is live. Thanks for listening. 59:43 Need new carpets, flooring, beds, or furniture? Then head to Carpet Luxury Bedding and Furniture, where great value comes as standard. Don't miss their famous 500 euro stairs and landing package deal, covering up to 16 square yards of quality carpet, supplied and fitted. Looking for a modern update? Check out their fantastic range of laminate flooring and vinyls, available in a variety of styles to suit every home and budget. Expert advice, free measuring, and years of trusted service, Carpet Luxury Bedding and Furniture has everything you need to refresh your home. Visit the showroom today or shop online