COLUMN: Social media mob hit out at column about Cashel Palace Hotel

On the local airwaves last week I was described as a journalist with a “habit of having a go” because of the nature of some of my columns over the last few months.

That can be translated from keyboard warrior speak into columns I’ve written where I was “doing my job”.

One column that was mentioned specifically was highlighting how bad traffic is in Tipperary Town. Would anyone care to disagree?

Just this week, a businessman highlighted how it took him 20 minutes to get from Bank Place to the Limerick Road in the town.

“20 minutes to drive less than 2km,” he added.

So, not having a go, just highlighting an important local issue.

The Boherlahan column was about negative local reaction to the new road layout and I simply asked the question: “What’s going on in Boherlahan? Nothing seems to be good enough…”

That op-ed was written in the context of columns on the local hall and the new car park fiasco - so again, not having a go, just shining a well-informed light on community issues in a village in both The Nationalist’s and Tipperary Star’s heartland.

The reaction to the column printed in last week’s paper: “Why do I not feel comfortable going for a pint in the Cashel Palace Hotel?” has been interesting to say the least.

For one, many people on social media seemed to read the comments and react, or rather, agree with the comments of other users, instead of reading the article.

My favourite, on the personal Facebook page of Cashel Chamber President, Martin Lynch, was: “Everyone has an opinion, just as everyone has an arsehole.” Safe to say Martin didn’t agree with my op-ed.

The column was described as “negative” and that I had “gone too far”.

I welcome people’s reaction and the reaction to the column, it’s the point of an op-ed to stoke discussion and debate and offer a different or a conflicting opinion.

Even if people stoop much lower than I in their rebuttals; I welcome all manner of educated replies. It’s part of my job to face public scrutiny and if I write a column like the one I did, I should be open to hearing the public’s reaction.

And I have heard and listened to so many comments over the last week disagreeing with my piece, and having heard them all, I can wholeheartedly say, I think you’re all wrong. But that’s just my opinion...

No one can deny there’s more than a grain of truth to the column, with many comments strewn across social media and remarks made to me over the last week that agree with the sentiment of my piece.

Or if you listened to TippFM last week, you’ll have heard many people who agreed with what I wrote. Clearly, many people feel the Palace is out of reach for them and perhaps that’s part of a wider class debate.

Again, the column was not a review of the Palace, it was highlighting that I and others did not feel comfortable even going in given the air of sophistication and class that the building gives off.

That’s just a feeling and I don’t think people should be dictated to on how they should feel.

People are entitled to their opinions. It’s part of a paper’s function to encourage healthy debate on issues; just look at what last week’s column achieved.

I particularly liked this user’s comment: “The writer was entitled to say how he feels and is not alone. I know many people who do not feel like the hotel has any focus on the local community and its custom so would not go in.

“It’s very disappointing to see the Chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce ATTACK the writer just because he doesn’t agree with him. When speaking in your role as chair you should be disagreeing respectfully as you are representing the organisation. Remember manners cost nothing.”

People asked how I could write a “review” of a place I hadn’t been to.

Again, if they had read the column, the fact that I haven’t been to the Palace is literally the point of the piece. It’s about the perception of the Palace from the outside.

And for many, that perception was proven true as well.

It’s not a review, it’s an op-ed about why I haven’t been in…

The Palace has an air about it, that’s not to say it’s not a wonderful addition to the town, but not everyone would be comfortable going in there.

It goes without saying, the staff, the service, the accommodation and food; I’m sure are quite outstanding, as people have also reported, but the column was not about that.

I also note in the piece that the Palace is a great local employer and I added: “What more could we want from them? And there’s nothing stopping any of us from daring to go in...but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable.”

I’ve never seen such a vitriolic reaction to an opinion piece, and quite frankly, I got great enjoyment out of the furore it caused; just to confirm what all the trolls on Facebook were alleging anyway.

Social media really does turn people into vile beasts.

Over the last few days, a column about a hotel has prompted people to describe me as “nasty”, “a gutter journalist”, “a pauper” and it has been alleged that I have a number of psychological conditions and I am “in need of a trip to a psychologist”.

It has also been suggested that as a writer - even though writing is essentially my chosen career path - I have certain “inadequacies”.

It’s important to clarify right now, only some of the above is true.

I do think it’s important that I defend the paper and the column.

One user on Facebook, who has probably never bought The Nationalist, said: “It’s behaviour like this from newspapers that should be held accountable for its negative effects on business owners and their contributions to local enterprises and economies”.

In the same edition of The Nationalist, the paper that so many have criticised over the last few days, the paper one man said he would boycott, we had not one but two positive stories about the Cashel Palace and several other Cashel businesses.

A story on page 21 was headlined: “Cashel Palace Hotel features in Top Ten Great Places to Stay in Ireland”. A special feature in the two papers boasted an article on Ireland Chauffeur Travel, a Cashel-based business.

It also highlighted how last Saturday, Tipperary Food Producers, Thoroughbred Country, the Cashel Palace and Ireland Chauffeur Travel were going to America to promote “Brand Tipperary”.

Essentially, we had a double page spread, dedicated to Cashel businesses, something which the Cashel Chamber issued a statement on last Thursday and said: “It’s fantastic to see our local businesses promoted in such a positive way.”

They posted these comments just a few hours after their statement expressing their “dismay” at the Cashel Palace column in the paper and condemning that the “local newspaper chose to publish such a disparaging article”.

As it was pointed out on TippFM, there are more journalists in The Nationalist than just me, with that I absolutely agree and the paper will survive and thrive long after I’m gone.

Ultimately, people get the media they deserve.

The reaction to the column saw newspaper sales go through the roof and the article on tipperarylive.ie got over 13,000 page views (and counting), that’s on top of the huge numbers of engagement in the pit of social media.

I’ve also been invited by Adriaan Bartels, General Manager of the Cashel Palace, for a pint in the Guinness Bar this Saturday and I have duly accepted his “warm hand of friendship”.

There are more columns to come.

Darren Hassett is Regional Editor for Iconic Media in Tipperary