Slugger O'Toole
Encyclopedia
Slugger O'Toole is a weblog started in June 2002 by political analyst Mick Fealty
. It began life as Letter to Slugger O'Toole, focused primarily on news and comment about Northern Ireland
. From the beginning it has drawn its readership from a wide spectrum of opinion both inside and outside Northern Ireland.
'Slugger' has developed a reputation as 'the watering hole of the political class in Northern Ireland.' It draws its regular contributors from a wide range of political perspectives including contributors with links to all of the main political parties as well as a number of 'independents'. Research commissioned in the summer of 2008 by Stratagem in association with ComRes revealed that 96% of the members of Northern Ireland's assembly (MLAs) read the blog "regularly" or "occasionally".
The site has a fairly rigorous comments policy in which personal abuse is discouraged and commenters are urged to 'play the ball and not the man' - a refrain that has become something of a catchphrase among readers.
The choice of name was originally a reference to a sockpuppet character invented by Tim Murphy of New York, on an old CNN
community called Peace in Northern Ireland. Murphy's "character" was invariably drunk on Bushmills
and usually espoused strong loyalist politics, which often caught the unwary or recently arrived off guard. And he never listened to reasoned argument.
The idea of the Letter was to try to explain the complexities of Northern Ireland, slowly, regularly and in short bite-size pieces over a long, long period of time. Just like trying to explain something complex to a drunk man. The name is originally from the traditional Irish song "The Irish Rover
", best known as a collaboration between The Pogues
and The Dubliners
. The relevant line is: There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule.
However the Letter part was dropped when the blog moved from its old blogspot venue and radically re-designed and built on a different blog platform. It has since been known as Slugger O'Toole, and in comments zone at least retaining some of the intractable qualities of Tim's old sockpuppet drunk.
The inaugural awards were presented in Belfast on the 7th October 2008 with comedian Tim McGarry as compere.
The 2008 winners were as follows:
The 2009 awards are provisionally scheduled to take place on the 24th November at The Black Box in Belfast.
Mick Fealty
Mick Fealty is a journalist and the founding editor of the acclaimed Northern Ireland-based blog Slugger O'Toole.Fealty was born in Belfast and grew up in Holywood, County Down, but now lives in Dorset, England...
. It began life as Letter to Slugger O'Toole, focused primarily on news and comment about Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. From the beginning it has drawn its readership from a wide spectrum of opinion both inside and outside Northern Ireland.
'Slugger' has developed a reputation as 'the watering hole of the political class in Northern Ireland.' It draws its regular contributors from a wide range of political perspectives including contributors with links to all of the main political parties as well as a number of 'independents'. Research commissioned in the summer of 2008 by Stratagem in association with ComRes revealed that 96% of the members of Northern Ireland's assembly (MLAs) read the blog "regularly" or "occasionally".
The site has a fairly rigorous comments policy in which personal abuse is discouraged and commenters are urged to 'play the ball and not the man' - a refrain that has become something of a catchphrase among readers.
The choice of name was originally a reference to a sockpuppet character invented by Tim Murphy of New York, on an old CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
community called Peace in Northern Ireland. Murphy's "character" was invariably drunk on Bushmills
Old Bushmills Distillery
The Old Bushmills Distillery is a distillery in Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is owned and operated by Diageo plc of London, England, and is a popular tourist attraction, with around 110,000 visitors per year...
and usually espoused strong loyalist politics, which often caught the unwary or recently arrived off guard. And he never listened to reasoned argument.
The idea of the Letter was to try to explain the complexities of Northern Ireland, slowly, regularly and in short bite-size pieces over a long, long period of time. Just like trying to explain something complex to a drunk man. The name is originally from the traditional Irish song "The Irish Rover
The Irish Rover
"The Irish Rover" is a traditional Irish song about a magnificent, though improbable, sailing ship that reaches an unfortunate end. It has been recorded by numerous artists, some of whom have made changes to the lyrics....
", best known as a collaboration between The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
and The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
. The relevant line is: There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule.
However the Letter part was dropped when the blog moved from its old blogspot venue and radically re-designed and built on a different blog platform. It has since been known as Slugger O'Toole, and in comments zone at least retaining some of the intractable qualities of Tim's old sockpuppet drunk.
The Slugger O'Toole Political Awards
In the autumn of 2008, Slugger O'Toole announced a series of political awards. With the stated intention of 'promoting a conversational politics', the awards sought to identify good examples of democratic practice.The inaugural awards were presented in Belfast on the 7th October 2008 with comedian Tim McGarry as compere.
The 2008 winners were as follows:
- MLA of the year: Naomi Long MLA
- Up and coming politician: Daithi McKayDaithí McKayDaithí McKay, MLA is an Irish republican politician. He is the Education spokesperson for Sinn Féin and the deputy chair of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee in the Northern Irish Assembly...
MLA - Journalism Award: David Gordon
- Representatives external to Northern Ireland: The Rt Hon. Peter RobinsonPeter Robinson (politician)Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...
MP, MLA - Local Council of the Year: Belfast City Council
- Local Newspaper of the Year: The Impartial ReporterThe Impartial ReporterThe Impartial Reporter is a newspaper based in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland which is circulated in Fermanagh, South Tyrone and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland. It is the 3rd-oldest newspaper in Ireland, and is Fermanagh's oldest surviving weekly...
- Councillor of the year: Deirdre Nelson
- Committee Chair of the year: Danny KennedyDanny KennedyDanny Kennedy MLA is a unionist politician in Northern Ireland a former deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group and current Minister for Regional Development.-Background:...
MLA - Political blogger of the year: Nevin Taggart (NALIL)
- Jobsworth Award: Assembly Commission.
The 2009 awards are provisionally scheduled to take place on the 24th November at The Black Box in Belfast.
Awards
- Winner the Peace Through Media Award 2009 http://sluggerotoole.com/index.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fmideastmedia.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Finternational-media-awards.html BBC Report:
- Shortlisted for Politics Online's "The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics" 2006 and 2009.
- "Best Website of the Month" and specially commended in the "Website of the Year Award" at the BTBT GroupBT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
GoldenEye T Awards in May 2006. - First in the "Best Political BlogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
" section in the Dublin based Irish Blog Awards in 2006. - In 2005 it won "Best European Political Weblog" in the first Satin Pajamas competition held by A Fistful of Euros. http://www.fistfulofeuros.net.
- It won the New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
"New Media Award" for community and information in 2004.
External links
- Slugger O'Toole - website
- Mick Fealty - personal website
- Irish Blog Awards - Award site