Easter 1916 - the enemy files .... Michael Portillo

[AhNowRef]

Did anyone see this ... Christ it was awful and the most one sided thing ive ever seen on TV...

As far as this show was concerned the rebels were just like ISIS (and they actually said that at one stage) and the poor British were set upon for no reason and just handled things a little badly .. All their wrongdoings were summed up in a word "Mischief" ...

Took some going not to put the foot through the TV .. but then that would have been just stupid 

[No wides]

Saw it being advertised and made a conscious effort to wash my hair when it was on.

[lurganblue]

Did anyone see this ... Christ it was awful and the most one sided thing ive ever seen on TV...

As far as this show was concerned the rebels were just like ISIS (and they actually said that at one stage) and the poor British were set upon for no reason and just handled things a little badly .. All their wrongdoings were summed up in a word "Mischief" ...

Took some going not to put the foot through the TV .. but then that would have been just stupid 

Feck i set this to record and it's sitting on my planner! was hoping for an added alternative account of the rising.  Now thinking i'll just delete it

[bennydorano]

It did exactly what it set out to do, offer an Alternative view of the Rising, having primary evidence from British archives & sources. An interesting insight.

[easytiger95]

Wow, isn't gas how subjective opinions can be? Saw it last week on Rte and thought it was really good, exactly because it have a completely Anglo centric view of the rising. I thought it was really insightful to hear how disdainful the British establishment were of the possibility of rebellion and the leaders.
Purely as a programme though, content aside, it was shot brilliantly, especially the on-location stuff. I'm sure there was s couple of Irish camera men involved, it looked really great, as good as anything shown during the commemorations so far.

[Rossfan]

Found it boring and switched about half way through.
Only new thing I learned was that they had decoded messages from the German Embassy in Washington that an Insurrection was planned in Ireland in the days  after 21/4/16.

[Beffs]

It did exactly what it set out to do, offer an Alternative view of the Rising, having primary evidence from British archives & sources. An interesting insight.

Yes, but when the likes of that well known uber nationalist Kevin Myers, is being invited to put his spin on things, you have a pretty clear idea of how it's all going to pan out.

Having access to cold, hard data & statistics in 100 year old files, is all well and good. It all goes to pot, when you have eegits like him on, interpreting them.   

[AhNowRef]

Yeah Kevin bloody Myers    ... Im surprised they didnt have the lovely Ruth Dudley Edwards on as well .. Oh and dug up Conor Cruise O'Brien while they were at it ...

I consider myself fairly liberal but I just thought this was absolute tosh ... They even kept saying that the British didnt want to fight "their own countrymen"    ... No mention of the fact that this dubious status wasn't exactly sought-after and there was certainly no real background on the situation..

If you had been someone from another part of the world with no knowledge of our shared history you would have been convinced that the Irish were a right bunch of b**tards and that the poor ole English were the victims in every way .. shocking stuff altogether.. 

[Hardy]

You seem to have missed the fact that this was a view of the event from the British perspective.

I thought it was very interesting to get their view. I don't have to agree with it to have found it interesting

[bennydorano]

Didn't think Myers interpreted anything, that was Portillo's job, Myers just repeated stuff he's been writing about for years.

Were some of you mislead into watching this? The premise was pretty clear!

[Jim_Murphy_74]

You seem to have missed the fact that this was a view of the event from the British perspective.

I thought it was very interesting to get their view. I don't have to agree with it to have found it interesting

Interestingly,  one of the criticisms levelled at rebels was that the cause was undermined by their disregard for taking people's lives. Files and accounts shared by this documentary shows a fair disregard for the same by British Army.  It's an important point to consider when people like Arlene Foster describe the rising as an attack on democracy by an undemocratic elite. Rebels may have been an elite and without a mandate but Imperial government was not exactly democratic. This is an important context when examining the rising and it's time.
So even if documentary thread on the toes of some sacred republican cows, it shone a light on British attitudes and governance of the time.

/Jim.

[AhNowRef]

You seem to have missed the fact that this was a view of the event from the British perspective.

I thought it was very interesting to get their view. I don't have to agree with it to have found it interesting

No I didnt miss that fact but surely to give a proper representation of "anything" you need to show a little bit of balance and a little background but alas this program did neither ..

Did you not already know their view ?

Had I though it was "only" going to show their biased view I wouldnt have bothered watching..

I mean for Gods sake, a retired British Officer who served in the North was interviewed and basically agreed with the British Army superiors at the time stating that the North King Street massacres were "mischief" .... just a little mistake caused by unclear orders old chap ..

I have to say that the commemorations in Dublin were excellent and like all the other programmes I saw  (noted I didnt see them all), showed remarkable balance and thought to the other side ... This load of one sided drivel went 100% out of its way "not" to do that.

It doesnt help attitudes in GB and certainly not up here in the North when shite like that goes out ... Disgrace !!

[keep her low this half]

The main issue with this programme is the fact that it was broadcast on BBC NI and possibly BBC across the UK ( I am not sure on that). I have watched a lot of the RTE and TG4 programmes and many of them were excellent and has been said earlier tried hard to present a balanced view. This programme with Kevin Myers and General Sir Richard Dannett was anything but unbiased. If RTE had done a documentary with Gerry Adams as its first contributor it would have been roundly condemned but this is OK for broadcast? The average Briish viewer will take Kevin Myers as representative of Irish opinion instead of as the arsehole he is.

[bennydorano]

It was broadcast on RTE first, they must have had a hand in its commissioning.

[Maguire01]

It was broadcast on RTE first, they must have had a hand in its commissioning.

If i'm not mistaken , RTE commissioned and BBC came on board at a later date.