A BBC presenter has come under fire after managing to offend the entire Irish population during an interview about our Olympic heroes.
Ironically, it was an all Irish affair as Irish presenter Maria McErlane appeared with Graham Norton on a BBC show and they discussed the O’Donovan brothers.
Gary and Paul O’Donovan won silver in rowing at the Rio Olympics and charmed fans all over the world with their interviews, which were full of tongue-in-cheek Irish humour.
However, McErlane was not as charmed by the brothers as everybody else and felt that they gave a bad impression of Ireland.
She said: “It just kind of reinforces things about Irish people…they’re very good at rowing, they weren’t great at talking.”
Norton, who like the O’Donovan brothers grew up in Cork, disagreed with McErlane. He told her: “I thought they were very good at talking because they know they are funny.”
McErlane eventually agreed with Norton, but later found that the damage had been done. Fans took to social media to air their thoughts.
One said: “Some of the best presenters on the BBC have been Irish, not bad at talking are we?”
@mariamcerlane the Irish are widely accepted as the most socially endearing race on earth. Mostly because of how good we are at talking 😕
— neill walsh (@neillwalsh4) September 21, 2016
@mariamcerlane The phrase foot in mouth comes to mind. Some of the best presenters on the BBC have been Irish, not bad at talking are we?
— EM (@mondo9b) September 21, 2016
"reinforces things about Irish people..they're very good at rowing, they weren't great at talking" @mariamcerlane more #casualracism #brexit
— Eamonn T. Gardiner (@constantg2222) September 21, 2016
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling