Publisher pulls SPHE book over depiction of Irish family

http://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0905/1468519-sphe-irish-family-depiction/

Posted by badger-biscuits

19 Comments

  1. RIP my account but can I just ask….

    Is it just me or is the negative portrayal of the family purely got to do with their lack of desire to learn or engage with anything that isn’t traditionally Irish.

    I don’t think the text implies that doing any of the Irish things, or even a group of things, is negative or bad?

    I understand one piece uses negative language, and the other positive, but is the blunt extremes of both ends of the spectrum not intentional?

    And then it asks the student to debate?

  2. The main people I’ve seen objecting to this are the ones who are constantly going on about free speech and cancel culture…… Funny how they get something cancelled due to their getting offended over something….. Woke Snowflakes.

  3. Pointlessillism on

    Unironically a good exercise for SPHE classes would be to read these articles and discuss this and debate whether or not they had been brainwashed etc etc.

  4. Pleasant_Birthday_77 on

    I liked the way the publishers were so narky about people not liking it. *Well, I mean, we thought it was brilliant but if you all have a problem we’re very sorry jesus leave us alone to pig thick muck savages.*

  5. FrontApprehensive141 on

    There are people honestly saying that John Hinde blackface-Oirish stereotypes are “traditionally Irish”. That alone should tell you what faith they’re arguing in.

  6. The funniest thing about the depiction of the traditional Irish family is the idea that they have no family members in other countries. What could be more traditionally Irish than having cousins on multiple continents?

  7. TheStoicNihilist on

    It’s not even about the content now, it’s the negative publicity. “Pull the book and maybe they’ll shut up about it.” Never mind all the hard work put into creating every other page in the book.

  8. Stink of the “never been outta dublin except on foreign holidays” from this depiction tbh

  9. The Aran-wearing Irish family is described as eating bacon, cabbage and potatoes every day.

    Pulled and re-edited: The Man Utd/GAA jersey, Sweaty Betty wearing Irish family eating spice bags and chicken fillet rolls every day.

  10. The internet has killed Irish peoples ability to take the piss out of themselves. Great job ye woke bastards

  11. FloppyDonkeyTrick on

    I know I’m a bad person for thinking this, but what exactly is offensive here? Like offensive? Maybe I’m jaded but I couldn’t possibly be “offended” by this. The word has been so watered down now. Who is upset by this?

  12. StellarManatee on

    It was meant to provoke debate. There were two Irish families shown, one was patriotic, insular and refused to “corrupt” their kids with anything not Irish (the Burkes basically). The other family were blended, loved travel, trying new foods and learning about new places. Considering themselves “citizens of the world”.

    The idea was the pros and cons of both families were discussed along with themes like national pride, acceptance and national identity.

    It was for debate, not because it was a realistic depiction of an Irish family!

  13. Excellent_Porridge on

    I am a former textbook editor, and I’ve read it, and I didn’t think it was particularly steering anyone one way. I didn’t feel offended by either, and I would have said that if a reader feels that either of the familial descriptions provokes a response within them, the point of the exercise is to challenge your cognitive reactions. This is SPHE, it’s not history.

  14. nightsofthesunkissed on

    The actual [text accompanying the illustration](https://www.joe.ie/news/irish-schoolbook-apology-family-816558) is like reading something from the history books, portraying the Irish as a bunch of arse-backwards, close-minded people.

    It’s also just incredibly false? “We do not have a single relation living abroad”, wtf?

    It makes Ireland sound like a mad cult. Look at the kids crazy eyes in that picture lmao.

    I get that it was trying to provoke debate but there are better ways to educate kids than this.