By Sarah O’Mahony
Saturday, October 14th saw a former resident of Fermoy describe the town as a ‘horrible, horrible’ place while on the Red Chair section of The Graham Norton Show, aired on BBC. The jibe towards the town will have received an extensive airing, with a weekly viewership of the show in the region of 3 to 4 million weekly.
The Avondhu spoke with local councillor Noel McCarthy about the response to the incident. He described feeling horrified following the comments.
“I was contacted by locals on Saturday night and Sunday with one woman crying. It’s upsetting to see how our town has been portrayed,” he said.
Locals speaking to Patricia Messinger on C103’s Cork Today Show earlier this week, shared that they felt the comments were inaccurate and unwarranted. “The comments are unfair, we have placed highly nationally before for our town’s appearance.” This is in relation to Fermoy’s position in the top ten of Ireland’s cleanest town in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) rankings in 2008 and 2022.
UNFAIR REPRESENTATION
Councillor McCarthy, who is chairman of Fermoy Tidy Towns, explained that it casts a negative light on the town for a wide international audience.
“The show has a three million audience each time it airs, I personally love the humour and positivity it offers. However, we take pride in the appearance of Fermoy and are deeply disappointed by this representation. How will people who have never visited Ireland feel towards us or even those who have moved away from the area?”
There are plans in place for Paul Kavanagh, project lead of Fermoy Tidy Towns, to write to The Graham Norton show to express local dissatisfaction and complaints.
Looking to turn a negative into a positive, Councillor McCarthy also wishes to show the West Cork presenter around the town himself.
“We have a lot to offer here from the River Blackwater to the Barnane Walk and local businesses and shops. I think locals would really appreciate it,” he said.
