Jill Stephenson at Loch Duich
Quintin Jardine in Elie
Iain Macmillan in Gleneagles
Douglas Marr on Skye
Andrew McFadyen in Kilmarnock
R D Kernohan on Arran
David Torrance on Iona
Catherine Czerkawska at Loch Ken
Chris Holligan in Elie
Rose Galt in Girvan
Alex Wood on Arran
Andrew Hook in Glasgow
Alasdair McKillop in St Andrews
Sheila Hetherington on Arran
Anthony Seaton on Ben Nevis
Paul Cockburn at Loch Ness
Jackie Kemp in a taxi
Angus Skinner on Skye
The Cafe
Thank you Jill Stephenson (26 May) for a sane approach to the Giggs matter.
I am no fan of Manchester United as a passionate Liverpool supporter myself. However I was shocked by the behaviour of the media ahead of United’s biggest match of the season in the Champions League final.
Their attempts to disrupt a press conference hosted by Sir Fergie were disgusting. When they threw in infantile questions like ‘How important is Giggs to the team?’, one knew they were at it. A player of Giggs’ stature, even (perhaps especially) to a Liverpool supporter, should not need to be explained.
That English press people attempted to disrupt the preparations of an English team ahead of such a game with trash-stories is despicable. I would have let Fergie set aboot the lot of them.
The judge who ruled on this particular ‘super’ injunction stated there was evidence to suggest Giggs was being blackmailed. Perhaps that was why he granted the injunction, who knows?
Whatever the damage done to Giggs’ image he remains one of the most gifted footballers produced in the British Isles. Wales remains proud of him and Manchester United supporters remain proud of him also.
Jo Greenhorn
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Today’s banner
Choppy waters, Oban
by Islay McLeod
The word ‘professional’
is now as suspect
as the word ‘banker’
Walter Humes
It was Dr Johnson who said ‘Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel’. I have often thought that if the word ‘patriotism’ was replaced by ‘professionalism’ the statement would be equally valid.
All sorts of dodgy operators now claim that they provide a ‘professional’ service – estate agents, double glazing firms, financial advisers. In the world of sport ‘professional’ associations have shown themselves incapable of dealing effectively with recurring issues such as the use of performance-enhancing drugs, betting scams and under-the-counter payments. The ‘professional’ foul in football, in which the rules are disregarded for the sake of some ‘greater’ good, serves as a metaphor for the low ethical standards of many organisations.
But surely, it may be argued, these criticisms do not apply to the ‘real’ professions – medicine, the law and teaching? These are regulated by professional bodies which have the power to investigate concerns, discipline members and, where appropriate, remove the right to practice. There is still a widespread perception, however, that these bodies often show greater concern for the interests of their members than for those who have cause to complain about the level of service they have received.
The processes that have to be gone through in order to gain a hearing are often complex and lengthy, and seem designed to put off all but the most determined complainants. Moreover, professionals are socialised into a collective mind-set, encouraging them to develop a form of ‘groupthink’ which inclines them to give more weight to the views of fellow-members and less to those ‘lay’ voices who lack their knowledge and experience.
Some of the consequences of this are well-conveyed by the literary critic and political commentator, Edward Said. He describes conventional professional behaviour as ‘not rocking the boat, not straying outside the accepted paradigms or limits, making yourself marketable and above all presentable, hence uncontroversial and unpolitical and “objective”’. These features, suggests Said, lead to professions which are conformist, inward-looking and risk-averse.
Over the years, however, greater weight has been attached to the status and rewards of professionals themselves, despite the continuing invocation of public service and ethical standards.
Prior to his retirement Walter Humes held professorships at the universities of Aberdeen, Strathclyde and West of Scotland. He is now a visiting professor of education at the University of Stirling
