Suggestion The Kerryman newspaper rebrand to be gender-neutral is 'balderdash'

Michael Healy Rae said the suggestion 'is really political correctness gone mad'

Mr Healy Rae said that he has been selling the newspaper in his shop for 30 years and women have never complained about the title. File picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

A suggestion that The Kerryman newspaper be renamed 'The Kerrypeople' has been described as “balderdash”, with Michael Healy Rae quipping that manholes will soon be called 'person holes'.

Josepha Madigan has called for an end to gender titles such as ‘chairman’ and ‘spokesman’ and suggested the Kerry paper’s title be changed.

Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae said he wouldn’t agree with the suggestion and that “this is really political correctness gone mad”.

Mr Healy Rae said Ms Madigan is a “dedicated and very sincere” politician but that there were bigger issues to worry about.

He told Newstalk Breakfast: “The CEO of The Kerryman newspaper is a lady, who has come out herself publicly and said as a woman and as the boss of The Kerryman newspaper, she has absolutely no problem with it being called The Kerryman newspaper.

“Some people go on with this political correctness in the hope of it being seen as popular amongst people, in particular women, because they might be offended.” 

Siobhán Murphy, general manager of The Kerryman newspaper, said the content of the newspaper had changed with the times, but there was no need to change the title, which was their brand and had been since 1904.

Mr Healy Rae said he had been selling the newspaper in his shop for 30 years and women have never complained about the title.

The offices of the Kerryman Newspaper on Denny Street in Tralee, Co Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

He added: “I think that at a time like this, that Government ministers, be they senior or junior, should have better things to be worrying about.

“The next thing then we’ll have to do so is, the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, that title should change. The Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, that should change.

The manhole in the ground by the local authority should not be called a manhole, it should be called a person-hole.

“ The Kerryman newspaper should be called The Kerryperson... This is absolute balderdash of the worst type.”

However, Ms Madigan – the Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion – has defended her suggestion.

She told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show that gender and language were important and said it was important not to use words that did not reflect present values.

Ms Madigan said the issue was not about a particular newspaper, it was much broader.

It was her duty as a female politician to look around her and see what could be improved, she said.

“It’s good to be having this discussion.” When asked about the title of the magazine Woman’s Way, Ms Madigan agreed it too should be changed.