far better than mine... I'm hiding my laughter as best I can as it is not appropriate in the workplace...

A bit of internet-based research reveals that this McFadden fella was born on 04/12/80. Which means he hit (no pun intended) secondary school in Sept 1993 at the earliest, but more likely in Sept 1994. Now, having undergone an Irish secondary education in the second half of 1980s myself, I remember that earlier period as one when corporal punishment was very much frowned upon in Oireland. The really rough stuff was going on well before then and started to drop off the classroom radar around the early 80s (I for one remember in primary school in the late 1970s getting walloped on the arse by a teacher with one of those plastic metre long sticks for some forgettable crime against 5 or 6 year old humanity, but I can recall nothing of consequence that happened after that – be it to me or to mates). Anyway, by the early nineties corporal punishment was just not tolerated in Irish society (although there were no doubt (and continue to be) a few exceptions standing at the top of class rooms around the country). What I'm driving at is that if McFadden was abused in school in the mid-nineties, yeah he can write a song about it but surely the socially responsible thing to do would be to name and shame whoever abused him (hey, they may still teaching kids today) or at the very least report them to the appropriate authorities. This would be a more constructive, responsible and credible approach to the whole question, than deciding to go public on chat shows with this just as your new single inspired by the trauma is released. Yours in pious self-righteousness. eoghan

'hands across the barricades' by brian mcfarten: I grew up in dublin only 100 miles from belfast so I too was scarred by our violent sectarian past now we have no fighting and it's really bad because now I can't sing my self-important song about peace that I wrote having watched 1 minute of sky news about 6 months ago and sat in a corporate box at the last celtic-rangers game.... CHORUS: let's start all the bombing and killing again so that I can act like bono and sing about my pain

Brian (Bryan???) McFaggott = MUPPETT The End.

sean, no need to use that kind of abuse.

Yeah man... Dont insult muppets!!!

great stuff. who wrote the potato one again? feck'n' deadly. ...we should put together a cluas charity single for christmas.....man o man. any titles?

Yep...."Brian McFadden Is Un-Bear-Able"... And off we go again...

Check out this article in the belfast telegraph om mcfadden. excellent stuff... i love the "patrick casey" reference http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/music/story.jsp?story=583766 As for the abuse in school. Just because it was illegal doesnt mean it didnt happen. I went to secondary school in the late 80's early 90's and it was common enough to see someone get a slap from a teacher. I remember those metre sticks and their secondary use.

Check out what elton john makes of McFaddens new song http://breakingnews.ie/2004/11/19/story176611.html

Hilarious! I share your feelings Elton.

sweet divine!!!The git has the same birthday as me!Fingers crossed I'll bump into him in Lillies on the big night, what a great way to start my 24th year

this coming from a complete tosser who only ever sings other people's (mainly bernie taupins s**t)lyrics - the likes of this! PAIN Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the (elton john) album Made In England What's your name, my name is Pain Where do you live, I live anyplace Where were you born, in the state of fear How old are you, nineteen hundred and ninety four years What's your plan, my plan is pain When will you leave, I'll never go away How will you breathe, you'll give me life How will you see, sitting in the temple right between your eyes My name is Pain, you belong to me You're all I wanted, I'm all you'll ever be From the beginning in a world without end I am the air, I am Pain Pain is love, Pain is pure Pain is sickness, Pain is the cure Pain is death, Pain is religion Pain is life, Pain is television Pain walks, Pain crawls Pain is peace, Pain is war Where were you born, in the state of fear How old are you, nineteen hundred and ninety four years My name is Pain, you belong to me You're all I ever wanted, I'm all you'll ever be From the beginning in a world without end I am the air, I am Pain --------------------------------------------------------- ugh. but my favourite line has got to be the 'television' one!...

that is fairly s**te alright!

That's just brilliant i love it!

He has got the song writing ability of a 5 year old!

More fuel to the fire. Hope you burn, Brian... School 'outraged' McFadden song linked it to corporal punishment Alison Healy (IRISH TIMES 23.11) The principal of St Fintan's High School in Sutton, Co Dublin, said yesterday the school was "outraged" at a video by the singer, Brian McFadden, that misleadingly linked the school with corporal punishment. The singer's music label, Sony BMG, said the reference to the school was unintentional. When it was brought to its attention, the video was removed from television stations and a new version is being issued. The song in question, Irish Son, speaks about "being born in the heart of Dublin/ back when being gay wasn't cool". The lyrics include the following: "Made get on our knees every Sunday with the other fools/we were warped by the Christian Brothers/in the cell blocks at our schools/get a handprint on your skin/before your break their rules". In the video, McFadden plays the part of a taxi driver taking a boy to school. He drops the boy at a school with a sign for "St Fintan's School for Boys". The only St Fintan's school in Dublin which is run by the Christian Brothers is St Fintan's High School in Sutton. However, the singer was not a pupil there and never had any connection with the school. The building shown in the video is not St Fintan's High School. Yesterday the school's principal, Mr d**k Fogarty, said it was "unacceptable" that the video linked the school with corporal punishment. Pupils at the school had seen the video on a music channel and told the teachers about it, he said. "We certainly were alarmed, especially when we saw the lyrics of the song," he said. The entire community was outraged, Mr Fogarty added, as the school was such an integral part of the community. "Pupils are being slagged, to use their own term, by pupils from other schools," he said. "Not only the teachers, but the pupils themselves are outraged at this." He said the record label had said it believed the school name was fictitious yet McFadden lived in Portmarnock, less than three miles from the school. If it was an unfortunate coincidence, then it was a very careless mistake to make, the principal said. The school had worked hard to build its reputation and was one of the top schools in north Dublin, Mr Fogarty said, but now the video had been linked in the public mind with St Fintan's. He called on McFadden or his record label to apologise for the damage done to the school. "They have apologised for the confusion caused," he said, "but that's not enough. This is unacceptable." Yesterday the singer's spokesman, Mr Max Clifford, was issuing no apologies when he spoke to RTÉ's News At One. He claimed the school had brought the issue into the public domain themselves. "They are the only people that are drawing attention to the school. Nobody else has," he said. "Obviously he didn't go to that school and presumably everybody knows he didn't go to that school if that's the case. So, therefore, they wouldn't think it could have happened there because he didn't go there," Mr Clifford said. McFadden's song is proving controversial for more than one reason. The singer, Elton John, has slated it in the latest edition of Time Out magazine. "Brian is probably a nice man," Elton John writes, "but I nearly died when I listened to Irish Son. I absolutely hated it. It's the worst lyric on a record I've ever heard. I had to take it off in case I committed suicide. It's just horrible."