Readers’ letters: I Love Larne

I am extremely angry at the programme as it has made Larne out to be a joke.

Thanks BBC for making my home town the laughing stock of the country.

James Stafford

The emotions of my wife and I as we watched were anger, shock, horror and puzzlement.

Apart from being drenched in religious fervour and the visa difficulties of an Australian gentleman, what was the point?

The whole thing actually reminded me of another episode of ‘Benidorm’.

Jeff Greenfield

This was not a true reflection of our town.

We have so many positive aspects but none of these were given air time, instead the way in which the town and council were portrayed was a disgrace.

Why not feature Carnfunnock; Larne Youth Football; rugby club; tennis club; golf club; swimming club; bowling and hockey clubs to name a few?

We have a lovely leisure centre, drama and art groups. We have nice cafés, a good cinema.

Admittedly, it would be nice to see a rejuvenated town centre but would this not be true for many of our local towns?

L Garrett

The programme depicted a very sad, depressing place.

Whoever was in charge of the research ought to apologise to the Larne residents and the NI Tourist board who represent the town very well.

C Poole

I am surprised that there has been hostile reaction. I think it was one of the best pieces of TV I have seen for some time.

I now have a much more positive view of Larne than before and hope that those working for change there will be successful.

I shall visit as soon as I can.

Tom Wooley

Crossgar

I’ve seen your website and agree totally with the comments.

I was born in Larne and visit fairly regularly and I sincerely feel that the real story here is “how was Larne manipulated into being a part of such rubbish”.

There is another side to Larne.

Our elected public representatives should be made to explain why they took part in a documentary that further degraded the public perception of Larne.

The BBC should be asked what the point of this show was. Why were the images shown quite deliberately of random run-down alleyways, the inside of dark cars, and derelict buildings?

How did they miss every single positive aspect of the town unless by some unsavoury bias or agenda?

William Marks

Could the BBC have painted a more depressing picture?

Portraying Larne as a waste land of decay and desolation, with no hope but to turn to God.

Why was this slant put on our town, giving the impression that all hope was lost.

Oh no! Wait. All hope was not lost; Larne Borough Council would regenerate the town by spending a fortune on The Gobbins Path, stating that this project would bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to the town. Can we really compare it to the Giants Causeway?

I am born and bred in Larne and proud to be a Larne man and it hurts to see the town shown in such a defamatory way. Larne should not be portrayed in isolation; all towns in the province are suffering in the same way due to the recent economic depression.

The highlight of the programme was the couple restoring Rathmore House. Showing there is hope after all and that we do have a future, I congratulate them for what they are doing and wish them every success.

Ivan Morrow

“To capture emotions related to civic pride in work, the passions , frustrations, disappointments and experiences when fighting uphill battles in recession and the sense of loss when facing redundancy” .

Thanks to Sky, we were able to watch in England where my wife and family have lived for many years. The audience was much greater than BBC (NI).

We were both disappointed and angry that it was so awful.

Take away Mrs McGahey, the hostel people, the painter, the evangelical people and the man standing by various roads and there was nothing left.

So few people from Larne and no sign of genuine civic pride or genuine battling to overcome recession and redundancy.

Was Mrs McGahey aware of what she was taking part in when agreeing to be featured so much in the programme?

Has she lodged any official objection with the BBC?

John Boyd

Why was the town centre filmed before 9am, with no shops open and shutters down?

It seems Larne is no more than the place where the boat comes in because I see coach loads going straight through without even stopping for a cup of tea. When we are part of the new council they may as well erase Larne from the map.

Anonymous

I don’t understand the uproar. Anyone who had been following the ‘True North’ documentries would know the film makers seek out local personalities, picking up the interesting, eccentric or just zany characters.

The programme was never intended to showcase any town, village or area.

Keith Cruttenden

Carnlough