Debate rages on social media in face of calls for 'Fairytale of New York' to be censored

Calls for the lyrics of Fairytale of New York to be censored this Christmas are proving controversial.

The calls emerged because of the use of a gay slur in the popular Pogues Christmas song.

RTÉ presenter Eoghan McDermott posted on Twitter that the lyrics of the Christmas classic upset gay members of his production team.

While this position did garner support online, others felt it was PC gone mad:

The world has gone soft. Can’t sing Fairytale of New York because it’s offensive. Can’t say bring home the bacon, it’s also deemed offensive. Gingerbread man is another one. Hope santy brings everyone a lamp this year cause the world needs to lighten the fuck up.— gk (@GarrettKenny_82) December 5, 2018

McDermott later defended his stance despite the criticism, adding that the fact that the use of the word was upsetting to his staff is more important than the context in which the word us used in the song.

All these things I know - again, it really just didn't seem like a massive ask to me when to have that word beeped when my two gay co-workers / friends and I talked about it. They're not rioting in the streets, they expressed a preference & I shared it.— Eoghan McDermott (@eoghanmcdermo) December 6, 2018

The controversy comes after a number of radio stations have banned 'Baby it's Cold Outside' over what some call 'predatory undertones' - another decision split opinion.