Viewers puzzled by RTE’s song choice with flags protest footage 

Viewers have questioned if RTE deliberately chose to mix footage from the 2012 flag protests in Belfast with a Taylor Swift break-up song on its hit series Reeling in the Years. Some wondered if the US pop star's 'We are Never Getting Back Together' was intentionally mixed in with the scenes. The latest instalment of the Sunday evening series, which features key news events from a particular year mixed in with music from the time, focused on 2012. The Queen’s historic handshake with Martin McGuinness and the fall of billionaire businessman Sean Quinn were also included in the latest episode. The decision by Belfast City Council to restrict the flying of the Union Flag at City Hall to designated days sparked widespread loyalist protests and violence. As the scenes played out, so too did Swifts' 2012 hit. One social media user wrote: “Anyone else think it was weird that ‘We are never getting back together’ was playing during the Northern Ireland flag protests?” Another added: “‘We are never ever getting back together’ is an interesting song choice to play when talking about the flag situation in the North." A third person tweeted: “Playing we are never getting back together while showing footage of Northern Irish protests is a new level of chaos.” But others hailed the song choice, with one tweeting: “I can’t get over these song choices and I need to meet the genius who did this.” Another added: “I know they’re not nominated but whoever arranged the music for tonight’s #ReelingInTheYears better win all the Oscars.” A spokesperson for RTE said: “Reeling in the Years covers the songs and stories of each year in the last decade, and for 2012, Taylor Swift's 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' was a big hit. "The sequence in which it featured on last night's show covered the Loyalist flag demonstrations, along with the Queen's historic handshake with Martin McGuiness, as well as the controversy around the departure of Bertie Ahern from Fianna Fail in the wake of the Mahon Tribunal.” The Queen's meeting with Mr McGuinness is regarded as one of the defining symbolic moments in Northern Ireland’s recent history. The gesture at the Lyric Theatre in south Belfast took place when the former IRA commander was Deputy First Minister while the Queen was on an official visit here with the Duke of Edinburgh. When asked by reporters afterwards how his meeting had gone, Mr McGuinness said: “Grand. It went really well. I’m still a Republican”, adding it was “very nice” to meet the Queen. That prompted one viewer to tweet: “Hands down, best part of #ReelingInTheYears 2012, Martin McGuinness after meeting the Queen... ‘I’m still a Republican’.” Another key event of 2012 saw Sean Quinn – once one of Ireland's richest men - lose control of his business empire along the Cavan/Fermanagh border after being declared bankrupt. His former associates took over running Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), but senior management have since been subjected to threats.