Is Brian Boyd Ireland's own Dan Lyons???

Reactions across the blogosphere would certainly seem to say so. Boyd is an Irish Times writer who has just contributed what some view as the Times' own "Attack of the Blogs" diatribe.

I don't know. The Irish Times certainly doesn't do anything to help convince us they might have any kind of a clue, by throwing up a paywall around their stories. Click here if you really want to pay a couple of Euros to read the piece. Or you can go here to read the full article for nothing, courtesy of Gavin Sheridan. (To paraphrase John Gilmore, the blogosphere treats a paywall as damage and routes around it).

For me, I find it hard to tell what position Boyd's really taking in this piece. He bounces around a bit, gets a couple of things wrong, a few other things right, recycles some of the stock inflammatory Chicken Little-ish comments about the "threat" of the blogs, but then settles down into a rather more balanced conclusion:

"There’s a whole new world of reportage out there. It can be fiery, extremist and inflammatory, or it can be unshackled, uncensored and progressive depending on your own leanings or prejudices."

So I'm conflicted. Rather more interesting and insightful analysis from Mick Fealty and Piaras Kelly

And, as he's on his way to Ireland in the very near future, it will be interesting to hear what, if anything, Scoble thinks about this one.