Henry's resignation sparks mixed Facebook reaction

The resignation of provocative broadcaster Paul Henry has sparked strong reaction from Facebook users. Almost 27,000 people have shown their support, or ``like'', for The Bring Back Paul Henry Now page.
``Breakfast will not be the same without Paul, no point in watching any more. It was a great way to start the day with a laugh,'' wrote Chris Olsen.
Another user, Roslyn Alexander, wrote: ``Hang your head in shame (TVNZ chief executive) Rick Ellis -- you got the ratings so where is your support for YOUR employee????''.
Amit Sharma suggested Henry start his own show.
Others threatened to boycott TV One's breakfast show, now Henry had left.
However other Facebook users were victorious.
Frederick J Church wrote on the I am boycotting TVNZ until they sack Paul Henry page: ``shame it took so long, he should have done it months ago...or never been employed in the first place'' .
Balraj Singh Boparai wrote: ``It's a victory over racism''.
Henry resigned from Television New Zealand today after he became the subject of several hundred complaints to the broadcaster over racist remarks he made about Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand and his mocking of the name of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
On last Monday's Breakfast Show he had asked Prime Minister John Key whether Sir Anand, whose five-year term ends next year, was even a New Zealander.
Mr Key last night said Henry's resignation had brought ``closure''.
``This episode has been sad and regrettable,'' he said through a spokeswoman.
``Mr Henry's resignation brings closure to the matter and we should now put it behind us,'' he said.
In a statement late yesterday Henry said he was ``astonished and dismayed that my comments have created a diplomatic incident''.
``My style is conversational and of course unscripted. I walk the finest of lines and accept that I have inadvertently crossed it from time to time...
``I do not want to continue to be used as a lightning rod for racial disharmony in this country.''
He said he also didn't want his elderly mother ``staked out at her nursing home by tabloid media, as has happened this weekend''.
``I am saddened by this whole episode - sad that I crossed the line in the first place, and sad that an employer I have always served with pride has had to suffer slings and arrows,'' he said.
Henry's resignation is likely to be welcomed by many ministers and MPs.
Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples last week called for Henry's sacking.
``I've said publicly that it's not on and he should go because you can't have, no matter what you say, the underlying inference was racist -- therefore you can't have that as a front person being paid by the public to do this show,'' he said on Friday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully earlier said he would let the Indian Government know that the comments were the actions of one person, made in a country in which freedom of speech was valued.
``However it is always regrettable when a prominent individual abuses the freedom of expression, which is one of our basic rights, to cause offence to others. That is especially the case when the person offended against is a prominent public figure in another country,'' Mr McCully said.
``The New Zealand High Commissioner has apologised for the offence caused. That is appropriate. The actions of Mr Henry in this case can only be described as gratuitous and insulting.''
United Future leader Peter Dunne has said the controversy showed New Zealand still had some way to go before it was a genuinely multi-cultural society.
Henry's comments had been ``gratuitous and insulting'', he said.