6 June 1997 Edition
Editor's desk
Some candidates will do anything to get votes. Labour TD in Dublin North East Seán Kenny agreed to be a judge in a talent competition in a local pub last Sunday night but little did he know what he was in for.
After a week of encountering many new republican voters on the doorsteps Seán settled down for what he thought would be a relaxing evening. His face dropped when one of the competitors launched into the Irish Brigade's SAM song (Chorus: Tiocfaidh ár lá, Sing Up the `RA, SAM missiles in the sky-eee). Needless to say the talented competitor did not get through to the next round.
I noted last week that the Sunday Indo on 25 May had not one mention of the local elections in the Six Counties the previous week. Columnist Declan Lynch must have read my piece because he got Sinn Féin onto the Sindo's front page on Sunday last. The poor guy was livid when he saw the party's political broadcast on RTE. It was a ``a lovely video with a soothing female voice'', he said, but it imparted ``heinous gibberish about drugs'' over scenes of ``marching delinquents'' and was ``mendacious beyond reason''.
Declan questioned where ``these shaggers'' (Sinn Féin) got the money for this, inferring that it came from the kidnapping many moons ago of Ben Dunne. Alas, no. In fact the Sinn Féin Director of Elections Joan O'Connor has asked me to thank all those who gave of their time voluntarily to make possible what even the Sindo had to admit was a first-class production.
Tommy Carroll, Sinn Féin veteran and recent candidate in the local elections has inadvertently dealt a blow to cross-community relations. Or, more accurately, he has been dealt a blow.
He was driving along near Craigavon last week minding his own business, as is his wont. At the same time an American film crew in a four wheel drive vehicle came out of a side road, looked left and turned right. Straight into the unfortunate Tommy.
Even more unfortunately, Tommy regained consciousness while lying in the arms of an RUC man.
The film crew was here to make a documentary about the great working relationship between Catholic and Protestant bishops in the Six Counties. Alas, following the accident, they had to return to the States and their project may have to be abandoned.
What do republicans have in common with Britain's richest aristocrat, the Duke of Westminster? Certainly not his wealth, a cool £1,700 million, including large parts of Fermanagh and Waterford. And not his service in the British Territorial Army. Nor his politics. His father was MP for Fermanagh/South Tyrone and leader of the Ulster Unionists.
No the Duke (known to his friends as Gerald) has something in common with republicans who work tirelessly to rid their communities of drugs. You may remember the group Concerned Parents Against Drugs. Well Gerald the Duke has just become a patron of the charity Parents Against Drug Abuse. Expect the Irish Independent to start calling him a thug and a vigilante. Or maybe not.
After a week of encountering many new republican voters on the doorsteps Seán settled down for what he thought would be a relaxing evening. His face dropped when one of the competitors launched into the Irish Brigade's SAM song (Chorus: Tiocfaidh ár lá, Sing Up the `RA, SAM missiles in the sky-eee). Needless to say the talented competitor did not get through to the next round.
I noted last week that the Sunday Indo on 25 May had not one mention of the local elections in the Six Counties the previous week. Columnist Declan Lynch must have read my piece because he got Sinn Féin onto the Sindo's front page on Sunday last. The poor guy was livid when he saw the party's political broadcast on RTE. It was a ``a lovely video with a soothing female voice'', he said, but it imparted ``heinous gibberish about drugs'' over scenes of ``marching delinquents'' and was ``mendacious beyond reason''.
Declan questioned where ``these shaggers'' (Sinn Féin) got the money for this, inferring that it came from the kidnapping many moons ago of Ben Dunne. Alas, no. In fact the Sinn Féin Director of Elections Joan O'Connor has asked me to thank all those who gave of their time voluntarily to make possible what even the Sindo had to admit was a first-class production.
Tommy Carroll, Sinn Féin veteran and recent candidate in the local elections has inadvertently dealt a blow to cross-community relations. Or, more accurately, he has been dealt a blow.
He was driving along near Craigavon last week minding his own business, as is his wont. At the same time an American film crew in a four wheel drive vehicle came out of a side road, looked left and turned right. Straight into the unfortunate Tommy.
Even more unfortunately, Tommy regained consciousness while lying in the arms of an RUC man.
The film crew was here to make a documentary about the great working relationship between Catholic and Protestant bishops in the Six Counties. Alas, following the accident, they had to return to the States and their project may have to be abandoned.
What do republicans have in common with Britain's richest aristocrat, the Duke of Westminster? Certainly not his wealth, a cool £1,700 million, including large parts of Fermanagh and Waterford. And not his service in the British Territorial Army. Nor his politics. His father was MP for Fermanagh/South Tyrone and leader of the Ulster Unionists.
No the Duke (known to his friends as Gerald) has something in common with republicans who work tirelessly to rid their communities of drugs. You may remember the group Concerned Parents Against Drugs. Well Gerald the Duke has just become a patron of the charity Parents Against Drug Abuse. Expect the Irish Independent to start calling him a thug and a vigilante. Or maybe not.