1 May 1997 Edition
Editor's desk
What Sky News calls ``the IRA's 10p campaign'' - the closing of motorways with bombs and bomb scares - has certainly provoked plenty of comment through clenched teeth. But the campaign has its lighter side, of course. Like this defiant message from John Major on Tuesday as tens of thousands of motorists in the south of England sat for hours bumper to bumper: ``I don't think the British nation is going to be moved by this''.
There has been much discussion in Newry/Armagh about Seamus Mallon's election literature in which he claims credit for everything in his constituency. With a definite hint of desperation, every job and grant is listed, provoking outrage from workers who don't remember Mallon being anywhere to be seen until the big announcement when the cameras were present.
One claim caught my eye: Mallon says No to Tax on Beer! screamed one headline. It claimed that Seamus had tried at Westminster to get ``a substantial reduction in tax on beer''. Now why does that not surprise me?
It was Seamus who welcomed Paddy Mayhew to the NIO with the words: ``Anyone who enjoys a fine malt whiskey can't be bad.''
The SDLP MPs' reputation for a wee gargle in the bars of Westminster was further underlined by the image used for their election billboard poster. It showed three empty pint glasses on which were written the words `violence', `sectarianism' and `intransigence'.
And the slogan? ``We don't want another round''. Now that's one election `pledge' I don't think the SDLP MPs will be keeping.
We get some very interesting phone calls. Just this week a member of the awfully posh Fortwilliam Golf Club on Belfast's Antrim Road rang to tell us of the growing resentment in the club which, he says, now has a membership which is 80% nationalist. The resentment - which could yet turn into revolutionary fervour - is directed at the fact that the Union Jack continues to be flown over the clubhouse.
Changed times at Fortwilliam. With a seven iron in one hand...
Saatchi and Saatchi not only look after advertising for the Tories, they also give a bit of exposure to the British Army. They are sponsoring a British Army Screen Saver as a free public relations goodie.
When the screen saver kicks in, you'll see a gunsight floating around a black screen, revealing various images underneath. Press the keyboard spacebar to kill an enemy sniper, shoot down a helicopter, or find a missing child (complete with sound effects, if you have a sound card). When you've finished, the Union Jack is displayed in the lower-right-hand corner of your screen along with the word `Army'.
Saatchi and Saatchi haven't had a good election - let's hope they're just as successful with the military wing of the Tory government.
There has been much discussion in Newry/Armagh about Seamus Mallon's election literature in which he claims credit for everything in his constituency. With a definite hint of desperation, every job and grant is listed, provoking outrage from workers who don't remember Mallon being anywhere to be seen until the big announcement when the cameras were present.
One claim caught my eye: Mallon says No to Tax on Beer! screamed one headline. It claimed that Seamus had tried at Westminster to get ``a substantial reduction in tax on beer''. Now why does that not surprise me?
It was Seamus who welcomed Paddy Mayhew to the NIO with the words: ``Anyone who enjoys a fine malt whiskey can't be bad.''
The SDLP MPs' reputation for a wee gargle in the bars of Westminster was further underlined by the image used for their election billboard poster. It showed three empty pint glasses on which were written the words `violence', `sectarianism' and `intransigence'.
And the slogan? ``We don't want another round''. Now that's one election `pledge' I don't think the SDLP MPs will be keeping.
We get some very interesting phone calls. Just this week a member of the awfully posh Fortwilliam Golf Club on Belfast's Antrim Road rang to tell us of the growing resentment in the club which, he says, now has a membership which is 80% nationalist. The resentment - which could yet turn into revolutionary fervour - is directed at the fact that the Union Jack continues to be flown over the clubhouse.
Changed times at Fortwilliam. With a seven iron in one hand...
Saatchi and Saatchi not only look after advertising for the Tories, they also give a bit of exposure to the British Army. They are sponsoring a British Army Screen Saver as a free public relations goodie.
When the screen saver kicks in, you'll see a gunsight floating around a black screen, revealing various images underneath. Press the keyboard spacebar to kill an enemy sniper, shoot down a helicopter, or find a missing child (complete with sound effects, if you have a sound card). When you've finished, the Union Jack is displayed in the lower-right-hand corner of your screen along with the word `Army'.
Saatchi and Saatchi haven't had a good election - let's hope they're just as successful with the military wing of the Tory government.