16 October 1997 Edition
Editor's desk
Our office received the following news release from Colorado USA on Monday:
In a confidence building bridge to the UUP, a medical spokesperson for Tony Blair announced this afternoon that the Prime Minister will have his right hand surgically removed in a short and relatively painless procedure later this evening at the Royal Victoria Hospital where a crack surgical team is being assembled.
This measure follows in the wake of a private meeting between Mr Blair and the Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams at Stormont Castle when the two shook hands. This was the first high five between British government and Sinn Féin representatives in over 70 years.
The medical spokesperson observed that Mr Blair's hand will be buried at sea at an undisclosed location so that the relic may not be exploited for propaganda purposes by SF/IRA.
Last Saturday England supporters in Rome were complaining that the riot at the Italy v England match was prompted by Italian fans and fuelled by the Italian police. One of the provocations the England fans pointed to was a banner held up by Italian fans at the match. But that's ridiculous because the banner had the not unreasonable aspiration, Victory to the IRA.
Do you remember all the hot air about decommissioning? How it held everything up as the Tories and Unionists used it to block talks? Well, it is now such a major issue that at the first session of the decommissioning sub-committee last Wednesday there wasn't a single journalist present at Stormont to mark the historic occasion.
As we go to press I'm settling down to watch Witness: A Great Hatred on Channel Four. The documentary, by the exotically named Simon Sebag-Montefiore purports to show ``the Sinn Féin/IRA tradition of right-wing intolerance....which survives today in their sectarian vision of a Gaelic, Catholic 32-county state'', according to a press release issued by Channel Four.
I decided to find out their source for this Sinn Féin policy so I rang up the programme's press officer. ``That is not in our publicity material,'' she told me. ``Oh yes it is,'' I told her. She went off to check, came back and admitted that indeed it was. Could she tell me the source for it? She couldn't but said she would get back to me. If she doesn't I'll ring her back and find out and let you know her answer next week.
The staff of An Phoblacht are patting themselves on the back this week - while swigging from bottles of rum and smoking cigars. Yes, last Wednesday night as the presses were rolling we were winning the Che Guevara Quiz, beating over thirty other teams in Dublin. The quiz, organised by the Latin American Solidarity Committee and the Cuba Support Group was a great success - and the rum was lovely.
In a confidence building bridge to the UUP, a medical spokesperson for Tony Blair announced this afternoon that the Prime Minister will have his right hand surgically removed in a short and relatively painless procedure later this evening at the Royal Victoria Hospital where a crack surgical team is being assembled.
This measure follows in the wake of a private meeting between Mr Blair and the Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams at Stormont Castle when the two shook hands. This was the first high five between British government and Sinn Féin representatives in over 70 years.
The medical spokesperson observed that Mr Blair's hand will be buried at sea at an undisclosed location so that the relic may not be exploited for propaganda purposes by SF/IRA.
Last Saturday England supporters in Rome were complaining that the riot at the Italy v England match was prompted by Italian fans and fuelled by the Italian police. One of the provocations the England fans pointed to was a banner held up by Italian fans at the match. But that's ridiculous because the banner had the not unreasonable aspiration, Victory to the IRA.
Do you remember all the hot air about decommissioning? How it held everything up as the Tories and Unionists used it to block talks? Well, it is now such a major issue that at the first session of the decommissioning sub-committee last Wednesday there wasn't a single journalist present at Stormont to mark the historic occasion.
As we go to press I'm settling down to watch Witness: A Great Hatred on Channel Four. The documentary, by the exotically named Simon Sebag-Montefiore purports to show ``the Sinn Féin/IRA tradition of right-wing intolerance....which survives today in their sectarian vision of a Gaelic, Catholic 32-county state'', according to a press release issued by Channel Four.
I decided to find out their source for this Sinn Féin policy so I rang up the programme's press officer. ``That is not in our publicity material,'' she told me. ``Oh yes it is,'' I told her. She went off to check, came back and admitted that indeed it was. Could she tell me the source for it? She couldn't but said she would get back to me. If she doesn't I'll ring her back and find out and let you know her answer next week.
The staff of An Phoblacht are patting themselves on the back this week - while swigging from bottles of rum and smoking cigars. Yes, last Wednesday night as the presses were rolling we were winning the Che Guevara Quiz, beating over thirty other teams in Dublin. The quiz, organised by the Latin American Solidarity Committee and the Cuba Support Group was a great success - and the rum was lovely.