23 October 1997 Edition
Editor's desk
Yes, it might have been sabotage and treachery and aimed at destabilising the peace process - not to mention Mary McAleese's election campaign - but the leaked memos made fascinating reading. And the most fascinating was the reported remarks of the SDLP's Brid Rodgers. She may have been misquoted and taken out of context (although she is reluctant to go into details), but still, it said a lot that Brid believes that Sinn Féin had £10 million to spend on the Westminster election or that the Irish News was being less than favourable to the SDLP.
I have a theory why people in the SDLP may think that Sinn Féin had that sort of money to spend on elections. You see, the SDLP has to pay their election workers to put up posters, deliver leaflets, sit in polling stations and so on. And on that reckoning, Sinn Féin's election workers did at least £10 million worth of work.
As for the Irish News - Gerry Adams didn't call it the SDLP's An Phoblacht during that election for nothing. In fact, it says a lot that a senior member of the SDLP would even think to express an opinion like that. The political pressure must have been getting a bit much.
Potentially even more fascinating was the Dublin government official's reason for visiting Brid Rodgers in the first place. ``I called on Brid Rodgers at her home near Lurgan,'' she wrote, ``to go through the current six-monthly list of vacancies on public bodies.'' David Trimble has raised this with Mo Mowlam and republicans should also be looking for answers.
It is an open secret in the Six Counties that SDLP supporters are likely to find themselves on public bodies. This type of secret patronage is entirely undemocratic and, of course, open to abuse. Before now, there never has been evidence of how the system worked. The leaked memo has shed some light on it. We should be told more.
Last week I wrote about Witness: A Great Hatred, the Channel Four documentary about Sinn Féin which got as close to historical accuracy as Ballyclare Comrades got to the European Cup Final. I said I would bring you the programme's press officer's response to some questions about the source of some of their contentions.
You may be surprised to learn that despite several phone calls and a conversation with an answering machine I have drawn a blank. They don't seem to want to talk to us.
You may also be surprised that the programme's maker, Simon `Sickbag' Montefiore, is a Sunday Times colleague of Eoghan Harris (described on the programme as ``An ex-Sinn Féin activist''). And the programme's director, Gerry Gregg, is an old RTE colleague of Eoghan Harris's. It has been a busy week for the great agenda setter.
A drug dealer was sentenced to 18 months in Belfast this week for supplying ecstasy. He was Robert Davidson and until recently he was a member of that fine institution, the RUC. Where are the tabloid headlines?
I have a theory why people in the SDLP may think that Sinn Féin had that sort of money to spend on elections. You see, the SDLP has to pay their election workers to put up posters, deliver leaflets, sit in polling stations and so on. And on that reckoning, Sinn Féin's election workers did at least £10 million worth of work.
As for the Irish News - Gerry Adams didn't call it the SDLP's An Phoblacht during that election for nothing. In fact, it says a lot that a senior member of the SDLP would even think to express an opinion like that. The political pressure must have been getting a bit much.
Potentially even more fascinating was the Dublin government official's reason for visiting Brid Rodgers in the first place. ``I called on Brid Rodgers at her home near Lurgan,'' she wrote, ``to go through the current six-monthly list of vacancies on public bodies.'' David Trimble has raised this with Mo Mowlam and republicans should also be looking for answers.
It is an open secret in the Six Counties that SDLP supporters are likely to find themselves on public bodies. This type of secret patronage is entirely undemocratic and, of course, open to abuse. Before now, there never has been evidence of how the system worked. The leaked memo has shed some light on it. We should be told more.
Last week I wrote about Witness: A Great Hatred, the Channel Four documentary about Sinn Féin which got as close to historical accuracy as Ballyclare Comrades got to the European Cup Final. I said I would bring you the programme's press officer's response to some questions about the source of some of their contentions.
You may be surprised to learn that despite several phone calls and a conversation with an answering machine I have drawn a blank. They don't seem to want to talk to us.
You may also be surprised that the programme's maker, Simon `Sickbag' Montefiore, is a Sunday Times colleague of Eoghan Harris (described on the programme as ``An ex-Sinn Féin activist''). And the programme's director, Gerry Gregg, is an old RTE colleague of Eoghan Harris's. It has been a busy week for the great agenda setter.
A drug dealer was sentenced to 18 months in Belfast this week for supplying ecstasy. He was Robert Davidson and until recently he was a member of that fine institution, the RUC. Where are the tabloid headlines?