5 February 1998 Edition
Editors desk
A high-powered debate at Trinity College, Dublin on Tuesday night brought some amusement to republicans, given their years of experiencing censorship.
Among the debaters were Bertie Ahern, Mitchel McLaughlin and John Bruton. RTE cameras recorded Bertie's speech but as soon as John Brutal stood up, the film crew promptly packed up and left.
Mitchel McLaughlin leaned across to the crestfallen John and said sadly, ``that's Section 31 for you''.
Films featuring the IRA are coming thick and fast. Following the The Jackal (with Richard Gere - and his strange Cork accent - playing an IRA `hitman'), The Boxer (see Micheál MacDonncha's review), The Devil's Own and A Further Gesture, comes the star-studded This is the Sea, which has a limited release next week.
This is the Sea has what can only be described as a typically cliched plot. And I thought we had at last moved away from the tired old love-across-the-barricades stuff. Hazel (Protestant) falls in love with Malachy (Catholic). Malachy's older brother Paul (played by John Lynch) has a mate who is - you guessed it - a rough, tough Provie, played by Gabriel Byrne in the obligatory dark glasses, who threatens the couple's happiness, as does Hazel's family.
It's not encouraging but we'll reserve judgement. The director, Mary McGuckian, insists it's not a political film. We'll see.
Some of the new Sinn Féin Councillors in Belfast are finding it difficult to adjust to the regal splendour of Belfast City Hall. Or maybe they're just so busy they become confused.
Take Mick Conlon, the bearded, jovial dynamo from North Belfast. Earlier this week he felt an urgent need to spend a penny, and rushed into the toilet in City Hall and into a cubicle.
Little did he know that it was the women's toilet and one of his colleagues had spotted him going in.
A small crowd of Sinners then gathered outside, waiting for Mick's emergence, much to the puzzlement of a female SDLP councillor on her way into the toilet.
Needless to say when a flushed Mick made a hasty exit he was greeted by a rousing round of applause.
One new councillor who hasn't yet had problems in the corridors of local power is terence Brogan who, according to Roy Greenslade in The Guardian, had a landslide victory in an Omagh Council by-election two weeks ago. In an article headlined `Sinn Féin's lost victory' (the result was not reported in the British press) Greenslde writes: ``[The result] confirms that, despite press talks of splits, Sinn Féin leadership's peace strategy is popular. It tells us that nationalists are turning their backs on the SDLP. It also suggests that Sinn Féin could very well win a third Westminster seat next time.''
Here's Terence after his victory being congratulated by Winnie Harte, whose two sons, Martin and Gerard, were killed on IRA active service in 1988.
Given Seamus Mallon's pronouncements this week, it may be instructive to know that one of the words thrown up by a computer's spellcheck when you type in SDLP is `SADLY'.
Among the debaters were Bertie Ahern, Mitchel McLaughlin and John Bruton. RTE cameras recorded Bertie's speech but as soon as John Brutal stood up, the film crew promptly packed up and left.
Mitchel McLaughlin leaned across to the crestfallen John and said sadly, ``that's Section 31 for you''.
Films featuring the IRA are coming thick and fast. Following the The Jackal (with Richard Gere - and his strange Cork accent - playing an IRA `hitman'), The Boxer (see Micheál MacDonncha's review), The Devil's Own and A Further Gesture, comes the star-studded This is the Sea, which has a limited release next week.
This is the Sea has what can only be described as a typically cliched plot. And I thought we had at last moved away from the tired old love-across-the-barricades stuff. Hazel (Protestant) falls in love with Malachy (Catholic). Malachy's older brother Paul (played by John Lynch) has a mate who is - you guessed it - a rough, tough Provie, played by Gabriel Byrne in the obligatory dark glasses, who threatens the couple's happiness, as does Hazel's family.
It's not encouraging but we'll reserve judgement. The director, Mary McGuckian, insists it's not a political film. We'll see.
Some of the new Sinn Féin Councillors in Belfast are finding it difficult to adjust to the regal splendour of Belfast City Hall. Or maybe they're just so busy they become confused.
Take Mick Conlon, the bearded, jovial dynamo from North Belfast. Earlier this week he felt an urgent need to spend a penny, and rushed into the toilet in City Hall and into a cubicle.
Little did he know that it was the women's toilet and one of his colleagues had spotted him going in.
A small crowd of Sinners then gathered outside, waiting for Mick's emergence, much to the puzzlement of a female SDLP councillor on her way into the toilet.
Needless to say when a flushed Mick made a hasty exit he was greeted by a rousing round of applause.
One new councillor who hasn't yet had problems in the corridors of local power is terence Brogan who, according to Roy Greenslade in The Guardian, had a landslide victory in an Omagh Council by-election two weeks ago. In an article headlined `Sinn Féin's lost victory' (the result was not reported in the British press) Greenslde writes: ``[The result] confirms that, despite press talks of splits, Sinn Féin leadership's peace strategy is popular. It tells us that nationalists are turning their backs on the SDLP. It also suggests that Sinn Féin could very well win a third Westminster seat next time.''
Here's Terence after his victory being congratulated by Winnie Harte, whose two sons, Martin and Gerard, were killed on IRA active service in 1988.
Given Seamus Mallon's pronouncements this week, it may be instructive to know that one of the words thrown up by a computer's spellcheck when you type in SDLP is `SADLY'.