CHARLES HAUGHEY 1925-2006 : A TRIBUTE . ' With pomp and with ridiculous display
the politicians corpse is borne away ,
and all around him carped and slanged
I wept- I had wished to see him hanged ' .
( G K Chesterton , poet and British Liberal MP ) .
Due to 'staff' (!) shortages here at '1169...' - because of some football matches or other , and exams (you show 'em , Junior!) - this Blog will only be updated every second day , for the next few weeks . In short , I have been abandoned by all but this machine ! Sharon .
THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT : INSIDE THE NORTHERN IRELAND (sic) PEACE TALKS (sic).......From 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1997 .
By Fionnuala O' Connor .
Comparatively speaking , Liz O' Donnell is something of a hit , even with unionists , apparently amused by her remark that she is , after all , married to a past pupil of Belfast's Campbell College with the 'sound' surname of Carson .
The interest in personalities , particularly new arrivals , is hardly surprising : 'substantive' negotiation is still in the early stages , with unionists slow to produce papers or 'engage' , a favourite talks word , and by any standards these are bizarre political allsorts , most of them now thrown together for over a year . Even without Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness (pictured here with another Westminster employee) , the mix was unprecedented for narrow , segregated 'Northern Ireland' : from men convicted of loyalist murders and women unaccustomed to thinking of themselves as politicians , to overall Chairman , George Mitchell , former majority leader of the United States Senate .
Over the months before (P) Sinn Fein arrived , the format of negotiation and rules of engagement were hammered out in often bitter exchanges , unionists objecting all the way ; unionists and Provos now attract suspicion and cynicism in almost equal measure.......
(MORE LATER).
THE YOUNGER BREED : ANDY CALLAGHAN.......From 'The Phoenix' magazine , April 1986 .
No By-Line .
Andy Callaghan was born into a family of eight in the Oliver Bond flats in Dublin and has done very well for himself so far : he cuts quite a dash nowadays , smoking cigars , sporting a crombie coat and cruising around in his Opel Senator car. Money , apparently , is no problem .
His short period in City Hall has been marked by some flamboyant speeches , but he is not a good attender at committee meetings - the only strong stand he has taken to-date has been his opposition to his own party's move to rescind the 'Gaming and Lotteries Act' ; his defence of the one-arm bandits was said to be connected with 'Butcher Smith's (Andy's political buddy in Crumlin) interests in this area .
But Andy finally obeyed his party's political 'whip' : he has already learnt that in Fianna Fail , the party comes first ! If young Andy Callaghan does get the nomination for Dublin South Central , we are all assured of one thing : the battle for the constituency will be a marvel to behold .
[END of 'THE YOUNGER BREED : ANDY CALLAGHAN']
(Friday , 16th June - 'THE ROMAN REICH (in Dublin)' : from 1987.)
THE RIGHT TO SILENCE.......Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act has just been renewed for another year by State Communications Minister Jim Mitchell , despite increasing protests and lobbying by the NUJ .
HELEN O'CONNOR examines the results of a recent NIHE survey of the attitudes of Dublin people on the issue and GERRY LAVERY looks back to the roots of Section 31 .
From 'IN DUBLIN' magazine , February 1987 .
Even if Section 31 censorship were repealed , says Niall Meehan , there would have to be "...a major attitude change (on the part of the journalists) : they are hemmed in by the inertia of their own profession . They have the problem that they are part of a socio-economic group who favour Section 31 , and they will find it hard to break the mould . "
There still is a lot of confusion surrounding the origins and operation of Section 31 : Charles Haughey , speaking on RTE radio on Friday 16 January , talked about it being enacted "...in 1970 or so.." . AP/RN (issue dated 15 January) talked of "its introduction in 1972." Elsewhere it has been associated most notably with Dr. Conor Cruise O' Brien , State Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in the 1973-1977 Coalition administration .
In fact the roots of what is referred to as 'Section 31' go back much further than any of those dates and can be found in the original Broadcasting Authority Act of 1960 .......
(MORE LATER).
