These must be exciting days in Derry. Already the city is split
into two camps as John and Dana limber up on the ropes ready to
battle it out over who will be the next President of Ireland.
How can one small city produce two such colossal figures? They
must be so proud.
But will the contest happen? John Hume is playing rather hard to
get. When he spoke to the New York Times last week he seemed all
up for it but this week a familiar hesitancy has returned.
No such shyness with Dana. You may have thought her candidature
was yet another silly season story - certainly anyone I have
spoken to has laughed good-naturedly at the suggestion that she
may stand. But this is no joke candidate. Behind sweet Dana is a
tough edged, slightly loony, right wing Catholic agenda.
Dana's decision to run was first revealed three weeks ago in the
Catholic Times, a Scottish Catholic weekly and then picked up
with glee by the Sunday World last Sunday. She is being supported
by ``the Christian Community'' who say she is a ``worthy and
competent candidate with a deep sense of Christian and family
values''. You will also be glad to know that her campaign will
reflect her ``great interest in the spiritual and moral welfare of
youth.''
Election literature is already being produced (should be worth
reading) and next Monday sees her campaign kicking off at Knock
with a deeply weird ``National Prayer Crusade for God's Will for
Dana's Candidature''.
Who can possibly stop this woman?
That anti-Irish, racist Evening Standard cartoonist Jak (Raymond
Jackson) has died.
His obituary in the Daily Telegraph revealed how ``he had a way of
making friends, particularly with men from the SAS or the police,
and could be happy in their company for several hours...Members
of the SAS would join his guests at what he called Jak's Black
Pudding Club for a good lunch.... He always portrayed them as
heroes in his drawings, several of which found their way to the
mess of Hereford.''
Nice man. He will be missed.
A hopeful entrepreneur has sent us an e-mail saying that ``with
the IRA ceasefire Ireland will again not be able to cope with the
tourist population''. There you are now. And what has that got to
do with An Phoblacht, you may ask. Well, our friend then urges us
to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. He has for sale
a 2,500 ton, diesel powered ship-hotel with 52 air conditioned
cabins, 248 berths, kitchen, hospital, library and workshop. This
wonderful vessel was previously used by the Russian army as an
officer training centre and is a snip at just $2 million. In
fact, a perfect base for a staff of thirty to produce (and
distribute?) a weekly newspaper. Send your donations...
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)