The staff of the Daily Mirror (or the ``Irish Mirror'' as they like it
to be called) have such a wonderful sense of humour.
Their front page
exclusive on Saturday's paper in certain parts of Dublin, began: ``Newspaper tycoon Craig McKenzie is a secret
republican terrorist bent on wrecking the peace process.''
Well, this is news. Read on: ``We can disclose that the turncoat Brit
has been involved in confidential IRA Army Council strategy meetings
since he arrived in the country less than 18 months ago... Already
McKenzie has successfully infiltrated the notoriously Unionist
Belfast Newsletter from where he is supplying Republican terrorists
with crucial tactical information.''
Hmm. We then learn that ``IRA insiders'' took to McKenzie because: ``Any
man who can drink two bottles of port and a litre of Bacardi at a 45
minute army council meeting is worthy of respect''.
Ho-ho-ho. From there the schoolboy in-house humour gets worse, so
I'll spare you.
But what you need to know is that Craig McKenzie
is in fact the editor of the Irish Mirror. The Mirror Group
also owns the Newsletter.
The story is that those terribly clever hacks at the Mirror in Dublin
prepared a special front page for McKenzie's 50th birthday party on
Saturday night where it was handed out and, I'm sure, brought much
jolly amusement. But what wasn't so clever was that the front page
also made it onto some newstands in Dublin. Our copy was bought in
Finglas.
There were also some red faces in Fine Gael last weekend when they
opened the Meath Chronicle. There on page 11 was an ad for John
Bruton's `Clinic Schedule' throughout County Meath. At the bottom
were phone numbers.
Callers who rang the first number heard the answer ``Hello. Caoimhghín
O Caoláin's office.'' The Sinn Féin TD's secretary Mícheál MacDonncha
tells me there was a stream of callers all week. ``I know John Bruton
is under pressure but we have enough work to do without dealing with
his constituency work as well,'' he said.
Lord Saville, he of the new Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday, has a
chance to prove his democratic credentials before the real work
begins in Derry. He is one of the Law Lords currently deliberating on
the future of Mrs Thatcher's new best friend and crazed fascist
dictator, one General Augusto Pinochet. What he thinks should be done
with the old goat will be very instructive...
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)