Vincent Browne’s documentary on Gerry Adams has finally been given a transmission date by TV3.
First announced for the autumn schedule of 2015, the two-parter will air on February 6 and 7, just days before Mary Lou McDonald becomes leader of Sinn Fein.
Adams did not agree to be interviewed, but among those who will appear are republicans Danny Morrison and Tommy McKearney, the former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former US Congressman Bruce Morrison, and Fr Des Wilson, a nonagenarian cleric from west Belfast. Cutting through any waffle will be straight-talking Seamus Mallon, the former deputy leader of the SDLP.
An intriguing contributor is Mitchell Reiss, a US special envoy in the Noughties, about whom Adams once said: “I don’t have high regard for Mitchell Reiss’s input into this process.” Might Reiss pass a similarly harsh judgment?
Quick off the blocks
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Last week Alan Farrell, a Fine Gael TD from Dublin Fingal, discovered he’d been “blocked” on Twitter by Darragh O’Brien, his Fianna Fail constituency colleague. “I don’t recall ever tweeting him,” said a mystified Farrell. We contacted O’Brien, who couldn’t recall blocking him. “He’s obviously upset, poor lad,” said the Fianna Fail TD. “I’ll see to it he’s unblocked.” Confidence-and-supply deal still intact. Phew!
● The Daily Mail has spotted Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini enjoying an “intimate dinner date” with Victoria Bonya, pictured, a Russian model who last year split with Alex Smurfit, son of businessman Michael. Presumably she now follows football rather than golf?
RTE secrets safe with gamekeeper Dowling
Richard Dowling, head of RTE’s political unit, has been appointed as the station’s freedom of information decision-maker. This will involve having to decide on FoI applications from journalists trying to prise secrets out of Montrose.
Should we need help, what better book to consult than Secrets of the State . . . and How to Get Them: The Essential Guide to Freedom of Information, written six years ago by, er, Dowling himself actually. The expression “poacher turned gamekeeper” has never been so apt.
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● We didn’t need FoI to discover RTE Radio is looking for a sponsor for The Ray D’Arcy Show. A 12-month deal costs €270,000. RTE also wants a sponsor for the second series of The Handmaid’s Tale, which starts on February 5.
New Labour veterans venerate Varadkar
Our man in Davos says that though Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron were the main attractions, another world leader was also in demand.
While Leo Varadkar was hosting a private IDA Ireland dinner for 70 corporate executives, along with finance minister Paschal Donohoe, former UK New Labour spindoctor Peter Mandelson stuck his head around the door, saying he was “very anxious” to meet “the young PM” and shake his hand. Alas, we hear this great meeting of minds did not happen.
However, the taoiseach did not leave Davos devoid of any tips on spin — he met Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, on Friday. No doubt Blair, an opponent of Brexit, heartily approved of Leo’s declaration that he wants the UK to stay as close as possible to its EU partners.
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Mara school has Haughey spinning in his grave
Scene: a smoke-filled room in Heaven
“Maaaaara!”
“Yes, boss”
“Why are they naming schools after you in Haiti, Mara?”
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“Sorry, boss?”
“L’École Nationale PJ Mara de Jolivert has just opened. You never spoke French, Mara, unlike myself. L’état c’est moi. Is it for services you rendered to Papa Doc?”
“Ah, no, taoiseach. Sure, you were my only boss.”
“Quite so, cher PJ. So what’s this all about?”
“Well, y’see boss, I was once a director of Digicel, and Denis O’Brien has a Digicel Foundation and it’s invested $63m in education in Haiti. This is the 174th school it’s built, and Dinny thought it’d be nice to name it after me.”
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“Fascinating, I’m sure. But what will the 372 pupils at L’École Nationale PJ Mara think about their school being named after a spin doctor from north Dublin, for feck sake?”
“Well, I was a senator, too, boss.”
“So was Caligula’s horse, Mara. Why don’t they name schools after me? The Haughey Academy, has a nice ring to it. The University of CJ . . .”
“What about the GUBU Graduate School, boss?”
“Out, Maaaara.”
Take care before voting
Admit it, we’re all dreading the abortion referendum, and the narky debates about “repeal simpliciter” and “fatal foetal abnormality”.
Help is at hand: Psychologists for Choice is holding “self-care workshops”, albeit only for the repeal side of the debate.
The psychologists say they will be teaching “important self-care skills during what is going to be a busy few months”. These will include “managing your online interactions”. We plan to manage ours — by logging off.
● TDs laughed in the Dail when Fianna Fail’s Micheál Martin said “civilisation” instead of “civilianisation”. As he was proposing to increase it in the gardai, was Martin on to something?
Army man has to continue parting with haircut cash
A technician in the Defence Forces has failed in his bid to stop the army taking 30c a week out of his wages. The unidentified army man told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) the deduction was being made for haircutting, laundry services and sports facilities. But as he “lived out” of the military barracks, he didn’t avail of such luxuries.
The Defence Forces, represented by a barrister, counter-argued that the fund was started in the 1930s, and though “haircutting is no longer widely available” the money was now used “for a wide variety of welfare and recreational purposes”.
Deciding not to split hairs, the WRC ruled it had no jurisdiction in the case.