Gerry Adams says BBC Spotlight allegations against him are now “in the hands of my solicitor.” He has not said which side of the border his solicitor is on, although that would make only minor differences to how a libel case could be pursued. It might seem strange that the BBC can broadcast anonymous allegations, without any evidence, of Adams ordering the murder of British informant Denis Donaldson. However, north and south, defamation is about reputation and the Sinn Féin president may well be advised that his reputation as a non-IRA leader is not worth defending. That would be a great pity, because civil court proceedings are the only ‘truth recovery process’ we are ever likely to have on Adams’s long, long career.
**
The critical issue around Stormont’s new top press officer is not that he used to work for Stephen Nolan but that he does not now appear to be a civil servant. The Executive Office (the new name for the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister) issued a statement defending the appointment. Its timing and snattery tone were reminiscent of vintage Peter Robinson but it was nevertheless presented as an official civil service communication, posted online by “EIS Admin” ie by the Executive Information Service, which is staffed by civil servants. Yet it was hosted on the executive’s blog rather than its official website although the blog usually replicates the website. Could this be because anything on the website must be written by a civil servant? Whatever the reason, it only further blurs the line between executive and party media operations.
**
In 2012, it was revealed that the Executive Information Service had 161 staff - a statistic TUV leader Jim Allister has taken great delight in repeating during the latest Stormont press office story. However, Martin McGuinness has now told the assembly: “We have 55 press officers working in government press offices. Yes, 55 - not the inflated figure that some others are trying to use.” It seems implausible that numbers have deflated by two-thirds in four years, so what can explain this discrepancy? A clue comes from the term ‘press officer’, as anyone not dealing directly with the media might be referred to or regarded as something else. The PSNI press office, with 36 staff in 2012, has been made to appear smaller through similar re-titling.
**
The start of the university year heralds a return of anti-social behaviour in Belfast’s Holyland, along with that other great annual ritual - a statement from Queen’s warning that students are jeopardising their “future employability” by risking “expulsion by the university.” There is of course no point asking Queen’s how many students it has ever successfully expelled for anti-social behaviour in the Holyland, as its attitude to press queries is even more creative than Stormont’s. So let us just say it may be a number not significantly different to zero.
**
Has time run out for a John Lewis store in Northern Ireland, at Sprucefield or anywhere else? In the dozen or more years that our political and planning systems have taken to not decide whether ‘bulky goods’ should be sold in the middle of Belfast or the edge of Lisburn, online shopping has turned the world on its head. John Lewis chair Sir Charlie Mayfield has just announced a scaling back of physical expansion plans, citing “far-reaching changes taking place in society, in retail and in the workplace.” He now envisages a maximum of 55 stores in the UK, which would be only six more than at present (not counting one opening next year in Oxford.) At this rate, if and when we ever attract John Lewis to our shores, all we will be getting is a website.
**
The Italian Tourism Federation, Italy’s main tourism trade body, has published a scathing report on Rome to explain plunging visitor numbers. The Eternal City has “too much traffic, services that are unworthy of a European metropolis, decay and dirt, and in many cases scams and rudeness,” according to federation secretary Daniele Brocchi. Worst of all, tourists are “surprised that Rome doesn’t have a real night-life, since 80 per cent of bars and clubs close at 2am.” Just as well Titanic Belfast was named a better attraction than the Colosseum three weeks ago, as 100 per cent of our bars and clubs must close at 2am - even under our new ‘liberal’ licensing laws.
**
Sinn Féin is facing a bit of a conundrum after the European Commission warned the Irish government not to abolish water charges or cut the universal social charge. It also wants to Dublin to increase property taxes, all to help pay off the bank bailout. This essentially amounts to the exact opposite of Sinn Féin’s policy platform in the south, yet opposing it could look odd beside the party’s new-found europhilia in the north. Thank goodness nobody on either side of the border will notice. As Homer Simpson said of alcohol, partition is the cause of and solution to all life’s problems.
newton@irishnews.com
