SMOKES & DAGGERS

A mischievous mix of (mostly) news

PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Gavin Duffy once tried to circumvent Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act to allow Gerry Adams on the airwaves. At the height of his pirate radio career, Duffy was working with Radio Leinster, where he hosted a lunchtime show. In December 1982 he travelled to Belfast and negotiated a deal with Adams that was to see the Sinn Féin leader interviewed live on Duffy’s show. Alas, Duffy had not told the management of his plan. So when Adams and fellow republican Danny Morrison arrived, station chiefs intervened. After a heated exchange, Adams stormed off in a yellow Toyota. Perhaps bosses read the law wrongly, though: Section 31 did not technically apply to Radio Leinster, since the station did not legally exist… THIS week, the Plymouth Herald ran a front-page story on the death of a local school’s caretaker with the headline: ‘Caretaker’s tragic death in ladder fall – school pays tribute.’ Inside was an advert: ‘Plymstock School – the governors and headteacher wish to invite applications for the position of caretaker.’ Life goes on… SMOKES hears that poor Shane Ross in still in trouble in Stepaside over that notorious Garda station. The minister may have secured funding to save it, but Stepaside is now in revolt over proposals to place a hoarding around the site. You can’t win. TALLAGHT Hospital gastroenterologist Anthony O’Connor, originally from Cork, had a curious take on the blasphemy referendum this week on Twitter. ‘I don’t want to be going to the Cork-Tipp match next year and hearing those hoors badmouth JBM with no fear of the long arm of the law.’ Game changer?