[Enter two men.]
Man 1: I’ve been thinking.
Man 2: You surprise me.
Man 1: This whole Gerry Adams thing – it’s very costly.
Man 2: In what way?
Man 1: Well, we’re told that he has been questioned for up to seventeen hours at a time. I’m against that.
Man 2: So am I.
Man 1: That doesn’t come cheap. Your average PSNI interrogator has to get paid, and having to work during unsocial hours almost certainly means a higher rate. This money is coming out of the public purse.
Man 2: I never thought of it that way.
Man 1: And that’s just the beginning. When he’s brought to court –
Man 2 :EH? What do you mean ‘when he’s brought to court’? Have they got evidence?
Man 1: Don’t you worry about evidence – they’ll find evidence. And if they don’t, then they’ll…Well, let’s just say there’ll be evidence. When he’s brought to court –
Man 2: IF he’s brought to court.
Man 1: OK, when and if he’s brought to court, do you know what it’ll cost in legal fees? Interrogators don’t come cheap, but they’re chickenfeed compared to lawyers and barristers. Those boys charge you for shaking hands. Paying the prosecution lawyers and barristers could cost a fortune, again out of the public purse.
Man 2: So?
Man 1: I have a modest proposal.
Man 2: Which is?
Man 1: Out-source it. Since Sinn Féin are the the subject of this prosecution – OK, OK – IF there is a prosecution – since they’re at the heart of it, let them bear the expense of it. Let Gerry Adams pay the defence lawyers and the prosecution lawyers and let’s see some real public spirit from the Shinners for once.
Man 2: So Sinn Féin should pay for defending and for prosecuting their leader.
Man 1: And why not? What’s more, when a verdict of guilty is delivered –
Man 2:WHAT?
Man 1: Oh, picky, picky. All right, IF a verdict of guilty is delivered, Adams and his friends should pony up and pay for the cost of his incarceration.
Man 2: You’re joking.
Man 1: No indeed I am not. You think he should have free meals during his two years? You think he should have accommodation for nothing? At the tax-payers’ expense? Now that would be an injustice.
Man 2: So would you be on for having all prisoners pay for their time in prison?
Man 1: No. Just this one.
Man 2: Why’s that?
Man 1: Because I don’t like the gratuitous way Adams keeps using bits of Irish in his speech. Deliberately provocative. I just hope the judge remembers that fact when he’s passing sentence. Which remind me.
Man 2: Reminds you of what?
Man 1: The judge – he’ll need to be paid too. The money judges get would make your eyes water. And since a judge wouldn’t be needed if it wasn’t for Adams, let him pay the judge too.
Man 2: Would you like a hanky?
Man 1: A hanky? Why would I like a hanky?
Man 2: You’ve got flecks of foam at the corners of your mouth. White foam. Quite a lot of it, actually. There you go. No, I won’t charge you. I can see you’re in need of help.
[Exeunt omnes, Man 1 being led off by men in white coats]
If you have nothing good to say……
Incredibly humorous Jude at a time of intense frustration!!!
Did we really need a former Speaker in the Assembly and the former Victims’ Commissioner on radio today, telling us how to move forward?
I’m expecting the Jabberwocky to make an appearance sometime soon, Jude….
The love of money is the root of all evil.
From The Guardian’s letters page today –
• The victims and families who have lost loved ones and suffered during the course of the conflict in Northern Ireland have every right to seek truth and justice. Unfortunately, the current investigations into past crimes are partial, and investigations into murders committed by state forces are sadly lacking. The political nature of some policing in Northern Ireland has been made clear both by the arrest of Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, and by the statement by the secretary of state, Theresa Villiers, last week that there would be no review of the cases of the 11 civilians who died during British army operations in Ballymurphy in 1971.
We call for an end to the politically motivated attacks upon Gerry Adams, which serve only to undermine the peace process. He has been one of the key figures in driving forward the peace process, resolving the conflict in the north and positively transforming the situation in Ireland. He has also led Sinn Féin as a party that is opposing austerity and inequality, and is seeing rising political support in the polls.
We share strong concerns about the motivation behind the timing of recent events, which can only serve the interests of those who oppose both the peace process and Sinn Féin’s political advances. We call upon the British and Irish governments and all political parties to commit to the ending of political policing and to positively engage in advancing the peace process.
Diane Abbott MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, John McDonnell MP, Ken Livingstone, Kate Hudson national secretary, Left Unity, Ken Loach film director, Adrian Dunbar actor, Victoria Brittain writer, Professor Roy Greenslade journalist, Andrew Burgin Coalition of Resistance, Lindsey German writer and anti-war campaigner, Salma Yaqoob former Birmingham City councillor, John Rees writer and broadcaster
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/04/peace-truth-justice-northern-ireland-choices
Ah the usual suspects wind in piss springs to mind.
As usual Neill nothing to contribute but bile drenched hatred and bigotry.
Really Moz your opinion is of course vital to me i shall consider it and come back to you when I have the time perhaps before i do that you could look at some of the other replies in this blog which are secterian and yet you have not brought them up perhaps because you believe them to be true because they come from your community….
Neill, does seeing a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper get increasingly behind the Republican movement bother you at all?
Both the BBC and RTE playing very limited extracts from the Adams press conference.No mention of the anti SF backgrounds of those who instigated and took part in the Boston tapes fiasco.No mention of tapes being played to Adams with his accusers being identified only by a number and Adams comparing this to the worst days of internment.Talk about political policing should include talk about political broadcasting.
Michael C
You may not have been aware but the B B C News channel carried the whole of the press conference live.Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good prejudice !
Gerry Adams said he didnt eat for the first two days of his incarceration. There could be some sort of record in that? Typical Gerry , glory hunting again! ; )
Argenta, most people do not get their news from the24 hour news channel.They get it from the local Radio Ulster bulletins and BBC NI news programmes.They also have the news filtered through to them by the likes of the Nolan show which gave us a heavily edited and slanted version of the press conference.By the way I always wanted to ask you about your pseudonym.Why did you call yourself after an internment ship?
To paraphrase Jude ,when he was telling me off on his latest post,that’s my business and no one else’s !I would have thought that most households would have access to Freeview nowadays but I suppose paranoia strikes deep when you are convinced that all the media are against you.Thank God we have not yet reached the stage of Pravda where every utterance of the “dear leader” has to be broadcast periodically!