FRIDAY 23 JUNE 1995

U2 WORLD EXCLUSIVE
Back issues of The XPress on Sunday featuring Liam Mackey's exclusive interview with U2 are still available from: Room 103, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.

CON HOULIHAN
IRISH PRESS BACK IN HIGH COURT
AGAINST THE ODDS

Published by The Irish Press NUJ, Liberty Hall. Origination by Malcolm Kindness, Telephone 4962551.

CON HOULIHAN: Over the stars and healthy as a parrot

As we left the saga, two exceedingly printwise journalists, Sean Ward and Liam Flynn, were colloguing with Con Houlihan, a Kerry innocent lost in the big city; the venue
was a riverside tavern called The Silver Swan in the underbelly of The City Of The Hurdle Ford - now read on...
The time was a Sunday night in late September, 1970; Kerry had just defeated Meath in The Cup Final, Gaelic football version, in a sacred field hard by the putrid waters of The Royal Canal. The poor misfortune from a bog near the ancient city of Castle Island had won a king's ransom (in the days when people deemed royalty worthy of ransom) on the ball game - thus he didn't return to his ever-loving family until Christmas Eve.
Before setting out for the rainy south-west he swore a mortal oath to Sean and Liam that when the time was ripe, he would burn his boats in Kerry and cast his bread upon their waters - he was always a great hand with the metaphors, second hand that is.
A few years passed by before I (see how smoothly the narrative slips into the first person) deemed the time to be ripe; in the interim I lived by various "treasons, stratagems and spoils".
I worked in a factory where we produced black puddings and white puddings and sausages, all by the hundredweight, acted as agent for a friend who distilled excellent poteen, and inducted lads and lasses into the labyrinthine mysteries of mathematics.
Indeed life was so good that it seemed the time for the hegira to Dublin would be indefinitely postponed; indeed it mightn't come atall, atall.
Then fate again intervened: it came in the shape of Sean McCann, goalkeeper, rose breeder, trainer of budding journalists and greyhounds - and, for good measure, a great journalist. He was also an expert on wine but we won't hold that against him.
It happened that Limerick were to meet Kilkenny in The All-Ireland Hurling Final of 1973; Sean was aware that Limerick were the secondlings of my heart.
Kerry are, of course, the firstlings, but in hurling they are not contenders nor are they likely to be in my lifetime - and hence my neighbours and myself transfer our affections to the green-and-white.
I lived only a few miles from the border; the water from our bog flows into Limerick - for all the good it does the people of that fair county.
Sean McCann hardly knew about that brown water but he sent word that he wished me to do a preview of the big game: I was thrilled - indeed I was over the stars and healthy as a parrot.
Kilkenny were reigning champions and hot favourites (aren't they always?) but I suspected that several of their warriors weren't fully recovered from injury - and so I forecast a victory for Limerick.
I didn't put it as simply as that; I wrote - "I expect that the bonfires will blaze tomorrow night not by The Nore but by The Shannon." Oh dear, dear - this was green prose; forgive me - I was young, kind of...
And so it came to pass: a bizarre goal turned the game; it was as near as you can get in hurling to a pushover try in rugby; the perpetrator was my friend Eamonn Rea, a gentleman and a gentle man, who is now master of a splendid pub in Dublin's Parkgate Street.
And the bonfires blazed along the left bank of The Shannon; a little fire blazed in my heart too - I had got off to a good start.
I would like to say that my little preview impressed all Gaeldom; indeed it didn't - I was mystified by the lack of reaction; it seemed unreal - it was if I had thrown a stone into the middle of a pond and seen no ripples.
And I was reminded of a story that belongs in a rather higher context: John Keats unleashed his first book of poems on a Thursday in London; this was in the days when poetry was taken as seriously as football is today - now read on...
The reviews in the papers and in the magazines would come out on Saturday morning; young John was up and about in Fleet Street and its environs about the crack of dawn.
He bought all the relevant papers and magazines and hastened home to enjoy his instant fame: he scanned paper after paper and magazine after magazine - alas, he couldn't find a mention of his name.
John Keats, me oul' flower, sure 'tis well I know the feeling.
(To be continued)
FOGRA: I was honoured to be asked to show my ancient face at the official opening of the refurbished Liffey Bar and Restaurant yesterday.
I was a regular there when it was known as Barney's; it was then a journalists' pub; the office of The Daily Mirror was in Liberty Hall; Dave Guiney and Tom Keogh were regulars and their great friend Nicky Rackard used to collogue with them there. I was just coming and going from the country and thrilled to be in their company.
The Liffey Bar had the doubtful honour of being the second pub in Dublin to experience a car bomb at its door. I was drinking across the river but I hasten to add that there was no connection.
The Liffey Bar was always a good pub; it is on the way to being a great pub. And I wish the best of Kerry luck to Joe and Paddy and all the good people who sail in her.

IRISH PRESS BACK IN HIGH COURT

Bid to halt liquidation will resume on Monday

By KEN WHELAN
The High Court is to consider appointing an Examiner to Irish Press Newspapers and Irish Press Publications on Monday afternoon, following a petition yesterday by employees.
The court heard the petition had the specific support of the 205 staff journalists, and the broad support of all other staff at the newspaper who had been consulted.
Both IPN and IPP were capable of survival as a going concern if an examiner was appointed in time for an investor to be identified and an arrangement put in place, Michael Collins SC told Mr Justice Murphy.
The petition, in the names of employees, Ronan Quinlan, Mairead Carey and Chris Dooley, seeks to have Mr Hugh Cooney appointed as Examiner.
Mr Justice Murphy adjourned the application so that notice of the petition could be served on Irish Press Newspapers, Irish Press Publications, which holds the newspaper titles, the two shareholders in IPN - Irish Press plc and Independent Newspapers and Ingersoll Publications Ltd., which is a creditor.
Mr Justice Murphy said he would be reluctant to appoint an examiner at this stage without giving these parties an opportunity of being heard.
As a meeting of creditors is scheduled for next Wednesday, Mr Justice Murphy said he would ensure that the petition was heard by himself next Monday.
He said he would hear any application seeking to ensure the companies mentioned remained intact, by way of separate application if the petitioners so wished.
He declined to enjoin the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Richard Bruton, in his direction on what parties should be informed of next week's hearing.
The court petition gives the historic background to the current situation within the newspaper group.
In the late 80s the Irish Press group was ahead of its rivals in terms of technology, but poor planning and inadequate staffing lead to continued production delays. The unsuccessful investment in Southside Publications in the mid 80s, the change to tabloid of the Irish Press title, the unsuccessful relaunch of the Evening Press and managementÕs failure to provide adequate editorial and marketing budgets are outlined.
Abandoning the move to a new editorial headquarters in Parnell Square, and the decision not to proceed with agreed voluntary redundancies are also described.
Exceptional costs, such as the £300,000 management contract to Ingersoll, the payment of £250,00 to Vincent Jennings in compensation for the loss of his position as chief executive, the cost of relaunching the Evening Press and the exceptional costs of libel action in 1993 are also outlined.
The petition also refers to the various proceedings which ended the Irish Press plc/Ingersoll Publications partnership, and the Supreme Court decision last month setting aside an order that Ingersolls pay £6 million to Irish Press Newspapers.

AGAINST THE ODDS

Locked-out Evening Press sub-editor, Jack Hanna, describes how his fellow-workers supported him during the years of struggle with his son, Davoren, the acclaimed, young handicapped poet who died on 18 July last year.
Selling The XPress on the streets of Dublin, in pubs or outside country churches on Sundays, has brought home to me very powerfully the support out there for the "voice" of the Press papers, despite all our difficulties over the last few years.
Linking up with my colleagues, producing the paper on a daily basis, on a shoestring since the lock-out, has reinforced the impression of how wonderful it could be to work for the Press.
Many of us have described the Press as like a family, a statement very much at odds with the frustration and discontent which we have also voiced so vociferously during this battle to save the three Press papers and 600 jobs.
Perhaps my unusual life-history will shed some light on why this talk of a family is more than a cliche, and why I share profoundly the bitterness of my colleagues at the waste of talent, energy and commitment by the management of the Irish Press.
In my late teens and early twenties I was a dreamer, quarrying for spiritual and philosophical truth. I studied and had various teaching jobs until, in my mid-twenties, when I had a young child to support, I got a job as a night telephonist in the International Telephone Exchange.
I turned to journalism in my mid-thirties, having always being interested in writing and editing. I got a staff job with the Irish Press in late 1985 after a year of trying to make ends meet as a freelance journalist with a concrete block attached to my ankles.
My wonderful wife, Brighid, had considerable health problems and my young son, Davoren, was just beginning to communicate after nearly 10 years of silence and suffering due to a profound physical handicap.
My years of working with the Irish Press coincided with the emergence of Davoren as a very talented poet defying tremendous obstacles, the death of my wife in 1990 and then the death of Davoren shortly after his nineteenth birthday last year.
I needed the Press family, whether it was the banter and organised chaos of the caseroom, or the camaraderie of the subs' desk. In times of great tragedy, you donÕt need the earnest listening ear of a counsellor. Robust, irreverent and witty jousting serve you better.
That spirit of battling against the odds, fighting with one another but ultimately supportive, pervaded the newsroom, caseroom and in fact every department of the Irish Press. It also made it a special place to work and helped me to pull through those terrible years of strain and losses.
The scandal is that these valuable human resources (that much-abused term of personnel departments) have been treated with such disdain and carelessness by senior Press management.
On a personal level, I want to put it on the record that I was facilitated after the death of my wife, by first a transfer to the Evening Press, and then a three-day week at my own expense for two years prior to my son's death.
But overall, I fully support the view of my colleagues that, at every strategic turn during the last 10 years, Press management has made the wrong move, whether it was the Ingersoll partnership, taking Elio Malocco onto the board, buying Southside Publications, going tabloid with the daily paper, dividing the Evening Press into two parts or then finally trying to bring Independent Newspapers on board the sinking ship.
The waste and self-destruction involved in locking the door on three national papers is biblical in proportions - a national inheritance squandered; talent buried and neglected.
The real shame is that it was all so unnecessary. There is support out there for the Press 'voice' and there is a proud, disciplined and energetic workforce ready to bring it to the people of modern Ireland.

NOTE TO OUR READERS...

The XPress newspapers carry a nominal cover price of 1p, but we appreciate all donations to our newspaper fund. To help co-ordinate our fund raising activities, a bank account has been set up in aid of the NUI members who are currently locked out of the Irish Press offices. Please forward all donations to:

The Press Journalists Fund,
Bank of Ireland,
6 Lower 0'Connell Street.
Account number 60002008
Sorting code: 90-07-97
Contact 878 7430/878 7550

The XPress is now available on the Internet. Our world wide web address is: http://www.adnet.ie/Adnet/XPress.htm
or email us c/o fergal@indigo.ie