FRIDAY 30 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.

CORK SCREW
Examiner journalists in low pay shock
MINISTER TO MEET COONEY ON PRESS RESCUE
McEnroe Talks Exclusively to XPress
PURTY GOOD PARTY ... SUPPORT GIG FOR STRIKERS

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

CORK SCREW
by Niamh O'Connor
Examiner journalists in low pay shock
CORK EXAMINER staff are reeling from the shock imposition of a new pay scale which will start employees off on salaries of just over £8,000, rising to only £13,000 per annum after 16 years of labour.
And, adding insult to injury, the information was conveyed to staff via a document entitled "Agreement between the NUJ, the GPMU, and the management of the Cork Examiner."
No discussions on the wage scale had taken place between management and unions, let alone been agreed when the document was distributed.
The tactic was immediately slammed by unions officials, already highly suspicious of the planned Sunday newspaper, The Examiner on Sunday, which would operate on a significantly lower pay scale from the rest of the house, also not agreed by unions.
The much-publicised production date of September 1995 for the Sunday paper was initially put back to April 1996 but that date is again in doubt.
New staff - hired for the proposed publication - are currently working for the Cork Examiner and the Evening Echo, alongside colleagues under a separate house pay agreement.
If managment do not honour their pledge to produce a Sunday newspaper, the house will have been flooded with so-called yellow pack workers who will have been trained on the new page make-up system.
At a lenghty meeting between management and the NUJ last Tuesday to discuss the document, chapel officers argued that a grading system must be built into any new agreement.
"That would mean recognising the number of years experience which new employees would have," says Pat Brosnan, of the NUJ. "However, the planned pay scale will probably go ahead," he added.
"Unfortunately there is a general feeling that workers have no other choice than to go along with management given what has happened in the Irish Press," says Michael Harris, of the GPMU.
The Cork Examiner currently employs about 80 staff journalists, excluding about half-a-dozen yellow packs, all of whom were recruited during the past year.

MINISTER TO MEET COONEY ON PRESS RESCUE

by Jimmy Walshe

Enterprise and Employment Minister Richard Bruton is to meet with Irish Press Newspapers Examiner Hugh Cooney to discuss all the issues relating to the examinership.
This was disclosed in the Dail yesterday by the Minister when he rejected strong criticism by Fianna Fail Deputy Leader Mary O'Rourke of his handling of the newspaper group's crisis.
Mrs O'Rourke, who has pledged to be unremitting in her questioning of the Government, accused the Minister during the adjournment debate of bobbing, weaving and dodging, while at the same time failing to make known his decision on the Competition Authority report, four months after it had been delivered to him. She was forced to think that he had set out on a deliberate path of concealment and deceit, she said.
This left the futures of 600 staff surrounded by unacceptable uncertainty, said Mrs O'Rourke.
With the appointment of the Examiner, it was vital that potential investors know exactly what Government thinking was on the Competition report. This would be central to the Examiner's decision and to the views of people they had been told wanted to invest in Irish Press Newspapers.
Emphasising the need for diversity of opinion in the printed media, Mrs O'Rourke said they did not want to see a growing acceleration towards a unitary state of mind within that medium. That would not be good for the country or its citizens.
Minister Bruton, replying, said he was disappointed that Mrs O'Rourke continued to peddle outrageous accusations without a shred of suggestion or a proposal on her part. He rejected out of hand that any part of the crisis at IPN was due to a delay in handling the competition report. The problems there came from an entirely different source. He welcomed the decision of the High Court to place IPN and IPP in Examinership.
Any new emerging arrangement must respect competition law. His objective was to see new investors coming forward for a successful relaunch with maximum employment.
The Examiner had requested a meeting with him and he would be happy to comply. He commended the Examiner for seeking new investors.

CONTROVERSIAL TENNIS STAR TALKS EXCLUSIVELY TO THE XPRESS

by Yvonne Judge

It was with a skipping heart that I found myself on Wednesday last, knocking on a dressing room door in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club and being admitted by the Great One himself, Mr JP McEnroe.
Most of the people there were, like myself, the kind who would not normally be allowed through the gates or even be admitted to membership - women.
You will be glad to know that he who once called for the grass at Wimbledon to be dug up was in fact fully clothed, and a good job too, for no words would have been written down with fevered pen if that was the case.
There he sat, clad in faded 501s, T-shirt and jacket supping a pint of Guinness and apparently pleased to shoot the breeze with the small selection of Irish media present, which considering the treatment meted out to him over the years is a lot more generous than some others in recent times who have been the benfeiciaries of fans-with-typewriters coverage.
McEnroe was in town to do a favour for another ex-Irish Press journalist, one Mr John O'Shea, who was running his fifth tennis Ôoccasion' in aid of GOAL and specifically in this case Rwanda. And it was after a transatlantic flight, a hop over from London and a police escort that McEnroe took to the court ("Is it always this warm here?") and played two matches, showing regular glimpses of his brilliance of yore, all with the customary figetting, muttering and of course glaring at the linesman.
"Look, this is easy for me, all I do is go on court and hit a few balls, what about the people out there, that's what this is for,'' he told the crowd.
Later, it was philosophy time with the man who could have played tennis for Ireland.
"I am American sure, but I do feel a real affinity here and obviously there's an Irishness in me. Like when I'm shouting back at a linesman or something. I mean, there are so many incidents that I actually couldn't pick out the one I regret most, but then again I don't know if I do regret them. I would have loved it sometimes if an umpire or linesman had just said: "Look, piss off you little shit.'' It's like part of the sport, and maybe they should have had more of a go at me. Mind you, I think you are more like that here than in England; you shout back and say your piece, but in Britian there is a tradition of putting up and shutting up, though mind you I think even that is changing now."
These days his outbursts, both of frustration and brilliance, are confined to charity and exhibition matches, which he describes as Ôthe old men's circuit.'
"Maybe it is nostalgia, but we were very very lucky when I was playing because you had Jimmy and Borg and then along came me to add to the mix, and it was great to have the three. Now there's Pete Sampras and Andre but they really need a third to spice it up and add a different style again for the game. There's Becker who is still good but the fact is that he has already played the best tennis of his career and he's only twenty-six. As for the women, it's even worse, I mean they will do anything to get Seles back at this stage."
"Agassi is good for the game and I don't think he is contrived or that he is trying to imitate me. Sure, he learnt from me and I'm happy to help him, but his whole style thing, I mean, Andre is from Vegas and that's a pretty strange town let me tell you. I just try to keep my feet on the ground and look after my kids. I mean, I live in New York City and you walk out the door and there are the homeless, and I hope my kids can keep on the level if they can. It's bad enough having me as a father but with Tatum as a mother as well they're up against it."
And so McEnroe went off to have his meal and later, his doubles partner Peter Fleming lowered pints and chatted to the natives in the bar. "This is Yvonne Judge,'' said O'Shea to Fleming, "the newpaper that she and I worked for is about to be liquidated''.
"Cheers,'' replied Fleming. Clearly osmosis of brain matter does not occur between doubles partners.

PURTY GOOD PARTY

LIQUID not liquidation was the order of the day at Dun Laoghaire's Purty Loft on Wednesday as thirsty journalists and dance merchants turned out in force to show their solidarity with the staff of the Irish Press.
Regular revellers and journalists from various national newspapers and RTE danced and chatted the night away, availing of Heineken's generous offer of two pints for the price of one.
All parties agreed afterwards that the night had been a resounding success, so much so that the Purty Party II is planned for next Wednesday.
Many thanks to SouthNews, BMG and Polygram for the spot prizes.
Wednesday night also saw a table quiz in aid of the Irish Press Journalists' Fund at Mother Redcap's.
Organised by journalists from another paper - to whom our thanks - the quiz came down to a nail-biting tie-breaker between teams from The Sunday Business Post and The Sunday Independent. And it was the latter who took home the hampers by correctly naming the year of the foundation of The Irish Press.
Meanwhile, The Burgh Quay exiles themselves - plus help from friends - finished a respectable fourth and are now looking forward to competing in next season's Intertoto Cup.

SUPPORT GIG FOR STRIKERS

A fund-raising night in aid of the Dunnes Stores strikers will take place in Dublin tonight.
The venue is Club Ui Chadhainn, 28 Gardiner Place; the time is 8pm; admission is by donation and music will be supplied by Billy Blackmoor.

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