MAGILL's first friend was Noel Pearson. He was one of the founders of the magazine and its first financier. He also was largely responsible for giving the magazine its title - an itinerant family outside Dundalk was also called Magill.
The humiliation of Garret FitzGerald has been one of the sweetest triumphs for Oliver J. Flanagan in his long Dail career. For over 14 years he has harboured feelings bordering on loathing of his current party leader and his recent triumph has more significance in purely personal terms than in political or even theological ones.
It took Albert to make them pay attention.Albert with the permanent tan, Albert with the smile, Albert who can with one wave of his arm make the grassroots stand rigid with excitement. Albert said he was honoured to be back on the team. Apart from Albert the speakers on Saturday night were just filling in until TV time. The buzz of conversation in the hall drowning their words, the We love Charlie signs being gripped tighter as the hour came nearer, the atmosphere thickening - it was like a bull pawing the ground, ready to charge.
On the final day of the February 1982 general election campaign Garret FitzGerald went for a quick spin around Dublin's north side. The campaign was winding down and the schedule was light - a few hands to shake, a garda station to visit, some banter with reporters about the previous night's TV debate with Charlie Haughey. And an old folks' home. Garret did the rounds, shaking hands, exchanging quips, posing for photos. Three elderly women gathered him to themselves. They said he was great last night, beat Charlie hollow.
Fintan O'Toole on one reason why Dick Spring should scrap An Bord Pleanala.
Back in 1979, before he bacame Taoiseach, Charlie Haughey was talking to a reporter about the infamous fingerprint scandal arising out of the murder of the British ambassador in July 1976. Haughey remarked that the central point of the scandal had been entirely missed by the press.
He invited the reporter to guess the identity of the person whose fingermark was left on a helmet found at the scene of the explosion. When the reporter fell for the bait and enquired whose it was, Haughey replied: George Colley's.
Similarities exist between the move against Charlie Haughey and the challenge to Brian Cowen's leadership mounted this week by some parliamentary party members. Below is a feature by Vincent Browne that appeared in the February 1983 edition of Magill on how Charlie won the battle for the leadership. The Magill archive (1977 - 1998) is available here.
On Tuesday November 2 The Late Late Show team had its first meeting of the week. Three items were pencilled in for Saturday's show. There was to be a 40-minute report and discussion on car theft. The show was to open with Anna Raeburn. A human interest story about a Scottish woman was to follow her. The Late Late Show team talked about the morality of putting car thieves on the programme. There were no problems with the schedule until the following day. The following day the Scottish story fell through: the woman was indisposed. A replacement was needed.
Kevin Cashman recalls some of the strokes pulled in the greyhound racing game. And some of the plans that came unstuck.
Introduction