DURING her conference II speech, memorised and delivered for 55 minutes live on RTE without an autocue, PD leader Mary Harney had great praise for the Fitzpatrick family. They had created a top-class conference centre in Bunratty, Co Clare, she said, from what was a green field sited last March. Maybe the Department of Justice could take a leaf out of their book when it explained that it took years to plan and build a prison. Shouldn't the Fitzpatricks, or indeed other private entrepreneurs, be building prisons?
The remarks went down a treat with both delegates and hoteliers. Imagine, then, the laughter next morning when PD national organiser Garvan McGinley was sitting. down in the dining-room to his bacon and eggs. The ceiling leaked and the rain descended upon him. For others it would have been a case for compo.