THERE were British bobbies, helmets and all, in Upper Mount Street on Tuesday night as "two former Taoisigh and a future. one", C.J. Haughey, Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern gathered with nearly half the parliamentary party for the launch of Taking The Long View 70 Years of Fianna Fail. The hobbies were extras on the set of the Lord Lucan movie, now shooting in Dublin, and much of the street outside headquarters, which they were spraying with water, was blocked off. An earlier generation of FF-ers might have taken flight at the sight.
Inside No 13, under an imposing portrait of Dev, FF general secretary Pat Farrell opened the proceedings with "in words that might be more aptly attributed to Nora Owen - I won't detain you long".
Bertie had praise for Michael Collins. Although not always historically accurate it was a good movie "except of course for the last piece which was a figment of the imagination of a certain individual". Farrell replied that rumour that it had the film crew outside was reshooting the last five minutes.