"A picture essay Bertie" is how one contributor described the book on FF leader Bertie Ahern which will be published by Blackwater Press in November - in plenty of time for the Christmas market and, more importantly, next year's general election.
The idea of asking 15 well-known people, not necessarily FFers, to write about their friend Bertie on a suggested topic is understood to have originated with P. J. Mara recently appointed director of elections, and he is writing the introduction. Much of the book will be taken up with photographs, from Bertie's childhood in Drumcondra to the present day.
In the as yet untitled book, Mary White, MD of Lir Chocolates and FF activist, is contributing on the topic Amongst Women; Paul McGuinness has been asked to write under the heading U2 Can Be Taoiseach; songwriter Pete St John, who penned the short-lived Bertie anthem The Man They Call Ahern, is due to write on the topic A True Blue - which means Dub, not Tory; and former union leader Phil Flynn has been given the suggested title Agree To Differ.
Others who have been asked to contribute 1,000 words each on Bertie include former Dublin footballer Tony Hanahoe, FF deputy leader Mary O'Rourke and a number of journalists.
