`My best Irish is in swearing," said Northern Secretary, Mo Mowlam in Cambridge on Tuesday as she answered questions at the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. Asked about allegations of British eavesdropping on cross-channel telecommunications, Mo thought the question came from Labour MP Kevin McNamara rather than from Sinn Fein's Caoimhghin O Caolain next to him. She addressed him as Kevin. O Caolain said he has expected her to know his name by now. "Of course I do," she said. "Kevin Quinlan. Isn't that good!" O Caolain joined in the laughter and announced that he and Mo shared a birthday.
It turns out the birthday is today and Mo is just the elder. She said her husband is taking her to Amsterdam for the day. Asked later if his name was indeed Kevin Quinlan, O Caolain refused to say. "You wouldn't ask de Klerk what his name was in another language, would you?" he asked.
For the record, Mo refused to answer any questions on clandestine surveillance - aka spying. This presumably means it goes on all the time.