So paranoid has Sunday World scribbler Hugh Jordan become that he has
registered his own name with Google Alerts.
This means that any time anything about Hugh appears on the web, a
message flashes up on his computer to notify him.
Hugh is currently holidaying with his sister and brother-in-law at
their French gite, so this may take a while to filter through. Sorry,
Hugh!
(Hugh's brother-in-law, incidentally, claims to have served with the
Parachute Regiment - a fact I'm sure Hugh is at pains to share with
his many friends in Derry or, er, Londonderry.
Hugh's friends are relieved, though, that he's finally taken some
much-needed time off given the recent state of his health (see
Bullshitters passim).
August may yet prove to be the cruellest month for Hugh, however, as
the libel suit served by former Sheridan IMAX owner Peter Curistan
grinds inexorably towards court. (Hugh is so paranoid about Curistan
that he even lists him in Google Alerts!)
Hugh's French retreat evidently didn't come soon enough, though, as
the fear of exposure on the witness stand prompted him to break the
journalists' cardinal rule.
Yes, gentle reader, regrettably Hugh has revealed his sources.
Journalists - even those on downmarket Sunday tabloids - have
traditionally risked imprisonment rather than reveal confidential
sources of information.
Think Geraldine Kennedy and Colm Keena. Or the Turbine's former
Northern Editor Ed Moloney.
Not for Hugh the clang of the prison gates, however.
Curistan's lawyers haven't even got him on the stand (or should that
be in the dock?) yet and he's already singing like a canary.
First, there's the former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) internee in
Long Kesh who concocted the whole nonsense about Curistan, Sinn Fein
treasurer Des Mackin and IRA 'dirty money' in the first place.
(Since Hugh's own paper, the Sunday Worst, had already exposed this
'source' as a pimp, this may not help his credibility.)
Next there's Curistan's former business associate who was caught with
his hand in the cookie jar (Now he should make a good witness).
Then there's the founder of one of Northern Ireland's oldest civil
engineering firms.
And finally, as if that wasn't enough, a member of the House or Lords!
Of course, Hugh's got form for naming names (you can read the
now-notorious 'Jordan memo' in full at
http://www.amiexposed.blogspot.com).
But dragging a 70-year-old Peer of the Realm into court could be the
rock on which Hugh founders.
No prizes for guessing where Hugh will be sending his next postcard
from!
Regional journalis
