Whatever you write will get twisted

During a dozen years in Belfast I collected a number of political coffee mugs, hailing from both sides of the divide. Unionist designs including the heartbreakingly punctuated ‘Ulster Say’s No’ (not merely to the Anglo-Irish Agreement; no to everything) and the impressively witty ‘Reservoir Prods’: four toughs in shades identified as ‘Mr Orange’ and ‘Mr Boyne’, etc. The republican mugs exhibit no such sense of humour, which won’t surprise you. Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams stare sternly from their porcelain. Worse, the mugs from the Sinn Fein bookshop are cheaply decorated with decals, which are less robust than the inked unionist ones, and tend to melt in the dishwasher.

I was among several journalists I knew who picked up these kooky keepsakes — which, along with a trove of other ‘Troubles ephemera’ like bumper stickers and tea towels, were also archived in the attic of the Linen Hall Library, faithfully curated by the memorable Robert Bell, who eventually fled to Denmark.