Blackberries and Raspberries
From time to time, Stormont Committee chairmen have to act like school teachers, reining in their unruly class of MLAs.
During this week's Justice Committee, chairman Lord Morrow gave a stern warning to everyone at the meeting to turn off their mobile phones, just before he had chastised some members for not turning up to a scheduled session with the Probation Board.
When the harsh buzzing of an electronic device interfered with the committee's recording equipment, Lord Morrow stopped the meeting and demanded that the guilty party turned off their "Blackberry, raspberry or whatever device" that was still on, lamenting that someone "doesn't listen to a word I say".
Committee members looked around at each other to see who was still in electronic communion with a mobile mast. Always quick with a quip, the UUP's David McNarry said he had no device on him, adding: "Unless someone has bugged me, Raymond" - an aside to Sinn Fein's vice-chair of the committee, Raymond McCartney.
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