Last night, the PSNI riot squad took part in a dress rehearsal in advance of any trouble in the university/Holylands area over the St Patrick’s Day long weekend.
One officer privately expressed concern that the new protective clothing “wouldn’t be taken seriously by tipsy students”. Another added that the pockets weren’t very accessible and there was no where to store his phone or his “emergency doughnut”.
A spokesperson explained that enhanced scrutiny of PSNI spending together with the reduction of budgets meant that “difficult procurement decisions had to be made”.
And in an alternative universe, fans queued up outside Dublin Road Movie House to view the 3D version of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.
May the force be with you …
Alan Meban. Tweets as @alaninbelfast. Blogs about cinema and theatre over at Alan in Belfast. A freelancer who writes about, reports from, live-tweets and live-streams civic, academic and political events and conferences. He delivers social media training/coaching; produces podcasts and radio programmes; is a FactCheckNI director; a member of Ofcom’s Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland; and a member of the Corrymeela Community.
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