Hillsborough summit a cleverly managed public relations stunt

AT about 9.30pm on Sunday last, the continuity announcer on RTÉ television, in a sombre voice, gave a stern warning to viewers before the start of ER to the effect that some people might find certain scenes in the programme distressing.

Curiously, there was no such warning before the 9pm news bulletin that preceded ER. That news bulletin contained scenes more bloody, more gruesome and more distressing than anything the scriptwriters of the fictional Chicago hospital drama have ever come up with.

No matter when or how this war in Iraq finally ends, among the images which many of us will remember are the pictures from a BBC cameraman shown on RTÉ's Sunday night news bulletin. The footage included pictures of the carnage caused by a "friendly fire" bombing incident in northern Iraq earlier that day. In particular, the picture of the cameraman's hand wiping blood off his camera lens as he scrambled around in the aftermath of the bombing will stick with many of us for decades.