Stormont Blue
It's Monday which means we are again limbering up for another edition of Stormont Live at 2.35 this afternoon. The Education Minister Catriona Ruane faces questions on academic selection, amongst other issues. Sir Reg Empey and Nigel Dodds also face questions, although I think we will be off air before the Enterprise Minister takes to the despatch box. For those of you who have asked why we miss the first five minutes of question time the answer is that we have to get a slot whichj fits into the UK wide schedule, and 2.35 is the closest match we can get.
We now have a brand new, bright 'daytime TV' type set. This is a big change from our former pine set which resembled an old fashioned gentleman's club. The Stormont basement is a sleep inducing place at the best of times, but our old studio, with its comfy seats could have been marketed as a cure for insomnia. Once a ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsline producer sitting in the programme gallery glanced around the monitors to check in the moments before the programme went on air that all the correspondents were ready to go. One could be seen studiously rehearsing his words, another appeared to be flossing his teeth, whilst I sat slumped in my Stormont chair fast asleep.
No danger of that in our bright new studio, however I have discovered another problem. It's very blue. And so are most of my shirts. Wearing a blue shirt in the blue studio makes you appear on screen like the Cheshire cat - a disembodied head. So last Monday I wore a lilac shirt. But when I came out everyone said it looked blue. On Tuesday I wore green. That worked, but some suspected I was making a political statement. Over the weekend I tried, and failed, to pick up some pink shirts (there is a severe shortage of 14.5 inch sizes out there). So today I am reduced to beige. Politically neutral, but what's the betting that on screen it looks blue?
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Being a bunch of culchie in-breds means that anything less than 16 inch necks are unheard of in NI Mark - and most of those are made of brass
Mark:
Why not try wearing white shirts? This should make you visible...
I noticed your lovely new beige shirt and matching tie when you were reporting from outside Stormont for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Newsline tonight. The colour of your shirt co-ordinated exactly with the building behind you!