DUBLIN

THE ELECTION OF Catherine Connolly as President of Ireland has Hamas fighters jumping with excitement at the thought of being invited to the presidential residence, Aras an Uachtarain.

“Connolly says we are part of the fabric of Gaza,” said a Hamas spokesman. “She is a big supporter of a Free Palestine. We expect an invite to the Phoenix Park residence. If it was good enough for *Winston Churchill, then it is good enough for us. She can throw a party for us and invite our supporters in Queers for Palestine. We can throw a separate party for them. On the roof.”

*Winston Churchill’s grandfather and father occupied what is now Aras An Uachtarain, and was once the British Viceregal Lodge, during the late 19th Century. Young Winston began his childhood there.