Ulster fries for G8 leaders?

Will G8 leaders and their delegations be tucking into Ulster fries?

A G8 public meeting in County Fermanagh has heard concerns from accommodation providers wanting to know what the delegations they will be hosting will want for breakfast.

The government has block-booked accommodation in the area around the Lough Erne Resort which will be hosting the G8 leaders next month.

Only a small number of delegates will be staying at the summit venue, but hundreds of support staff and journalists will be accompanying them.

A government representative told the meeting in Irvinestown that hotels and guest houses would get "at least six hours notice of who will be staying with them".

That prompted one person to ask if she didn't know the nationality of her guests, how would she know if they would want an Ulster fry for breakfast?

The chief executive of Fermanagh council, Brendan Hegarty, who chaired the meeting, commented that "tongue-in-cheek might work in London but it doesn't work in Fermanagh".

They were reassured that they would get a visit from the relevant embassy in advance of the G8 summit, but some may want to have some croissants or sushi in, just in case their guests are not tempted by sausages, bacon, eggs, potato bread and soda farls.

Buses for exams

The meeting also heard more about how the summit will affect schools in the area.

The Western Education Board said that pupils who use school transport and who have an exam on the two days of the summit on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 June will be offered a dedicated bus service to get them directly to school.

That will hopefully reassure some pupils whose journey to school may otherwise involve two or three different buses.

Letters will be sent out to parents in the next few days with details of the specific arrangements.

The police said they expected several thousand people to take part in a demonstration on the first evening of the summit.

It is to march from the library along Queen Elizabeth boulevard and then up East Bridge Street and Townhall Street through the centre of Enniskillen before heading out to the security fence currently being built around the Lough Erne Resort.