14 Strabane NUJ member celebrates cricketing hero


By Anton McCabe Former Indian Test cricketer MV Narasimha 'Bobby' Rao chose Derry and North West member and Donegal News journalist Conor Sharkey to write his biography. The new book, 'Bobby: India and Ireland ... a Love


Story', charts Bobby's life from Hyderabad in India to his current home of Strabane. Conor says Bobby is held in the highest esteem in India because he is one of the few from a population of one billion to become a Test player. “He's a superstar in Hyderbad, where he's from, even today,” Conor said. Bobby is also hugely admired among the cricket


fraternity in his adopted home of Ireland. He was formerly coach of the Irish national team and coached nine of the 11 players in Ireland's first-ever Test team. He has also coached many of the teams in the north-west. Conor points out there is only one part of Ireland


where cricket is a major sport. “The north-west is the hotbed of cricket in Ireland,” he explained. “It's bigger here than in any other corner of Ireland. Strabane to Derry is 14 miles, you have eight clubs over that 14- mile stretch.” As a Strabane man, Conor was always aware of


cricket, though never playing. “Strabane Cricket Club was as much a social hub as a sport club,” he said. “My parents socialised there. They took me and my sister down on a Saturday to watch matches.” Conor insists that it's not a book about sport but about a man. He has known Bobby since starting in journalism 16 years ago with the Strabane Weekly. “He was always in with photographs or articles about something he was involved in,” Conor said. They became friends. Once, when talking, Conor said


Conor Sharkey with Narasimha 'Bobby' Rao.


to Bobby, “You should put in in a book.” Bobby suggested Conor write it. Fortunately, Bobby had kept everything written about him, “the good, the bad and the ugly.” He arrived into Conor's house with all in a big green box. “Those articles were my lifeline,” Conor said. He has used them well.


'Bobby: India and Ireland... a Love Story' is published by Hero Books.


Minister hopes options for libel law changes will come this year


In the Dáil last month, Mayo TD Dara Calleary asked for an update on the progress made in relation to the programme for government commitment to review and reform defamation laws, and the timeline for introduction of new legislation. The Minister’s written


response is significant for one omission, the failure to acknowledge that the review, presented as a new promise in the programme for government, is five years late under the provisions of the Act itself. Minister Helen McEntee


said her department has already completed “very extensive work on the review of


the Defamation Act 2009” but progress had been interrupted by preparation of urgent legislation arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. She said it is intended that


the report of the review, with options for change, will be with her “as early as possible in the autumn” with a view to bringing proposals for legislative change to Government for approval in the following weeks. The Defamation (Amendment) Bill is included in the Government’s Legislation Programme for the autumn session 2020, which was published on 15th September.


NewsBrands Ireland awards


to air November 17-18 NewsBrands Ireland Journalism Awards will announce their annual winners as part of a two-part virtual event on November 17th and 18th. The event will be broadcast


on www.journalismawards.ie from 7pm to 9pm each evening and feature host Matt Cooper interviewing members of the judging panel, who will discuss the great journalism of the past year and announce the winners. The awards feature 24 categories


across modern journalism. Entry to the awards is open to any work published in print, website, online, mobile, video, or audio from any NewsBrands Ireland member title. This year includes two new categories: Magazine of the Year and Best Covid-19 Journalism. This year’s shortlist can be viewed at http://journalismawards.ie/shortlist-2020.


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