THE whingeing Daily Ireland marked its demise after only 450 issues with a front-page photograph of Gerry Adams laying a wreath.

Sadly, rather than being a tribute to the paper's passing, the wreath honoured the villainous Yasser Arafat, who robbed his people blind and denied them any chance of peace and prosperity. Gerry must have been feeling nostalgic for the good old days.

Apart from the sheer joy of not having to read Daily Ireland any more, I was delighted by the ingenious if predictable excuse offered by Mairtin O Muilleoir, head honcho of its owner, the Andersonstown News group: on the mean excuse that hardly anyone bought it, the Brits failed to do their duty and keep the paper afloat with government advertisements.

Mairtin has been just a touch economical with the truth.

Although all Daily Ireland received directly from the beastly Brits was £12,000 for a salesperson, between 1999 and 2006, the republican cheer-leaders of the Anderstonstown News group - which also publishes the little-read bi-weekly Andersonstown News, the weekly North Belfast News and South Belfast News and the daily Irish-language La and has an interest in the Lucan Gazette - got around £556,000 in grants from the British government (including £277,375 towards new offices), while the British and Irish governments jointly contributed another £367,989 towards La.

Seeing that the British government has traditionally subsidised anti-state terrorists through the dole and other welfare benefits, it comes as no surprise that it handsomely subsidises anti-British propaganda.

Gratitude is not a quality you associate with Mairtin O Muilleoir, but were he as concerned for truth, openness and accountability as Daily Ireland used laughably claim to be, he might have softened his bizarre claim of discrimination by admitting that his group has been given nearly a million quid in taxpayers' money.

But then, when did you ever hear a Northern republican say thanks?