McDonnell had them in stitches

By Tom Moseley – 03 October 2012

There was a strict seven-minute limit on speeches at the late-evening fringe event entitled After the Handshake: the shape of politics to come.

"My seven minutes starts in a few minutes' time," announced the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell, launching into a very long description of the state of community relations.

It was an interesting evening's debate, although a woman in the front row - who sat knitting throughout - might not agree.