The other thing required of a politician is a thick skin, both with the electors and within the twists, turns and machinations of party whips.

I’d heard of Councillor Brendan Curran’s stormy exit from Newry and Mourne Council earlier in the week, but was reluctant to blog it without a clear record of what he actually said. You can judge it for yourself from the video.

Curran was critical to Sinn Fein’s early successes in local democracy n Newry and in no way fits the profile of a Republican dissident. In his speech he makes several apologies to other former SF councillors for his part in attacking them on their exit.

The exchange you can hear at the beginning is between Curran and Mickey Ruane of Sinn Fein, who quickly withdraw all their councillors from the meeting in an effort to get what Curran says struck from the record.