BBC NEWS | Election 07

About me

Mark Devenport
16 Feb 07, 11:52 AM

I've been a BBC Northern Ireland reporter since the mid 1980s, and have covered all the twists and turns of the peace process. In 1999 I moved to New York where I was United Nations Correspondent, before returning to Northern Ireland to take over as political editor.

I've written two books - Man of War, Man of Peace, a biography of Gerry Adams, and Flash Frames, a collection of anecdotes about reporting in Belfast.

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1.
At 07:37 PM on 16 Feb 2007,
Alan wrote:

It's probably the most silly question that you'll be asked on the blog, but maybe not!

You wrote a couple of articles about leaving your post covering the UN in New York. Whatever happened to your NY cat that you were so fond of? Did she end up coming back to NI with you?

It's probably an easier question to answer than predicting the number of seats that Bob McCartney will win! (Though a local bookmaker has promised to let us know the odds next week.)

MARK REPLIES: Hi Alan,

I'm always happy to talk about Melinda. She is alive and well and living in England. I got a great response to the From Our Own Correspondent piece and managed to get around the quarantine problem with the help of a lady who lived in Amsterdam called Elizabeth. She took Melinda, looked after her and got her the jabs necessary for a pet passport. Back in Northern Ireland I was sharing a house with my wife's cat, Oedipus, and I knew she and Melinda would not get along. So when Elizabeth asked to adopt Melinda I readily assented. The two have since moved back to England and when last I heard Melinda was eating cat food, not tuna, which was a new departure. The last piece I wrote about Melinda can be accessed here.
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1274035.stm

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