Irish charmer blends in with the crowd
Armed with a bouquet of flowers and fortified by drink, journalist John McEntee will be remembered for charming his way into Tommy Cooper’s widow’s home shortly after his death.

But in his new memoir, I’m Not One To Gossip, But…, the reporter for the Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle column recounts another feat of journalistic endeavour when, as a reporter for The Irish Press, he conned his way into the Mass for the sick during Pope John Paul II’s trip to Knock in 1979.

At the last minute, organisers decided that only the sick and their relatives could attend. No media would be admitted.

Undeterred, McEntee writes: “In a bar I acquired a surplus wheelchair, rug and chauffeur for £20. Bargaining over where my newfound friend would berth me for the service cost me four pints of Guinness. Needless to say, I had consumed a similar amount while bartering.”