Gerry Jones and Frank Poole at the Festival Club

175-01-J.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Gerry Jones and Frank Poole at the Festival Club

Subject

Cork Film Festival, Harp Lager, Gerry Jones, Dermot Breen, Frank Poole, Rank Film Productions, Rank Organisation, Charles Haughey

Description

This is a black and white photo taken of a small group seated around a table at the Cork Film festival club. The club was sponsored by Harp Lager whose name adorns the large umbrella in the background. The back of the photo identifies only Gerry Jones but we recognise the film festival director Dermot Breen, Frank Poole and the lady (who might be his wife) from other photos in the archive. The convivial gathering are all smiling looking up at the camera. On the far left a bespectacled Poole is smiling up at the camera seated next to Dermot Breen who is half-turned towards him.

Frank Poole was a managing director of Rank Film Productions, London during the 1960s until his retirement in the late 1970s. The Rank Organisation was a British film company whose contract players made regular appearances at the Cork Film Festival during the 1950s in particular.

On the far right Gerry Jones, with a distinctive dark eye-patch over his right eye, is seated looking down towards the table. Jones might be considered an incongruous addition to the group; he was a Dublin business man who was a notable figure of 1970s Ireland when he stood by the then Taoiseach Charles Haughey during the 1970 'Arms Trial'. The trial involved the indictment, and ultimate acquittal, of Haughey and his colleague Neil Blaney for the alleged involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle arms to the IRA in Northern Ireland. In 2001 the Irish Independent reported that secret British papers released by the Public Record Office in London noted that all twelve jurors at the time had been contacted by Gerry Jones (since deceased) in order to intimidate them but this was not substantiated ('Jones 'tracked arms trial jurors', Irish Independent, 19.04.2001).

(Even though this picture is marked '1960s', based on other photos in the archive we provisionally date it 1970.)

Creator

University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Bateman Photography

Source

Cork Film Festival Collection

Publisher

University College Cork

Date

1970

Contributor

Bateman Photography

Rights

©Bateman Photography. All rights reserved. Please credit Cork International Film Festival & provide a link back to this site.

Format

Photo
TIFF
JPEG

Language

English, eng

Coverage

1970
Cork, Ireland

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Photo

Physical Dimensions

201 x 172mm

Collection

Citation

University College Cork, Cork Film Festival, Bateman Photography, “Gerry Jones and Frank Poole at the Festival Club,” Cork International Film Festival Archive, accessed December 21, 2024, https://corkfilmfest.ucc.ie/items/show/189.