Paper Review: Cameron and the IRA, Tayto crisp row

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News LetterImage source, News Letter

There's little similarity between Friday's front pages, with each of the Northern Ireland newspapers opting for a different lead.

"Cameron and IRA came face to face at Stormont": The Belfast Telegraph runs insights from David Cameron's autobiography.

The former prime minister recalls the 2014 Stormont talks, during which the IRA "blew in loudly wearing football scarves and leather jackets".

"That will be the IRA to give their view on [the Stormont House Agreement]," he says he was told.

He says: "Everyone else seemed willing to accept this," and he was prepared to do the same if it meant "peace and progress".

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David Cameron was involved in the talks that led to the Stormont House Agreement in 2014

The paper also reports how - and here's a sentence you never thought you'd see - Mr Cameron "slapped down a truculent Gerry Adams".

The then Sinn Féin president had called the talks a "cack-handed process", to which Mr Cameron says he replied: "How would you know Gerry? You haven't been here."

'Credible bidders'

Is there hope for troubled County Antrim bus-maker Wrightbus?

The News Letter reports that the Ballymena company is "closing in on finding a new owner".

It reports that the firm has assured its 1,400 employees there was "hopefully good news for everyone".

The company, which made the famous red London "Boris bus", sent a memo to workers in which it said: "We are now in a race to complete a final deal with credible bidders."

Employees were told they would be paid as normal during the process.

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The Tayto legal action has left a "bad taste" in the mouth of Martina Anderson

In Ballynahinch, County Down, a potato-related saga continues.

On the front page of the Irish News there's a picture of a huge Mr Tayto - the southern version - posing with a man who has fallen foul of the crisps giant of the same name north of the border.

The man, who was brought before the court by Tayto in Northern Ireland for selling a variety from the Republic of Ireland, says he has been victimised.

He is questioning why the company issued trademark proceedings against him rather than a large business.

The 48-year-old tells the paper that the crisps are "very popular in Northern Ireland and are sold in many shops".

Even Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson has waded in, hitting out at "occupied Tayto over its legal action".

The whole thing, she says, has left a "bad test in her mouth".

The company insists the case is simply about "protecting" its trademark.

Image source, Alan Lewis
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Orhan Kibar was sentenced on Thursday for raping two teenagers in 2017

The Daily Mirror leads with a full page on a violent double rapist who was jailed for 13 years on Thursday.

Orhan Kibar, originally from Turkey, sexually assaulted two female friends in his Russell Court flat on Claremont Street in Belfast in the early hours of 24 November 2017.

The court heard the 43-year-old had not offered "one word of regret apology or shame", the paper reports.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has welcomed the sentencing, saying the rape would have been "terrifying" for his teenage victims.