Like any good idea, the Onion has inspired countless others around the world to produce imitations. Some are terrible, such as a particularly unfunny Scottish version; some are alright, such as an occasionally very good Australian site; and some make the basic idea work with home news, such as two Irish sites: The Evil Gerald (www.evilgerald.com) was started in the pages of the UCD College Tribune before becoming a website. As with The Onion, being current is its currency. A recent headline ran: "Job-seeker regrets not lying about being team-player". Past classics include: "Nice verdict 'will be difficult to ignore', admits Ahern"; and the ingenius "Fungi Back From The Brink" story wherein Ireland's favourite dolphin confessed to becoming a junkie while helping the Garda∅ catch drug smugglers. "'There was nothing I wouldn't do for H. I did somersaults in the air to attract the attention of the smugglers. I swam beside their boat and sang. I - God help me! - I even balanced beachballs on my nose', said Funghi."
The Portadown News (www.portadownnews.fsnet.co.uk) serves up political satire and should be required reading for all parties in Northern Ireland. "Local Orangemen arrested in Bolivia" had three prominent Northern politicians charged under the "notorious Acto par Preventio de Terrorismo," and being transferred to "Our Blessed Virgin of the Andes maximum security prison". Its Drumcree Special featured the brilliant "Vatican sends Holy Water Cannon". "Spraying Holy Water on Orangemen is pretty much like spraying ordinary water on them," admitted RUC officer Bill Mason yesterday. "But it will really annoy them, and that's the main thing."