IRA Ceasefire: Broadcast voices of Sinn Fein now face up to being silenced

'POSITIONS SOUGHT: due to a change in overall political circumstances beyond their control, six actors now available for regular voice-over work. Irish accents a speciality.'

If broadcasting restrictions on Sinn Fein are lifted, writes Rhys Williams, what happens to the secret band of actors who have provided the voice of the party for six years? A spokeswoman for BBC Northern Ireland said: 'Well, we won't be using them any more. But they're actors, so it's not as though won't have any work.'

At Equity rates of about pounds 120 (plus repeat fees at 80 per cent), speaking the words that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness could not is a nice little earner. The six have become expert mimics - a view apparently shared by Mr Adams, who, when once asked who would be 'doing' him that night and on hearing the name, replied: 'Dead on. He does it far better than me.'