TALES FROM THE PAST

MANY years ago, a priest named Sean told me about something extraordinary that happened one day in August 1990, back when he was 33. He was on Church Street, buying a birthday gift for a cousin, when he happened to notice an ECHO newspaper placard that read: 'Beatles Are Splitting Up'. Next to it, a copy of the Daily Mirror bore the headline: 'Paul is quitting The Beatles'.

- Tom Slemen

Sean stared in disbelief. The Beatles had split up 20 years earlier. At first, he assumed the newspaper was some sort of retro reprint - but no. Every paper showed the date: 10 April 1970. The bemused ECHO seller confirmed the date to Sean.