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editor himself: one who is inspirational and innovative rather
than corrupt.
As mentioned earlier, Crawford considers Gallaher the
greatest journalist. Despite the editor’s acclaim, Gallaher’s
“greatness” is highly questionable. His detailed report of the
Phoenix Park murders, for one thing, could have been illegal,
for English laws limit what can be reported about a crime after
individuals face charges and before they come to trial (Gifford
& Seidman, 1988: 140). An intellectual is surely supposed to
act as a nonconformist, a truth-teller and disturber of the status
quo. Yet Gallaher’s presumable violation of the laws is
motivated not by an ideal but by a desire to publish something
that would give “him the leg up” (Joyce, 1986: 113) and an
enviable position in London. Judging from Joyce’s
representations of this character in “A Little Cloud,” he clearly
values personal gain over public benefit. At the beginning of “A
Little Cloud,” Gallagher, returning home for a holiday, is
depicted as the embodiment of success. Little Chandler has a
high regard for his friend’s changed circumstances: “Gallaher
had got on” (1996: 70); he “had become a brilliant figure on
the London Press” (71); “Ignatius Gallaher on the London
Press!” (72). Clearly, Gallaher’s attainment of a place in
London fills the stay-at-home with pride. The returnee tells of
press life: “It pulls you down. . . . Always hurry and scurry,
looking for copy and sometimes not finding it: and then,
always to have something new in your stuff. Damn proofs and
printers, I say, for a few days” (75). So far as Gallaher is
concerned, journalism is characterized by bustle and pressure.
Press life, indeed, could be hectic and stressful, but his
description does not show much, if any, enthusiasm for
journalism; he mentions nothing about his accomplishment or
sense of mission as an Irish journalist in London. He is
determined to enjoy life, and being a journalist helps him
achieve that purpose. Gallaher tells his friend: “Everything in