griffiti issue 38 april 2010

3

This month, Griffiti’s Mark O’Flynn talks to Late Late Show hostRyan Tubridy about the pressures of fame and following PatKenny as well as the transition from Saturday nightentertainment to hard news journalism.

John O’Donnell talks to English rock band The Courteeners, wehear from American singer song writer Joshua Radin and DaveClaxton gives his opinion on the new and improved Lord Mayorof Dublin position.

Finally, as this is my last Griffiti, I want to take this opportunity to thank all thecontributors without whom Griffiti wouldn’t go to print. I have also to say a special thanksto Jacquie, Paddy and John for their support and encouragement throughout the year. Iwould also like to show my appreciation to you, the readers, who take time out of yourday to dip in and out of the magazine.

I would like to wish you all well in your exams and the best of luck for the future.

Griffiti Magazine

Griffith College Dublin,

South Circular Road,

Dublin 8.

Ph: 01-4150463

email: [email protected]

Griffiti Magazine is the Student Union

publication at GCD.

All contents copyright of Griffiti, Repro-

duction of any part of the magazine

without permission from the publisher

is strictly prohibited.

The views expressed in Griffiti do not

necessarily reflect that of the college or

the SU

Editor: Mark Corcoran

Design:

Mark Corcoran

Contributors:

Graham Butler

Dimakatso Mogwaneng

Asad Ali

Gus McSweeney

Cormac Coughlan

Dave Claxton

Nicola Byrne

John O’Donnell

Mark O’Flynn

Rosalind Griffin

Karen Austin

Elliot Doak

Bernard White

Advertising enquiries:

01-4150463

Printed by:

Speciality Print,

Donore Avenue,

Dublin 8

Issue 38

April 2010

CONTENTS4

15

24

26

29

22

12

6

SU Update

Elections

Griffith Fashion

Party People Pull Out

Irish Gus

The Courteeners

Sport

Joshua Radin

[email protected]

A Note From The Editor

Mark Corcoran,Managing Editor

SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

4

Hi All!!

Hope everyone is well and that you all thoroughly enjoyedRAG week 2010 and St. Patricks day.

RAG week raised just over €3,500, which was a little underour target but I would like to sincerely thank everyone andanyone who helped out with planning and preparation andthose who attended events.

Each night raised much needed money for St Vincent De Pauland Wells for Zoe. Rock band The Seducers played a greatset in the bar on Monday and everybody who attended had agreat time. Tuesday we had the UV paint party and stainedclothes aside it was an experience not to be missed! Wednes-day was the mystery tour to Carlow and I believe there is astudent out there that still is not aware of where he ended upfor the night. The SU house party on the Thursday was possi-bly our biggest event of the week. I would like to sincerelythank the guys in G-Soc for organising the event, it was ahuge success. I would also like to thank Paddy Daly andBernard White for having their heads shaved for charity and

for letting the likes of me near you with a razor. Well done all!

The next big event on our calendar is the Griffith Ball. Ticketsare on sale in the SU now at €50 and are selling fast. Ittakes place the on the 16th of April in the Crown Plaza hotel inSantry and is definitely not a night to be missed. It is alwaysthe best night of the year so get your tickets now to avoiddisappointment.

Lastly this is the last Griffiti Issue of the year. I would like tocongratulate Mark on a fantastic publication and wish himwell in his future career in journalism where ever it may leadhim. I would also like to thank Paddy and John as they havebeing really good people to work with. The members of thestudent council and members of the Ents crew also deserve athank you; the year would not have being a success withoutyou.

The elections are taking place on the 14th of April and I wouldlike to take this opportunity to wish all the candidates thebest of luck and the elected members all the best for theiryear in the Student Union. I hope you get all the experienceout of it that I got and that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Lastly I hope you all got your assignments submitted on timeand wish you the best of luck in the exams!

It was great meeting all of you and I look forward to seeingyou again in the future.

Take care and best of luck.

STUDENT UNION UPDATE

Jacquie Ryan

SU President, Ents & Welfare

Office opening hours:

Monday - Thursday: 09.30 - 19.30

Friday 09.30 - 17.30pm


http://www.facebook.com/griffith.su1

Jacquie SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

5

Jacquie Paddy

STUDENT UNION UPDATE

Paddy Daly

Clubs & Societies Officer

Office opening hours:

Monday - Thursday: 09.30 - 19.30

Friday 09.30 - 17.30pm


Hey Everyone,

Over the coming month there will be a lot happening in rela-

tion to Clubs & Soc’s. I would encourage everyone to get in-

volved. As always new members are still welcome, just call

into the SU and sign up.

Clubs & Soc’s over the Coming Month:

Soccer: First off I would like to say congratulations to the

team on their stunning performance in the FAI Futsal Compe-

tition in Maynooth where they placed 2nd. Over the next cou-

ple of weeks, the Soccer team will be playing friendly’s

against Local Clubs and Colleges to wind down the season. I

would like to thank our Coach Leroy Rhodes and the lads for

the commitment and hard work they have put in throughout

the season.

Rugby: Over the coming weeks we will be playing DIT, Dun

Laoghaire and a derby game against our main rivals DBS. The

team has also entered into the Nokia All-Ireland Student

Rugby 7’s which will take place in DCU on April28th.

Cricket: GCD Cricket team will commence there season at

the beginning of April. There first opponents will be UCD in a

warm-up match. They will then face Queens University

Belfast in the first round of the Irish Universities Cricket

League.

GAA: The new Griffith GAA team, will be taking part in a few

warm-up games in the next few weeks they will then be com-

peting in the CA Laighean Football Championship . All players

welcome!

Pool: Weekly Tournaments held upstairs in the SU Monday

6.15pm. 2 euro buy in, winner takes all!

Poker: Regular poker nights are being set up weekly in The

Headline Bar, call into the SU and sign up if interested!

Taekwondo: Classes are being held every Tuesday in V003

and Thursday’ inV004 5.30-6.30pm. The classes are free and

new members are always welcome.

Yoga: Classes are being held on Mondays from 4.15-5.15pm

in V003, classes are free and everyone is welcome!

If you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact me in the

Students’ Union in the Meagher building. That’s it for now

have fun!



Elections 2010The 2010 Griffith College Students’ Union Elections takeplace on Wednesday April 14th. There are two positions

being contested:

SU President / Welfare and Ents Officer

Candidates:

Roger BarryGraham Butler

SU VP / Clubs and Soc’s Officer

Candidate:

Paddy Daly(RE-Open Nomination Option)

Reopen

NominationManifestos for each candidate are available to view on official SU Noticeboards. Election Hustings (Candidate Question Time) takesplace at 12pm Tuesday April 13th in Arthur’s Bar. All Welcome

Roger Barry Graham Butler

Paddy Daly

With the way things have been going economically over thepast 12 months you’d be unrealistic in thinking that thisyear’s RAG Week total was going to be on par with2009...and you’d be right.

In 2009 the SU successfully managed to raise €4660 for theIrish Cancer Society and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, this year thatnumber dropped to €4450. Now while this is less than a 5%drop, the figure is slightly deceiving.

SU Manager John McSweeney spoke to Griffiti about the tally.“The money generated off night events was in general thesame as last year, and that makes up to about 75% of our

annual total, however bucket collections went through thefloor. When the original count was done on collections andsocial events we actually only generated €3950, that’s a 15%drop on last year. The short fall came from bucket collections.People were donating 20c coins this year where last year theywere donating €1’s. The total was bumped up by a lastminute donation of €500 from an individual close to one ofthe charities.”

The money raised will now be spilt 50/50 between the twoRAG Charities;Wells for Zoe and St Vincent De Paul. Each will receive acheque for €2225.

Ticket sales for the 2010 Griffith Ball exceeded all expecta-tions this year as the price dropped to €39. In excess of 300tickets were sold at the €39 price tag alone putting the ballon an early course to be the largest Griffith Ball ever hostedby the SU.

Last year the premier event took a battering as studentsvoted with their wallets to ignore the usually highly attendedball. “There is no doubt we made a mistake on the pricecharged last year. €70 for a ticket was just too much, but itreally wasn’t our fault, hotels didn’t adjust their prices untilthe very last minute, if we had hosted this years ball 9months ago you’d probably be paying €70 again, but now theconsumer has buying power as banqueting prices havedropped hugely in the past 9 months. Hotels were fighting,trying to get us to go with them. We were able to negotiatemassive discounts with the Crowne Plaza which we then

passed on to the students and the students responded bysnapping up the tickets” said SU Manager John McSweeney.

At the time of print we can reveal that there are over 35 dif-ferent nationalities attending this years event and for the firsttime ever the Irish make up less than 50% of those attend-ing. “Usually the event is about 85-90% Irish, we know thisbecause we record nationality at point of ticket sale. The Irishare still by far the largest single group, but this year they onlymake up about 46% of those going, the rest is made up of amix of nationalities, so it’s the most inclusive ball we’ve everhad I believe” said SU President Jacquie Ryan.

Final preparations for the Ball will continue until the lastminute; however tickets are expected to sell out days in ad-vance as the ballroom reaches capacity.

Recession Takes a Bite Out of RAG Week

Ball Tickets Rocket as Price Crashes

Journalism Student Takes

Part in Miss University

Ciara Brennan, 2nd year JournalismStudent and Miss Griffith College,will represent the college at theMiss University Final.

The competition takes place inDandelion on the 14th of April. Youcan purchase your tickets for €10.We would like to wish Ciara thebest of luck!

New Lower Prices

Come and shop at ShopEasi for Guaranteed Cheapest Prices in Ireland

Up to 80% off almost every item in store

ShopEasi 63, Lower Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8.

Soccer TeamRunners-Up inFutsal TournamentCongratulations to the GCD soccer team who recently fin-ished second in the FAI Futsal Competition. It was Griffith’sfirst time taking part in this event so to produce such a re-spectable result is quite an achievement.

The tournament took place in NUI Maynooth and Griffith hadno problem dispatching the hosts 5-4 in the first game. A su-perb hat-trick from Colin O’Hanlon and further goals fromShane Mooney and Arnau Riba Corbella pushed GCD acrossthe line.

Next up for Griffith was a tough UCD team and the lads man-aged to earn a credible 1-1 draw. Corbella scored his secondgoal of the tournament to give Griffith the lead but unfortu-nately the lads couldn’t hold on and UCD equalised in the lastminute with a scrappy goal from a corner.

The Following game for GCD was Inchicore College. Goalsfrom Corbella, O’Hanlon and Mooney saw Griffith easily dis-patch the Inchicore men 3-0.

Unfortunately Griffith lost their match and were knocked outof the tournament by eventual winners IT Tallaght. GCD werenarrowly edged out 2-0 in what was a very respectable per-formance against a talented side. Colin O’Hanlon finishedGriffith’s top scorer for the tournament with four goals fromfour games.

Soccer Coach Leroy Rhodes selected the following players totake part in the tournament:

1 Dennis Wittenbrink- Goalkeeper2 John Ojo- Defender3 Paddy Daly- Defender4 Sam Thomas-Defender5 Derek O’Brien- Holding Midfielder6 Colin O’Hanlon- Central Attacking Midfielder7 Arnau Riba Corbella- Right Midfielder8 Kizito Adaji-Centre Midfielder9 Shane Mooney-Striker10 Martin Agbaso-Striker

Cricket Team Prepare For ChampionshipThe fixtures for the intervarsity championship competitionwere announced recently and Griffith were handed a toughtie against Queens University Belfast. Last year Griffith wereknocked out of the competition in the quarter finals by Trinityand the lads are eager to do better this year.

Recently team captain Asad Ali was quite bullish about hisside’s chances and declared that the trophy would be comingto the GCD campus. However Griffith have been handed aparticularly tough side of the draw.

If the lads manage to beat Queens, a fixture in which theywill be no doubt underdogs in, as the Belfast side have a

student body of over 24000 to pick from (compared to 4000in Griffith), they will have to try their hand against DCU.

Griffith will fancy their chances of beating DCU however asthey toppled the Northsiders earlier this year in the IndoorCricket Intervarsities in Galway.

Sports officer Paddy Daly wanted to take the opportunity toencourage students to get behind and support the team ac-tively by attending fixtures. “I really see us having a goodchance this year” said Daly. “They finished third in Galwayand they are hungry to do better”.

Student News

Student Council Meeting: Minutes

Fashion PoliceBy Karen Austin

Name: Amy McGarry

Course: Interior de-sign

Coat: Next

Scarf: H&M

Jeans: River Island

Runners: Quicksilver

Inspiration: Spanishand Italian influences

If you weren'tstudying interiordesign, what wouldit be: Fashion design

The Naked Truth BY Rosalind Griffin

Hails from:GermanyCurrent Status:Occupied Most embarrassingmoment? When Iwas 14 I kissed theguy I was madly inlove with and it wasall great and romantictill I sneezed in hismouth.

Worst outfit everworn? My mommade me cut my hairwhen I was like 4. Itwas really short and Ilooked like a boy. Iwould wear tights onmy head and use thelegs as hair. I acutallywent everywhere likethat to pay back mymom.

Student: Franiska Lequen

The contents of this section are satirical and may offend. The views expresses here do not represent the views of the SU

The meeting was generally short with the main point of busi-ness being the election of a Returning Officer and the Re-Open Nomination situation in relations to the Clubs & Soc’sOfficer position for this year’s elections.

Returning Officer PositionClass Reps Asad Ali and John Ojo both put themselvesforward for nomination. After a vote of hands John Ojo waselected by majority vote of the council to act as the returningoffice for the upcoming SU Sabbatical elections.

SU Manager John McSweeney stood in on the meeting todiscuss the situation with the Council of the Re-OpenNomination vote option with regards to the Vice-PresidentialPosition/ Clubs and Soc’s. He proposed the following in eventof a Re-Open Nomination (RON) vote.

If students chose to vote RON then nominations would bere-opened for a period of one week. If a student cameforward in that time to contest the position a second election

would be triggered resulting in a fresh round of polling. If nostudent came forward to contest the decision the positionwould be referred to the Student Council to ratify Paddy Daly(who currently holds the position and is the and onlycandidate for the position) as Vice-President. However if thecouncil refused to ratify Paddy Daly then he is no longereligible to take up the position and the position if referred tothe SU Manager who would implement a caretaker Clubs andSoc’s Officer for the 2010/11 academic year. The Caretakerwould however not hold the title of Vice-PresidentThe council agreed that this was the most favourable optionand would come into effect if a Re-Open Nomination waschose Class Reps Roger Barry and Graham Butler who areboth candidates for the upcoming SU Presidential Electionsboth spoke to the council about their plans and suggestionsfor next year and the new direction they wouldlike to see the Students’ Union taking.

Class Reps were also requested to publicise the upcomingelections to their classes on election day Official Manifestosfor all candidates are available to view on SU Notice boards. SU Hustings take place at 12pm Tuesday April 13^th .Elections will run from 9.30am – 5.30pm April 14th

John Ojo BSCO2Waquas Ahmad MSCS2Johnthan Keane BAJ2Oscar Finn BAJ2Sandra Beyer BAIHM2Asad Ali BAAFH2Colin Foley DPM1Ben Morgan BABL1

Cathal O Hagan LLB1Graham Butler BABL2Anna O Carroll DMT1Conor Smith BSC1Roger Barry BABS1Gerard Hayden BAJVM1Bernard White LLB2

The 6th Student Council (Rep) meeting took place

on 7/4/10 In attendance were:

BY Rosalind Griffin

News Flash

The Genuine ArticleWinner of the French Student Award for Most Cocaine in One Night Baby!

News in BriefJourno & Law Studentsdemand ‘Dole’ module beput into final year coursesyllabus

GRIFFITH BALL SOLD OUT!

SU President Stocks upon Griffith Ball tickets

Top Story

Rogue Maintainence Bloke Saves Green with Magic Beans

with Drew Peacock

The contents of this section are satirical and may offend. The views expresses here do not represent the views of the SU

Local Spar opensOff-licence. Local Off-licence opens Deli.Students don’t give afuck and go to localHead shop

Goodbye GCD

Name: John McSweeneyOccupation: Nobody knowsHobbies: Perving on SU security camerasLikes: Walking around appearing busyDislikes: Every Post-John McSweeney Griffiti Editor(He’s still a little attached) / Boy bands, particularly Blue.Interesting Fact: Was oh so close to becoming a memberBlue (Fuckin’ Lee Ryan)...‘Screw this lads, I’m starting myown boy band with Jedward’s brother.’

Under the Spotlight

Students fall forMcSweeney’s Griffith Ballmarketing genius: ‘seriously lads there isonly 5 tickets left!’

GCD Student pulls out ofMiss University...he mustbe gay

After years of being shite, the college greenis finally coming back to its former glory(thank fuck). While many of us read Facilities Manager Marcus Reidy’s long-winded speal in a previous issue of Griffitiabout how his ‘seed-whispering’ techniquewould entice the grass to grow, however thereal credit needs to go to Maintenance Hotshot Will Phelan.

As you can see from our picture (which waskindly donated by Campus Power WalkerJohn McSweeney), Mr. Phelan (55) decided topull his finger out and tackle the issue headon.

“I got pissed off with this a long time ago. Itwas only let go this far as Hego wants tohost the 2012 European Demolition Derby onthe campus and ya need a sand pit for that!But I’m a man of the students and despitehuge objections from those Fat Cats on theboard of Directors, I decided to solve theproblem once and for all”

In an unusual move, Phelan sourced ‘magic Beans’ from the local Nirvana Head Shop.“They cost me a fuckin’ fortune! But their bleedin rapid! I lashed them out on the sandand there was grass sprouting up the nextmorning! The ducks love them too, their offtheir beaks!” (awwwww......)

The biggest advantage of the new grass isthat no more SU Sports Officers can makebullshit promises during their election campaigns about supplying Astroturf on thegreen.

Will dumping seed on the green

So, after four years in this Dank Urine Soaked Hell Hole, myself (Drew Peacock) and the gang are graduating.

We’ve had fun writing this page but it’s time to move on andallow some inferior but fresh Journalism student to take onthe reigns of the beast that is The Genuine Article.

We’ve enjoyed our time at breaking the stories that matterand exposing the hottest gossip and babes. But now it’s timeto go and ride a fierce amount of nave Leaving Cert girls inGran Canaria for the summer.

But before we go, we want to address that age old questionthat has been asked of every editor of this low brow rag....who are we?

Well If you haven’t worked it out yet you’re a tool.

Drew Peacock signing off...

GriffithFashion

vModels LouiseJenny

Get 10% off with your GCD student card

www.perkuponline.com

Photography Nancy PinedavMake Up Artistv

v

Elaine FinnanStyling Dimakatso Mogwaneng

14

Dublin will soon be asking citizens to di-rectly elect the city’s mayor. Much likeLondon, the public of the capital will beasked to give their vote for candidates.

And for what? The Minister for the Envi-ronment, John Gormley, introduced thenew job in the general scheme of LocalGovernment (Dublin Mayor and RegionalAuthority) Bill 2010. The new post wassupposed to come into being in 2011 buthas been speeded up with an electioncoming some time this year.

It seems the job will have some wideranging powers. Under the new powers,the mayor will control land-use planning,housing, waste management, transportand traffic management and water serv-ices in the Dublin region. The new legis-lation will give the Mayor the authorityand powers to implement the policiesthat he/she wants for Dublin. The job willhave the power to direct any of the fourDublin councils and their managers in re-lation to policy issues. Finally, The Mayorwill also chair a Regional DevelopmentBoard which will comprise of various in-terest groups including major public sec-tor, educational and enterprise interestsfrom across the county.

Before this proposal, the Lord Mayor ofDublin was elected by members of Dublincity council. The current office of LordMayor is largely symbolic, and its respon-sibilities mainly consist of chairing meet-ings of the City Council, and representingthe city at public events. Apart from afew reserved functions which are exer-cised by the City Council as a whole, ex-ecutive power is exercised by the CityManager, a Council official appointed bythe Public Appointments Service.

According to supporters of the scheme,the new directly elected mayor will havea mandate to act as a leader and advo-cate for Dublin. “The Mayor will enhancelocal democratic leadership and civic en-

gagement in the Dublin Region. The of-fice will raise the profile of Dublin, na-tionally and internationally and assistlocal government,” John Gormley said.

Communications Minister Eamon Ryansaid the mayor position will help Dublincompete with other international cities.

“Mayor Michael Bloomberg is turningNew York green. By going green, that iswhere the economic recovery is,” he con-cluded.

Others have blasted the proposal. FineGael Environment spokesman, Phil Hoganwas withering in his criticism of the legis-lation and Gormley. “I want Dublin tohave a Lord Mayor with real responsibili-ties, a real agenda and a real budget. In-stead of giving the city this. JohnGormley has put forward proposals for aDublin Lord Mayor that are little morethan half-baked and will fail miserably,”he said. He believes Gormley is trying to“pull the wool over people’s eyes.”

One possible candidate for the post couldbe ex-Taosieach Bertie Ahern. Gulp. Heexpressed an interest in the job, saying:“A lord mayor with executive powerswould be a very interesting job.” Gormleybelieves “the former Taoiseach certainlyhas his eye on it” and that his is “quali-fied” for the job. If this is the calibre ofcandidate Dublin can expect, the schemewill not last long. Interestingly, The Bill

has a provision for a review of the roleand function of the mayor after twoyears, meaning it may just be a fleetingrole to be discarded if things don’t workout.

One critical problem to the new job isthat there are no provisions for a budget.London’s mayor has an €12.9 billionbudget to run transport, police and fireservices and promote the city’s economy.New York City’s mayor has a budget of€37 billion covering social welfare, waterservices and many other areas. This maybe a crucial factor in Bertie Ahern notrunning for the office. “If you continuewith the system that the mayor has to godown to the department for money, thenthere’s no point in having a mayor”, hesaid. For once, it is hard to argue withhim. If there is no definitive budget howcan a mayor plan for the future year?

Dublin needs a mayor. All one has to dois look at the ghost housing estates pop-ulating the city, to see the need for thiselected post. No due diligence or properplanning was done in relation to theseestates. Our city planners are unelectedindividuals who wield considerable pow-ers and have managed to escape publicscrutiny for their many blunders (such asthe water shortages at the start of thisyear). While it is admirable that JohnGormley has pushed through this neededlegislation, it is still missing many keycomponents to make it work effectively.

Dave Claxton examines thepros and cons of the newlyrefurbished role of LordMayor Of Dublin

Elected: But For What?

Former Taosieach Bertie Ahern is considering running for Lord Mayor of Dublin. Gulp!

Opinion

Party People

RAG WEEK 2010

PULL OUT

RAG WEEK

You’ve had a busy year! Being the new presenter ofthe Late Late Show must be very exciting. How wouldyou reflect on it?

“Well, for starters, it wasn’t a job I was expecting. So it wasquite a shock when it came. There was speculation leadingup to it as to whether or not I would be getting it. Therewere three horses in the race as it seems and so it came topass. It’s been an extraordinary year but fascinating and I’mdelighted with it. It’s a great new world for me and I’m lovingit.”

Could you describe a typical day in the life of RyanTubridy?

“Well give me a day of the week.”

We’ll go for Friday.

“Well that’s the busiest day of the week in so many ways andso is Thursday. Essentially I’m at my desk at 7:30am; readbriefs for the radio show, down to the studio and do theshow. Post-mortem after the show, over a coffee or whatever,tell me what’s on the show for next week.

Over then to TV, work on some of the brief’s on the gueststhat will be on that night and then on the Friday. I’ll go hometry and have a snooze for half an hour just to calm the head.Back into work at 4:30pm and do what is called a dry run onthe show so just walk through the various bits and pieces ofinterviews, where it’s going to go and see which tape we’re

playing and so on.

Then go for a bite to eat, into the suit, make up on unfortu-nately! Record the promo’s for the Late Late Show and thendo a dress rehearsal. Then back out, try and meet as many ofthe guests as possible and then 9:35 – show time. We thendo the show, finish it and then backstage (to the) greenroom.We have a few drinks, relax. That’s every Friday so it is hec-tic.”

Let’s go back now before you ever had your own radioshow or talk show. Did you always know that youwere going to end up working in RTE?

“Well I felt that I wasn’t skilled enough to work anywhereelse. Because all I had was the inclination to talk, to talk anawful lot so that’s my skill. It was a natural skill.

When I was reviewing books as a twelve year old for radioprogrammes as a kid and TV shows for kids I was just bittenby the bug. I knew this would be ideal but the question was“Could it happen?” Then after that it was the craft, hard craft.I had a good feel from my early teens that this would be theworld that I would be most comfortable with.”

Did you look up to any broadcasters at the time?

“Gerry Ryan was on the radio in my house so I’d hear him.Gay Byrne was on the radio in my house too. So they wouldhave been the two most important, subliminally influencingmy interest to the love of radio.”

Born To

Do ThisLife is pretty sweet for Late Late Show host and broadcasting dynamo Ryan Tubridy.The Blackrock man recently sat down with Mark O’Flynn to talk politics, television and thepaparazzi.


There are a lot of young people out there who want tobreak into the world of broadcasting. But it really is avery crowded profession. How would you break-through if you were starting off?

“That’s a good question because it really is a very tricky busi-ness to get into. The only thing I will say is that there are alot more media outlets whereas fifteen years ago there wasno NewsTalk, Today FM, TV3, City Channel, Channel 6 orwhatever they’re called.

They’re all there now so there is a bigger field there, but re-ally most people want to work in the mother ship which isRTE and I can understand why. What would you do to get inhere? Or to get into the business? It’s really hard to know. Ithink some people want to be in the business but don’t havethe necessary prime or indeed the x factor, to use that awfulexpression, but it’s true.

It depends on what you want to be, do you want to be a re-searcher, a producer or a presenter? If you want to be a pre-senter in front of a camera then you’ll have to have a lot ofdrive to say “I can do this, I’ve got the confidence to do it, Ithink you should let me prove myself”. I did a lot of that my-self, “Let me have a go. I think I’ll impress, I hope I’ll im-press.” It’s the fine line between cockiness and confidence,

but it’s about being persistent and being able to graft yourway into a job and by talking to people who will be able to fa-cilitate that so just keep on knocking.

I always say, somewhat jocosity but I really mean it, be po-lite. A lot of people underestimate good manners but hon-estly, holding doors and saying “please” and “thank you”, itreally has stood to me personally. It’s the small things thatmake the difference but it makes sense in the long term. Youhave to make a lasting impression, you can’t just be anotherdrown walking into a place saying “Yeah I’d love to workhere”; you’d have to say “I want to work here. I would loveto work here. I need to work here and I think you might needme”. And if you can try and bridge those two requirementstogether then you’re in business.”

Who would you invite over for dinner, Enda Kenny orBrian Cowen?

“Well I’d invite them both over for different reasons. Actuallywhen you meet them beyond the cameras and microphone,they’re both extremely affable men who are leaders of theirparties for good reasons. So I would bring them both overbecause I would like to see them both having a good tingtong as well, a bit of craic and a few jars. We could have asing song as well maybe?!”

When you started out on the Late Late Show, did youtry to add more of your personality to it? Making theprogramme your own that is?

“Yeah I think that when a programme has this legacy of, youknow, having Gay for so many years then Pat for so manyyears and then it was Pat’s turn. By virtue of me being there,it was always going to be a different type of programme be-cause I was younger for starters and having a very differentpersonality to both Gay and Pat.

I mean I’m not a comedian; I can’t turn into another charac-ter just for Friday night. Obviously you’re different becauseyou’re performing in a sense and your adrenalin is more, Imean I’m not going to be the same to you now as I will beon Friday night that would be absurd. There will be 200 peo-ple there so I’m not going to be all lovely and chatting awayquietly. So it’s an exaggeration of yourself, but it always your-self.

So I just do what I have to do. I had to tone it down a littlebit because Saturday was just an entertainment programmeand the Late Late is different, the items could go from the ex-tremely serious to the extremely frivolous so you have towatch the line and walk the line, but it’s not much different towhat I did before so it wasn’t a huge gear change.”

Do you miss the Tubridy show on Saturday night?

“I miss elements of it. I miss the team I worked with, theywere lovely. It was pretty much entertainment based so it


was probably a little more silly and I like silly but I’m reallyloving where I am, I see it as a different beast.”

Are you hesitant in becoming known as a celebrity?

“The word is ludicrous, it comes from the Latin word meaning‘vein’ and that’s nice because it’s a good word in that sense.If people want to say ‘celebrity’, I don’t mind I’m not fussy.There are too many important things in the world to be wor-rying about whether or not you’re a celebrity or not. I wouldprefer to say ‘one is famous’ or ‘you’re well known’. I thinkthat if you ring the bells for the Angelus in Ireland you be-come famous; it’s not exactly an achievement as far as I’mconcerned it just goes with the territory. I don’t mind, onceit’s not too rude I don’t mind what people call me.”

Photographs were taken of you and your girlfriendAoibhinn in a park. Does that send alarm bells ring-ing?

“No well that photograph was taken by a guy who is a profes-sional photographer who was walking his dog in fairness; itwasn’t taken by a paparazzo. But he sold the picture on as anamateur paparazzi.”

But he did take advantage of your privacy…

“Well he did take advantage. And I didn’t like that and it wasa step too far but I also have to realise that’s the world welive in. I’m on the television and if some people feel that theywant to see a picture of me walking in the park then that’sgrand. That’s up for pap’s! But, you know, just don’t go walk-ing in the park is the answer to that question. So I just haveto accept that that is part and parcel of that story. It’s a firstworld problem.”

Do you think some broadcasters get paid too much?

“I think that it’s a question that has been asked since televi-sion was created. There is a currency for the broadcastingbusiness that is astronomical in America, it’s astronomical inBritain and by comparison it’s not as big in Ireland but it’smassive. A lot of people say it’s too much. But they are num-bers that have been decided by bosses, people who repre-sent broadcasters and that’s what they decided. So I’m justgoing with the punches. I can’t complain though, I’m wellpaid.”

What has been your favourite ot most memorable in-terview on the Late Late so far?

“So far, I enjoyed meeting the conjoined twins they werebeautiful little kids. That was a lovely moment I have to say.

I very much enjoyed the Brian Cowen interview, and theEnda Kenny interview, I like roughing it up a little bit in thestudio which is good fun. Actors like Benicio Del Toro was apleasure. The Toy Show was my favourite night of the wholeprogramme.”

Are there any particular celebrities that you are dyingto get on to the show?

“Yes, I would love to interview Paul McCartney and Tony Blair.We always put out requests so any time they’re within anass’s roar of the country, we’ll get there. I’ve met two ofthem, not Blair. I did an interview with Clinton on the phonebut not in person so I want to sit down and interview one ofthose two, Blair or Clinton. I think that Blair thing is going tohappen. I have a good feeling about that. He has got a bookcoming out and I would be shocked if it didn’t happen in Sep-tember. So that’s an ambition, you should always have someambition. It drives you on.”

“I’m just going with the punches. I can’tcomplain”

Brian Cowen; One of Tubridy’s most memorable interviews


IRISHGUS RANT

As a child I attended a catholic school and was reared in that

tradition and although I remained faithful in my older years, I

refused to obey the archaic rhetoric and regulations that

Catholicism conveyed. I believe in one God but have had

cause to question my faith in recent years. If God’s represen-

tatives on earth have been involved in the systematic bug-

gery and abuse of those most vulnerable in our society,

children, then I think we all have a right to come to the blas-

phemous conclusion that our God is not as infallible as we

have been led to believe.

It has been hard to escape the controversy surrounding cleri-

cal sex abuse that has been unearthed by the publication of

the Ryan and the Murphy Reports over the past year. And to

accompany the disgusting crimes of the perverted messen-

gers of Christ in this country was the Popes pastoral letter

read out in all Catholic churches during services last Saturday

and Sunday.

What is most damning is the culture of secrecy within the

Catholic institution. Secrecy which the Father Brendan Smyth

case recently exposed showing the corruption and true moral

character of the Vatican hierarchy. Shortly after hearing that

Cardinal Sean Brady had been duct taping the mouths of chil-

dren, we hear the story that our own Pope had provided a

safe house for a paedophile colleague of his in Munich back

when he was known as Archbishop Ratzinger.

However this culture of secrecy and cover ups is all justified

because ‘back then was different, you can’t judge it by

today’s standards’. Bollocks. You can. The Catholic Church

was as backwards then as it is now, just as rape then was as

perverse as it is now. It should be dealt with by civil authori-

ties such as the guards, rather than canon law that only

serves the Catholic hierarchy and is based on spiritual hocus

pocus with no factual basis.

So it was with bated breath that flocks of the pious and not

so pious believers attended the outdated pantomime freak

show that is mass, as church attendance up and down the

country soared. Whilst visiting family in a rural parish in Co.

Wexford I too was eager to attend mass on Saturday in eager

anticipation of the papal document being read aloud by one

of Our Lord’s faithful clerics. But it was not to be in this re-

mote parish.

Mirroring the secrecy and suppression of information that has

been characteristic of clerical sex abuse itself, the jester on

the alter denied us our letter, feeling that a sermon on our

faith was more appropriate. Quoting from John, Chapter 8

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” the priest de-

scribed the congregation’s interest in clerical sex abuse as “a

disgusting appetite for controversy” and that we should “pray

more for our own sins rather than the sins of God’s clerics”.

This however didn’t infuriate me as much as when I did actu-

ally read the letter. With Pope Benedict’s acknowledgement of

IrishGus has his say on the Catholic Church controversy

the problem came the excuse that Irish society and its depar-

ture from religious values was the problem. And there was us

thinking that predatory paedophiles using their holy collars as

a gagging device was the problem.

The Pope’s worthless acknowledgement of clerical sex abuse

and his hypocritical disgust at the actions of Irish bishops was

followed by a carefully spun apology to Irish victims. The

apology was about as convincing and sincere as Tiger Woods.

At least Tiger had the neck to face the world and address the

world’s media. Benedict addressed only Irish victims, through

a letter, in what seemed like a veiled attempt to confine a

global issue to our shores.

Oh but he saved the best for last. How do we reverse the im-

plosion and self destruction of the Catholic Church in Ireland?

How do we repair the sins of abuse that have caused the

church and its victims so much harm? Through intense prayer

before God, by praying for God’s mercy during Lent, fasting

and by having an aul read of the bible between now and

Easter. “This programme will lead to a rebirth of the Church

in Ireland in the fullness of God’s own truth, for it is the truth

that sets us free”.

It is this arrogance, pride and surety in moral superiority that

has failed. If the Church in Ireland wants to keep people

going to mass then it should modernise, not just here but

everywhere. The institution needs to be rebuilt from the

ground up if faith is to be restored. Canon law needs to be

subordinate to civil law at all times if we are to avoid a repeat

outbreak of abuse. Issues surrounding celibacy need to be

addressed and most importantly of all, the culture of secrecy

needs to be replaced by a public that is better informed

about clerical matters.

To suggest that picking up a fucking bible and offering your

dinner and time to Oxfam as ways we can rebuild our Church

shows that the Vatican’s priority is not its victims or its victims

families, it is the future of its Church.

Opinion

Not many bands would allow their warm up act to be morefamous than them, but when the Courteeners played inDublin’s Acaedmy on March 30th they let the likes of WayneRooney and Franck Ribery play to their fans via big screen. Itwould have been an excellent gimmick too, if Bayern Munichhadn’t snatched a last minute victory from their belovedManchester United.

Shortly after the final whistle, the screen went up, the lightswent down and Oasis’s Rock and Roll Star started pumping,and the crowd started pumping right along with it.

The band’s lead singer, Liam Fray reckons he knows the exactdate that he became a rock and roll star. “August 31st, 2007.I think it’s when you put pen to paper and you sign a recorddeal and you get paid for playing guitar.”

“I used to work in Fred Perry in Manchester and I was part ofthe management team. Even though the band was doingreally well, I was still working there a couple of days a weekand I got my last pay ceque on 31st of August on the daythat we signed. I’ve still got it, it’s brilliant. That was thehand over, it was like Yes! Fucking freedom from shop work!”

The Courteeners’ first album was the kind of album thatdoesn’t get made in the iTunes age. Most artists can onlymanage a few singles and a bit of filler. ‘St Jude’ howeverwas a complete album with no skippers. This resulted in thelads reaching number four in the UK album chart, but thesingles barely made a dent in the singles chart.

Liam isn’t too concerned about the charts though. “I don’tworry about it. But at the same time you know, you’ve got tosell a certain amount of records to have a record deal. I think

fifteen years ago you could make four crap records beforeyou made a good one. Now if every record doesn’t sell acertain amount, it’s like your getting dropped, and if you getdropped you’ve got no job. I think bands who say they don’tworry about that have either got really rich parents or theydon’t give a shit. And I’ve not got rich parents and I DO givea shit. If you do well on the back of being yourself, thenyou’ve got nothing to worry about.”

The songs that would become ‘St Jude’ saw the band buildup a name for themselves before the album got released.“It’s weird. I think a lot of bands get hype because they’vegot a great PR person. We were getting hyped because wewere selling out thousand seater venues when we wereunsigned. You can write a good magazine article, but youcan’t sit a thousand people in a room in bar next door askingwhere’s Bide Your Time before it’s even out. The fans wereexchanging accoustic demos and stuff like that, and it justtakes one journalist in one magazine to go ‘the gig wasmental, blah-di-blah’ and then other journalists don’t want tomiss out.”

The boys looked to build on the success of ‘St Jude’ with therelease of their second Album, ‘Falcon’ in February. It went inat number six and Liam thinks that just being professionalmusicians for a few years has brought their sound to a newplace. “I think that just comes with doing your job for alonger time. We’d only just got started when we got signedso I mean ask anybody in their first year of work how goodthey are something and they’ll go ‘mmm yeah, pretty good.’And that’s any job; builder teacher brick layer. After three orfour years, you get better at it don’t you. We know our wayround a studio and stuff now”.

FOOTBALL AND FALCONRYJohn O’Donnell talks to Manchester rockers The Courteeners


The lack of warm up band in the Academy led to someproblems with sound levels during the early part of the showbut the crowd didn’t seem overly put off and by the end theywere belting every chorus right back at the band. Liam hasbeen impressed by the reception the new tunes have beengetting from audiences. “Unbelievable. We were taken abackby it ‘cos we weren’t sure. I think that when you have analbum that’s not necessarily comercially successful, it did

okay, but our fans are very intense, so we knew St Judemeant a lot. We were confident ‘cos we knew how good thesongs were, it was just a case of are they gonna have it live?‘Cos it’s one thing making a good record, but it’s got to begood live, cos if it’s not good live it’s game over. But it’s beenunbelievable live. They’ve been buzzin’ off it, and us in turn,buzzing off them.”

The band had faith in the songs, and even put their ownmoney into getting it recorded. “We kind of used everythingup and it was like we’re gonna go for broke. It’s weirdbecause a lot of bands spend 2 years doing albums and stuffand it’s like, yeah, we wish. We had six weeks to do it in andif you don’t do it in them six weeks and get everything cutthen it’s game over.”

“But it was good that, it was like a pressure on us. You listento some people who say they’ve ‘been in a studio for twoyears’, doin’ what? What have you been doing for 2 years? Ittakes three days to record a song. It could take a month toget a certain sound, but two years in a studio is ridiculous.You’d just start throwing things away and you’re not concise

enough and you don’t work hard enough. A lot of bandsspend a lot of time on the Playstation, I like to spend time onme guitar.”

Halfway through each gig, the rest of the band take a break,leaving Liam and his guitar to have a mini accoustic set withthe audience. Part of the Courteeners’ appeal is their abilityto mix hard edged rock and roll stompers and anthems withmelodic, lyric driven love songs. “It’s funny cos I don’t take alot of time over the lyrics. It tends to come, not necessarilyeasily, cos that doesn’t mean it’s better, if you can write itquicker, I just think it’s more a train of thought. I don’t thinkabout what I’m gonna write. I can’t think unless I write. If Iwrite it down that helps me. It’s pretty much stream ofconsciousness. I think that’s just the type of person I am;romantic but not soppy.”

When Liam had finished showing his softer side, the rest ofthe lads returned for a few more anthems. Despite the latestart caused by the footie, the band were on stage for nearlyand hour and a half, with no breaks. “We’ve been doingeightenn, nineteen, twenty song sets. We’re absolutlyknackered when it comes to the end of it. It’s like an hourand twenty-five minutes. I think we’ve done too much really,but, fuck it, give people their money’s worth.”

A week prior to the Academy gig, the lads had beensupporting Noel Gallagher for two nights at the Royal AlbertHall, and Liam really seemed to enjoy it. “Amazing. Amazing,man! It was like one of those things you dream of whenyou’re a kid. He was just such a fucking geezer. Just a niceguy. He came and watched the sound check, watched the gigfrom the side of the stage, came and said hello and stuff. Hewas he really top. It was amazing. I was fuckin’ shittin’ itdoing the gig but it was a really great experience.”

For an extended audio version of this interview log ontojodedia.blogspot.com

“A lot of bands spend a lot of time on thePlaystation, I like to spend time on meguitar”

“Every song I have written is an honest account of someexperience I have gone through” says Joshua Radin as heshuffles through yet more promo for his up and coming UK andIreland tour in support of his latest offering ‘Simple Times’.

Born and raised in 60’s America, Radin threw his first dancemoves to the sounds of Ohio’s finest Motown. And now he singslove songs, lots of love songs.

Love songs based on true experiences. Risky business. “It is butit’s also cathartic, because it’s honest ,it’s cathartic. I guess it’smy therapy”.

Joshua Radin’s career is based around wants and needs. Hesings of the girls he needs, wants or wanted and found his spacein the hurley burley music industry based on an overwhelmingdemand for his work.

“After that song was on Scrubs I got a MySpace page. Peoplestarted writing to me all the time, asking me where they couldfind my record and I didn’t have any other songs so I figuredmaybe people really want this.”

Whoa whoa whoa, he had a song on Scrubs? In fact it would bequite difficult to find a popular TV show that Radin’s music hasn’tfeatured on. Three weeks after writing his first tune, the wellknown and loved Winter, it popped up in Scrubs. Radin rose tofame and the rest they say etc.

“I started playing music when I was twenty nine. It was kind ofan after thought; I guess I just never really had the balls to do itwhen I was growing up.”

express myself so I found the acoustic guitar was quitetherapeutic for that.

Radin returns to Dublin’s Academy on April 26. It’s the last showof a short tour that also explores the UK’s length and breath. Helast played Dublin in a memorable show at the same venue lastOctober. He admits he is looking forward to coming back.

It’s very easy to throw out a back handed compliment whilewriting a music feature and describe the artists’ live stageperformance as unique. But on that October night just offO’Connell street, Mr Radin did something I’d never seen beforenor haven’t seen since. Unplugging their guitars, he and his bandbuddies hopped into the middle of the floor and busked Sky.

“I had never seen a performer play a song that way but I justfigured people are so quiet when they are listening to me playlive and there are so many things we can get away with. You canplay truly acoustically because people are truly intent onlistening”

“I like to try and push the boundaries that way and try and givepeople something they haven’t seen before.”

Radin has stated several times that the master of all singersongwriters, Bob Dylan, has been a big inspiration to him. “I justlove the stories he tells. He is such a great poet that it reallymakes me think about my lyrics a little bit more and aspire toreach the heights that an artist like that has.

It’s something I’m sure I’ll never achieve but if you keep yourgoals high then hopefully you’re constantly evolving.”

In his short time on the show biz beat Joshua Radin has touchedmany lives. Folk from all ages and walk of life have been draw tohis music like a moth to a flame. So much so that he was askedto play Ellen DeGeneres’ wedding in August 2008. He accepted.

“That was kind of surreal actually. It’s not like I knew them at all.I guess they were just fans. It was a very intimate affair. It wasjust in her living room, there were only about twenty people, itwas just her family. I played about six or seven of my songs andthey cried. They were just so lovely.”

And that’s what’s going on with Joshua Radin. Right now he isjust moving onwards and upwards, not looking back and nolooking down. And singing love songs, lots of love songs.

(NOTE) As for the album, ‘Simple Times’, it’s not bad. Bit wishywashy in spots but it definitely has earned its place on the iPod.Tracks like Sky and Vegetable Car are perfect for cruising ‘roundtown on a sunny day.

“I didn’t really know how to expressmyself so I found the acoustic guitar”Mark Corcoran catches up with American singer songwriter Joshua Radin

So what got atwenty nine yearold Radin intothinking of pickingup the guitar?Unsurprisingly theanswer has a loveyfeel to it.

“I didn’t reallyhang around withany musicians atthe time. I guess itwas just this breakup with a girl I hadbeen with a longtime and I didn’treally know how to

Dear John is based on a bookby master chick-litter,Nicholas Sparks. Sparks takesgreat pride in writing novelsthat have an uncanny abilityto make us girls cry, and ourmale counterparts shudderwith the thoughts of havingto sit through one of thesemush-fests with us.

Dear John is no exception.It’s a through and throughchick-flick, but an enjoyableone at that. The plot revolvesaround soldier John Tyree,played by previously per-ceived as talent-less, Chan-ning Tatum. The moviechanged my mind, but just alittle. He also has his shirt offa lot, successfully distractingfrom his less fluid moments.

One summer he falls in lovewith Savannah in true ‘knightin shining armour’ fashion.After two weeks together, Sa-vannah must leave to go backto college, while John is de-ployed to war. Despite thelong distance, the couple de-cide to keep their relationshipgoing during their year apart;using only letters to commu-nicate. Their love is furtherput to the test when Johnsees it as his duty to re-enlist

after the 9/11 attacks.

Add John’s turbulent relation-ship with his autistic, coin-ob-sessed father to the mix andyou’ve got one sappy story.

Although the movie gives afleeting insight into the trialsand tribulations of deploy-ment and the dedication andisolation that comes with sep-arating from your loved ones,I never really felt any connec-tion to the young couple. Ithink the true story here liesbetween John and his father.Richard Jenkins practicallysaves the movie in this roleas a father trying to keep theconnection with his son alive.

Having read the book, I knewwhat was coming, but stillthought that the script triedtoo hard to surprise, when itwas obvious where the storywas going to begin with.

While it’s good for a girls-night, the lads won’t be im-pressed. For a more touchingtale of heart-breaking separa-tion, crack open The Note-book and get out the Kleenexand malteasers. You knowyou love getting Notebooked.

Whip It! Is yet anothermovie adapted from a novel,Derby Girl. Our protagonistBliss Cavendar is from the‘arm-pit town’ of Boden,Texas. A general misfit, Bliss’self-depreciation is only fur-ther enforced by hermother’s relentless ambitionfor her daughter to win localbeauty pageants, despiteBliss’ obvious dislike forthem. On a shopping trip toAustin, Bliss picks up a flyerfor a local roller derby. Sheand her best friend, Pash,secretly go to the event,where they meet derby ‘star’,Maggie Mayhem.

With Maggie’s encourage-ment, Bliss returns the fol-lowing day for try-outs. Herspeedy laps impress derbycoach ‘Razor’, and Bliss iscrowned the ‘Hurl Scouts’rookie. The Hurl Scouts teamare universally established asthe worst team going, withno tournament title to theirname.

A roller derby is a, predomi-nately female, roller-skatingsport where players skatearound an oval track. Pointsare scored as the ‘jammer’players lap members of anopposing team. Juliette

Lewis and Drew Barrymoreare brilliant as two rival teamjammers. By far the bestpart, their brief scenes asover-competitive skatersnever fail to bring a laugh.

This movie is also Barry-more’s directorial debutwhich is quite impressive. Ithas a good quirky feel to itand is definitely not your av-erage chick-flick. If girls get-ting elbowed in the face andslammed into barriers is yourthing, roll right up.

The only way I’d fault thismovie is with Ellen Page. Hercharacter just doesn’t feelright, and considering she’sthe protagonist, it’s a bit of abig deal. Page’s awkward-ness does her no favorshere, despite often servingher well with previous char-acters such as ‘Juno’.

The real story here is aboutfinding out what you want todo in life, discovering whatyou’re good at and going forit, or as Bliss is told; beingyour own hero. It’s a surpris-ingly good movie, with aunique take on a story we’veall heard before.

Film Reviews

(NB) (NB)


27

Currently awaiting extraditionto the U.S, Roman Polanksi isin real trouble. His film mak-ing skills however remain un-affected with his most recentproduct, The Ghost Writer, atense political thriller withample relevance for us tochew on.

Ewan McGregor is the un-named ghost writer assignedto polish the manuscripts ofretired British Prime MinisterAdam Lang (Pierce Brosnan).McGregor reluctantly takesthe post and is flown to thePM’s holiday home in CapeCod where he is expected tostay until his work is com-plete. Unsurprisingly the workis not as routine as firstthought by the ghost and hebecomes embroiled in a meshof political intrigue.

As imagined with this film,the real star is RomanPolanksi. He has created agenuinely gripping film in anage when such films are rare.The dark shades used byPolanksi for both land andsea build the continuous feel-ing inside the viewer that allis not well. There are un-doubted echoes of recentlyreleased Shutter Island hereas McGregor traverses the is-land through storms, stoppingonly to quiz the locals, all the

while an eerie score (Alexan-dre Desplat) in the back-ground.

Some credit must go to EwanMcGregor and Pierce Brosnanalso. Although both are light-weights by Polanksi’s stan-dard, each does a fine job intheir respective roles- McGre-gor the whiskey drinkingwriter with no family to speakof, and Brosnan as a primeminister, which in all reality isprobably the only role heshould have ever been given.

Released some years earlierthis film may have causedquite a stir. Its clear parallelswith Tony Blair lend themovie a strange realism, al-though it may be with tonguelightly in cheek. Yet withBrosnan’s character accusedof terror rendition flights, in-volvement in Afghanistan andsupposed connections withthe CIA the similarities aretoo great to ignore.

Despite an ending which issomewhat gung-ho, Polanksihas created an excellent polit-ical suspense picture. It’snever a classic but wholly en-tertaining and with a certainbite.

Very early in Shelter, Dr CaraJessup (Julianne Moore)makes it clear that she be-lieves multiple personalitydisorders are scams cookedup by ne’erdowells as an ex-cuse to beat various criminalcharges. One thing she doesbelieve in is God. She wearsa cross around her neck anddresses like a Catholic schoolgirl (in a dowdy way, not aBritney Spears way). Unfor-tuneatley the death of herhusband during a mugginghas turned her young daugh-ter into something of an athi-est.

Cara’s opinions on multiplepersonality disorders are im-portant because her testi-mony as a psycologist hasresulted in numerous courtcases ending with the deathpenalty. Her friend Dr Hard-ing wants her to question herprofessional beliefs and in-troduces her to Adam(Jonathan Rhys Meyers),who shifts personalities whenrequested over the tele-phone.

Cara’s religious opinions areimportant because as she ex-plores Adam’s disorder, itstarts to appear that it maybe more supernatural thanscientific. She investigates,

and everytime she thinksshe’s cracked the case anewer and more mysteriousclue presents itself.

Moore puts in a solid per-formance. The parts of thescript involving her family arevery organic and you get areal feel for the character.This locks you in a bit morewhen the freaky shit startshappening.

Rhys Meyers is decentenough. He has to pull sev-eral accents out of the bagand most of them are prettyconvincing. One of his per-sonalities is wheelchairbound though, and JonnyBoy seems to have confusedbeing paraplegic with beingRainman. Playing severalcharacters in one body can’tbe easy, but somebodyshould have pulled him toone side and told him less ismore.

Shelter is a supernaturalthriller so huge leaps of faithare required from the audi-ence. Go in too switched offand you might not keep upwith the story. Go in tooswitched on and you’ll pickup on plot holes and nigglyunanswered questions.

(ED) (J’OD)

Film Reviews


So what brings you to Ireland this time Ricky?

“Well it’s the same as the last few years really. My main goalover here is to try and find players who we think can play AFLfootball, which is a little different to what people think I amlooking for which is to take the best players out of Ireland.

That’s very different to taking players who can play AFL foot-ball as I’ve tried to point out the last few times I’ve been overhere. Some people are surprised with some of the kids we’retalking too, but they’re the kids who we think can play ourgame as opposed to the brilliant players that you have gotthat might be the best ten kids in Ireland.”

A lot of people are angry at the way you have goneabout recruiting players, what do you have to say toyour critics?

“The press I get is usually from people who are misinformedor don’t understand what I actually do. When there was adispute with Pat Gilroy about whether players could or could-n’t come to the camp, I spoke to Pat and had a great conver-sation. I won’t go into what we spoke about other then weboth now understand what it’s all about and anything previ-ous has been media and third parties saying he said this, hesaid that.

I’ve spoken with two other managers, Paddy O’Rourke of Ar-magh and John Joe Doherty of Donegal and they understand.They don’t want to stop kids following their dreams. And Iunderstand perfectly if you’re upset when a small countylooses their star player, who you have trained and put a lot ofeffort into. I understand, but this happens in every sport andyou can’t stop these kids following their dreams.”

How did the press initially react to you being here?

“My goal in coming to Ireland originally was to build up myname. It’s funny; the media helped me in a huge way. Theypainted me as an abductor of Ireland’s promising athletesand even though it was negative coverage, it was still cover-age and people knew who I was afterwards. It always cracks

Former Australian Rules Footballer turnedhigh profile sports agent Ricky Nixon isquite a controversial character round theseparts. He has been at the forefront of AFLrecruitment of GAA players over the pastfew years. And he is quite successful at hisjob, having recruited such high profile andtalented GAA youngsters as Tommy Walsh,Martin Clarke and Setanta O’Halpin.

Nixon’s back to explore the length andbreath of Ireland for the best the GAA hasto offer. Recently he took time out of hissearch to talk to Cormac Coughlan.

Is This Grass Greener ?

Setanta O’Halpin; successfully recruited to the AFL


Sportme up that anything I do gets into the papers. I mean, Iwent to a hurling match over the weekend and all of suddenaccording to the papers I wanted to draft a hurling player tothe AFL just because I went to a hurling game”.

Have you anything to say to the people who just ac-cuse you of stealing players without manager con-sent?

“I have given the undertaking to any manager I’ve spokentoo, I will not take a player away from his county or club. Wewill do our talking and communicating with the manager anddeciding when the best time for the player is to leave bearingin mind I have a deadline of December 21st to work too. If Isay I want to take a player out to Australia in June and themanager says no Ricky I don’t want him leaving in June orJuly but yes take him in October, then I’ll do it in October”.

What are the initial steps when you bring a playerover?

My job is to ID a talent pool of 30 players, get footage ofthem, which is not easy over here. It’s hard to get footage ofplayers at minor or club level over here so that’s why wehave the camps. Then the clubs decide who they want tobring over for a trial and they usually last between one andtwo weeks. Then there are talsk about contracts.

A good example would be Jaime O’Reilly, he wouldn’t havebeen seen as being in the top 100 kids in Ireland but he hadthe qualities to play AFL football. He is super quickand hisfoot skills are very good. So, he may never have been a greatGaelic player but he might become a great AFL player be-cause of the qualities he has got.

As outsider to the GAA how can you see the GAA pro-gressing in the next few years?

“I think the time is coming, whilst it’s been an amateur gameand it’s admirable that’s it been an amateur game, can it stayan amateur game forever? I’m thinking that it probably can’t,I am not saying you should start paying the players, but tohave scholarships and academies for young players and itgradually builds up.

Talking with a number of AFL clubs in Australia, they have noproblem paying a transfer fee for a player to come over fromIreland to play in Australia. I know the older people in theGAA would probably turn in their grave hearing this but itsnatural progression isn’t it.”

“I reckon the day will come where a smart county managerwill get like an assistant coach from Australia, bring him overduring the summer break in Australia and work on tacticsthat can change the game. Seriously I watched a Gaelicmatch today and if you employed some of the tactics beingused in the AFL at the moment, you would kill any other op-position”.

What is your real opinion on the upcoming Interna-tional rule series?

“The AFL will hate me for this but, I hate it. The AFL clubs Iam pretty sure hate it. Why would you want to send a playerworth a million dollars, a key player in your team to a gamethat’s worth nothing, that’s played during the only four weekbreak they get during the year and takes place half aroundthe world. The only people who can win out of it are theGaelic players, because if I was Gaelic player I would love toshow the professionals I can beat them. Should the AFL senttheir star players over to a game that’s worth nothing. I don’tthink so.”

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griffiti issue 38 april 2010

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