daniel o’donnell

Sorry RTE… this is Ireland’s greatest person.

Next month RTE launches its search to find Ireland’s Greatest Person. As usual when the national broadcaster adapts a successful format from abroad, the resulting mess will likely serve only to remind us of what a small and, in the wider scheme of things, insignificant nation this actually is.

The BBC’s 100 Greatest Britons list in 2002 included personages as august as Churchill, Shakespeare and Darwin. Our list runs to only forty names. But it still finds room to indulge the preposterous candidatures of Mssrs. Daniel O’Donnell, Michael O’Leary and fully three (three!) members of the Boyzone camp: Ronan, Stephen and Louis Walsh. Read the rest of this entry »

The coked-up brother of a middle-of-the-road Irish crooner is at the bar…

He’s mouthing like an auctioneer and buying pints for anyone with an Irish accent who ventures within five feet of him. Read the rest of this article here.

Ronan Keating (hearts) Your Granny

Holy crap! There’s pandering and there’s pandering… Cool your boots Keating, you look like you’re about to slip her the tongue! Now look, I know the goody-two-shoes dollar is your dollar. And its a good dollar. I’m not knocking you for doing your job. But in the name of God, man, have some self-respect! Even Daniel O’Donnell would tell you this was overkill…

To celebrate my goal I kissed the team badge…

Well, technically speaking, in my excitement I kissed the name of the shirt sponsor: Sylvester Ganley – Plumbing and Heating Specialist… But I think I made my point. Read the rest of this article here.

Published: Evening Herald, January 2010

RON BLACK’S

“Daniel O’Donnell goes to funerals,” announces Aidan, out of the blue. Before my brain has had time to transmit a warning signal to my mouth, I respond. Huh? “Seriously man,” he says. “Daniel O’Donnell reads the death notices. Turns up to the funeral homes. Presses the flesh. Like a politician does.” Read the rest of this entry »