Griffiti Issue 38 April 2010 by Griffith College

A Note From The Editor

Issue 38 April 2010 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

This month, Griffiti’s Mark O’Flynn talks to Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy about the pressures of fame and following Pat Kenny as well as the transition from Saturday night entertainment to hard news journalism. John O’Donnell talks to English rock band The Courteeners, we hear from American singer song writer Joshua Radin and Dave Claxton gives his opinion on the new and improved Lord Mayor of Dublin position. Finally, as this is my last Griffiti, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors without whom Griffiti wouldn’t go to print. I have also to say a special thanks to Jacquie, Paddy and John for their support and encouragement throughout the year. I would also like to show my appreciation to you, the readers, who take time out of your day 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. Mark Corcoran, Managing Editor

CONTENTS

Advertising enquiries: 01-4150463 Printed by: Speciality Print, Donore Avenue, Dublin 8

Griffiti Magazine Griffith College Dublin, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. Ph: 01-4150463 email: griffiti@gcd.ie

SU Update

Elections

Griﬃth Fashion

Party People Pull Out

Irish Gus

The Courteeners

Joshua Radin

Sport

Griffiti Magazine is the Student Union publication at GCD. All contents copyright of Griffiti, Reproduction 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

griﬃti@gcd.ie SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

STUDENT UNION UPDATE Office opening hours: Monday - Thursday: 09.30 - 19.30 Friday 09.30 - 17.30pm email: su.president@gcd.ie http://www.facebook.com/griffith.su1

Jacquie Ryan SU President, Ents & Welfare 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. Tickets are on sale in the SU now at €50 and are selling fast. It takes place the on the 16th of April in the Crown Plaza hotel in Santry and is definitely not a night to be missed. It is always the best night of the year so get your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Hi All!! Hope everyone is well and that you all thoroughly enjoyed RAG week 2010 and St. Patricks day. RAG week raised just over €3,500, which was a little under our target but I would like to sincerely thank everyone and anyone who helped out with planning and preparation and those who attended events.

Each night raised much needed money for St Vincent De Paul and Wells for Zoe. Rock band The Seducers played a great set in the bar on Monday and everybody who attended had a great time. Tuesday we had the UV paint party and stained clothes aside it was an experience not to be missed! Wednesday was the mystery tour to Carlow and I believe there is a student out there that still is not aware of where he ended up for the night. The SU house party on the Thursday was possibly our biggest event of the week. I would like to sincerely thank the guys in G-Soc for organising the event, it was a huge success. I would also like to thank Paddy Daly and Bernard White for having their heads shaved for charity and

Lastly this is the last Griffiti Issue of the year. I would like to congratulate Mark on a fantastic publication and wish him well in his future career in journalism where ever it may lead him. I would also like to thank Paddy and John as they have being really good people to work with. The members of the student council and members of the Ents crew also deserve a thank you; the year would not have being a success without you. The elections are taking place on the 14th of April and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the candidates the best of luck and the elected members all the best for their year in the Student Union. I hope you get all the experience out 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 time and wish you the best of luck in the exams! It was great meeting all of you and I look forward to seeing you again in the future. Take care and best of luck.

Jacquie SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

STUDENT UNION UPDATE Office opening hours: Monday - Thursday: 09.30 - 19.30 Friday 09.30 - 17.30pm email: su.sports@gcd.ie

Paddy Daly Clubs & Societies Oﬃcer Hey Everyone, Over the coming month there will be a lot happening in relation to Clubs & Soc’s. I would encourage everyone to get involved. 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 Competition in Maynooth where they placed 2nd. Over the next couple 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

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.

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

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

warm-up match. They will then face Queens University

in V003, classes are free and everyone is welcome!

Belfast in the first round of the Irish Universities Cricket League.

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

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

have fun!

warm-up games in the next few weeks they will then be competing in the CA Laighean Football Championship . All players welcome! SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

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

Paddy

Elections 2010 The 2010 Griffith College Students’ Union Elections take place on Wednesday April 14th. There are two positions being contested:

SU President / Welfare and Ents Officer Candidates: Roger Barry Graham Butler

Roger Barry

Graham Butler

SU VP / Clubs and Soc’s Officer Candidate: Paddy Daly (RE-Open Nomination Option) Manifestos for each candidate are available to view on official SU Noticeboards. Election Hustings (Candidate Question Time) takes place at 12pm Tuesday April 13th in Arthur’s Bar. All Welcome

Reopen Nomination Paddy Daly

SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

Ball Tickets Rocket as Price Crashes Ticket sales for the 2010 Griffith Ball exceeded all expectations this year as the price dropped to €39. In excess of 300 tickets were sold at the €39 price tag alone putting the ball on an early course to be the largest Griffith Ball ever hosted by the SU. Last year the premier event took a battering as students voted with their wallets to ignore the usually highly attended ball. “There is no doubt we made a mistake on the price charged last year. €70 for a ticket was just too much, but it really wasn’t our fault, hotels didn’t adjust their prices until the very last minute, if we had hosted this years ball 9 months ago you’d probably be paying €70 again, but now the consumer has buying power as banqueting prices have dropped hugely in the past 9 months. Hotels were fighting, trying to get us to go with them. We were able to negotiate massive discounts with the Crowne Plaza which we then

passed on to the students and the students responded by snapping up the tickets” said SU Manager John McSweeney. At the time of print we can reveal that there are over 35 different nationalities attending this years event and for the first time ever the Irish make up less than 50% of those attending. “Usually the event is about 85-90% Irish, we know this because we record nationality at point of ticket sale. The Irish are still by far the largest single group, but this year they only make up about 46% of those going, the rest is made up of a mix of nationalities, so it’s the most inclusive ball we’ve ever had I believe” said SU President Jacquie Ryan. Final preparations for the Ball will continue until the last minute; however tickets are expected to sell out days in advance as the ballroom reaches capacity.

Recession Takes a Bite Out of RAG Week With the way things have been going economically over the past 12 months you’d be unrealistic in thinking that this year’s RAG Week total was going to be on par with 2009...and you’d be right. In 2009 the SU successfully managed to raise €4660 for the Irish Cancer Society and Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, this year that number 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 the same as last year, and that makes up to about 75% of our

annual total, however bucket collections went through the floor. When the original count was done on collections and social 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 they were donating €1’s. The total was bumped up by a last minute donation of €500 from an individual close to one of the charities.” The money raised will now be spilt 50/50 between the two RAG Charities; Wells for Zoe and St Vincent De Paul. Each will receive a cheque for €2225.

Journalism Student Takes Part in Miss University Ciara Brennan, 2nd year Journalism Student and Miss Griffith College, will represent the college at the Miss University Final. The competition takes place in Dandelion on the 14th of April. You can purchase your tickets for €10. We would like to wish Ciara the best of luck!

New Lower Prices

Up to 80% off almost every item in store Come and shop at ShopEasi for Guaranteed Cheapest Prices in Ireland ShopEasi 63, Lower Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8.

Soccer Team Runners-Up in Futsal Tournament Congratulations to the GCD soccer team who recently finished second in the FAI Futsal Competition. It was Griffith’s first time taking part in this event so to produce such a respectable result is quite an achievement. The tournament took place in NUI Maynooth and Griffith had no problem dispatching the hosts 5-4 in the first game. A superb hat-trick from Colin O’Hanlon and further goals from Shane Mooney and Arnau Riba Corbella pushed GCD across the line. Next up for Griffith was a tough UCD team and the lads managed to earn a credible 1-1 draw. Corbella scored his second goal of the tournament to give Griffith the lead but unfortunately the lads couldn’t hold on and UCD equalised in the last minute with a scrappy goal from a corner. The Following game for GCD was Inchicore College. Goals from Corbella, O’Hanlon and Mooney saw Griffith easily dispatch the Inchicore men 3-0.

Unfortunately Griffith lost their match and were knocked out of the tournament by eventual winners IT Tallaght. GCD were narrowly edged out 2-0 in what was a very respectable performance against a talented side. Colin O’Hanlon finished Griffith’s top scorer for the tournament with four goals from four games. Soccer Coach Leroy Rhodes selected the following players to take part in the tournament: 1 Dennis Wittenbrink- Goalkeeper 2 John Ojo- Defender 3 Paddy Daly- Defender 4 Sam Thomas-Defender 5 Derek O’Brien- Holding Midfielder 6 Colin O’Hanlon- Central Attacking Midfielder 7 Arnau Riba Corbella- Right Midfielder 8 Kizito Adaji-Centre Midfielder 9 Shane Mooney-Striker 10 Martin Agbaso-Striker

Cricket Team Prepare For Championship The fixtures for the intervarsity championship competition were announced recently and Griffith were handed a tough tie against Queens University Belfast. Last year Griffith were knocked out of the competition in the quarter finals by Trinity and the lads are eager to do better this year. Recently team captain Asad Ali was quite bullish about his side’s chances and declared that the trophy would be coming to the GCD campus. However Griffith have been handed a particularly tough side of the draw. If the lads manage to beat Queens, a fixture in which they will be no doubt underdogs in, as the Belfast side have a

student body of over 24000 to pick from (compared to 4000 in Griffith), they will have to try their hand against DCU. Griffith will fancy their chances of beating DCU however as they toppled the Northsiders earlier this year in the Indoor Cricket Intervarsities in Galway. Sports officer Paddy Daly wanted to take the opportunity to encourage students to get behind and support the team actively by attending fixtures. “I really see us having a good chance this year” said Daly. “They finished third in Galway and they are hungry to do better”.

Student News

Student Council Meeting: Minutes

The 6th Student Council (Rep) meeting took place on 7/4/10 In attendance were: John Ojo BSCO2 Waquas Ahmad MSCS2 Johnthan Keane BAJ2 Oscar Finn BAJ2 Sandra Beyer BAIHM2 Asad Ali BAAFH2 Colin Foley DPM1 Ben Morgan BABL1

Cathal O Hagan LLB1 Graham Butler BABL2 Anna O Carroll DMT1 Conor Smith BSC1 Roger Barry BABS1 Gerard Hayden BAJVM1 Bernard White LLB2

The meeting was generally short with the main point of business being the election of a Returning Officer and the ReOpen Nomination situation in relations to the Clubs & Soc’s Officer position for this year’s elections. Returning Officer Position Class Reps Asad Ali and John Ojo both put themselves forward for nomination. After a vote of hands John Ojo was elected by majority vote of the council to act as the returning office for the upcoming SU Sabbatical elections. SU Manager John McSweeney stood in on the meeting to discuss the situation with the Council of the Re-Open Nomination vote option with regards to the Vice-Presidential Position/ Clubs and Soc’s. He proposed the following in event of a Re-Open Nomination (RON) vote. If students chose to vote RON then nominations would be re-opened for a period of one week. If a student came forward in that time to contest the position a second election

Fashion Police

By Karen Austin

Name: Amy McGarry

Runners: Quicksilver

Course: Interior design

Inspiration: Spanish and Italian influences

Coat: Next

If you weren't studying interior design, what would it be: Fashion design

Scarf: H&M Jeans: River Island

would be triggered resulting in a fresh round of polling. If no student came forward to contest the decision the position would be referred to the Student Council to ratify Paddy Daly (who currently holds the position and is the and only candidate for the position) as Vice-President. However if the council refused to ratify Paddy Daly then he is no longer eligible to take up the position and the position if referred to the SU Manager who would implement a caretaker Clubs and Soc’s Officer for the 2010/11 academic year. The Caretaker would however not hold the title of Vice-President The council agreed that this was the most favourable option and would come into effect if a Re-Open Nomination was chose Class Reps Roger Barry and Graham Butler who are both candidates for the upcoming SU Presidential Elections both spoke to the council about their plans and suggestions for next year and the new direction they would like to see the Students’ Union taking. Class Reps were also requested to publicise the upcoming elections to their classes on election day Official Manifestos for 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

The Naked Truth BY Rosalind Griffin

Student: Franiska Lequen Hails from: Germany Current Status: Occupied Most embarrassing moment? When I was 14 I kissed the guy I was madly in love with and it was all great and romantic till I sneezed in his mouth.

Worst outfit ever worn? My mom made me cut my hair when I was like 4. It was really short and I looked like a boy. I would wear tights on my head and use the legs as hair. I acutally went everywhere like that to pay back my mom.

The Genuine Article

with Drew Peacock

Winner of the French Student Award for Most Cocaine in One Night Baby!

Top Story

News in Brief

Rogue Maintainence Bloke Saves Green with Magic Beans After years of being shite, the college green is finally coming back to its former glory (thank fuck). While many of us read Facilities Manager Marcus Reidy’s longwinded speal in a previous issue of Griffiti about how his ‘seed-whispering’ technique would entice the grass to grow, however the real credit needs to go to Maintenance Hot shot Will Phelan. As you can see from our picture (which was kindly donated by Campus Power Walker John McSweeney), Mr. Phelan (55) decided to pull his finger out and tackle the issue head on. “I got pissed off with this a long time ago. It was only let go this far as Hego wants to host the 2012 European Demolition Derby on the campus and ya need a sand pit for that! But I’m a man of the students and despite huge objections from those Fat Cats on the board of Directors, I decided to solve the problem once and for all”

Journo & Law Students demand ‘Dole’ module be put into final year course syllabus Students fall for McSweeney’s Griffith Ball marketing genius: ‘seriously lads there is only 5 tickets left!’

Will dumping seed on the green

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 sand and there was grass sprouting up the next morning! The ducks love them too, their off their beaks!” (awwwww......) The biggest advantage of the new grass is that no more SU Sports Officers can make bullshit promises during their election campaigns about supplying Astroturf on the green.

Under the Spotlight

SU President Stocks up on Griffith Ball tickets GRIFFITH BALL SOLD OUT!

Local Spar opens Off-licence. Local Off-licence opens Deli. Students don’t give a fuck and go to local Head shop GCD Student pulls out of Miss University...he must be gay

News Flash Goodbye GCD

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 and allow some inferior but fresh Journalism student to take on the reigns of the beast that is The Genuine Article.

Name: John McSweeney Occupation: Nobody knows Hobbies: Perving on SU security cameras Likes: Walking around appearing busy Dislikes: 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 member Blue (Fuckin’ Lee Ryan)...‘Screw this lads, I’m starting my own boy band with Jedward’s brother.’

We’ve enjoyed our time at breaking the stories that matter and exposing the hottest gossip and babes. But now it’s time to go and ride a fierce amount of nave Leaving Cert girls in Gran Canaria for the summer. But before we go, we want to address that age old question that 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...

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

Griffith n o i h Fas

Models v Louise Jenny

Photography v Nancy Pineda Make Up Artistv Elaine Finnan Styling v Dimakatso Mogwaneng

www.perkuponline.com

Get 10% off with your GCD student card

Opinion

Elected: But For What? Dave Claxton examines the pros and cons of the newly refurbished role of Lord Mayor Of Dublin Dublin will soon be asking citizens to directly elect the city’s mayor. Much like London, the public of the capital will be asked to give their vote for candidates. And for what? The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, introduced the new job in the general scheme of Local Government (Dublin Mayor and Regional Authority) Bill 2010. The new post was supposed to come into being in 2011 but has been speeded up with an election coming some time this year. It seems the job will have some wide ranging powers. Under the new powers, the mayor will control land-use planning, housing, waste management, transport and traffic management and water services in the Dublin region. The new legislation will give the Mayor the authority and powers to implement the policies that he/she wants for Dublin. The job will have the power to direct any of the four Dublin councils and their managers in relation to policy issues. Finally, The Mayor will also chair a Regional Development Board which will comprise of various interest groups including major public sector, educational and enterprise interests from across the county. Before this proposal, the Lord Mayor of Dublin was elected by members of Dublin city council. The current office of Lord Mayor is largely symbolic, and its responsibilities mainly consist of chairing meetings of the City Council, and representing the city at public events. Apart from a few reserved functions which are exercised by the City Council as a whole, executive power is exercised by the City Manager, a Council official appointed by the Public Appointments Service. According to supporters of the scheme, the new directly elected mayor will have a mandate to act as a leader and advocate for Dublin. “The Mayor will enhance local democratic leadership and civic en-

gagement in the Dublin Region. The office will raise the profile of Dublin, nationally and internationally and assist local government,” John Gormley said. Communications Minister Eamon Ryan said the mayor position will help Dublin compete with other international cities. “Mayor Michael Bloomberg is turning New York green. By going green, that is where the economic recovery is,” he concluded. Others have blasted the proposal. Fine Gael Environment spokesman, Phil Hogan was withering in his criticism of the legislation and Gormley. “I want Dublin to have a Lord Mayor with real responsibilities, a real agenda and a real budget. Instead of giving the city this. John Gormley has put forward proposals for a Dublin Lord Mayor that are little more than 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 could be ex-Taosieach Bertie Ahern. Gulp. He expressed an interest in the job, saying: “A lord mayor with executive powers would be a very interesting job.” Gormley believes “the former Taoiseach certainly has his eye on it” and that his is “qualified” for the job. If this is the calibre of candidate Dublin can expect, the scheme will not last long. Interestingly, The Bill

has a provision for a review of the role and function of the mayor after two years, meaning it may just be a fleeting role to be discarded if things don’t work out. One critical problem to the new job is that there are no provisions for a budget. London’s mayor has an €12.9 billion budget to run transport, police and fire services and promote the city’s economy. New York City’s mayor has a budget of €37 billion covering social welfare, water services and many other areas. This may be a crucial factor in Bertie Ahern not running for the office. “If you continue with the system that the mayor has to go down to the department for money, then there’s no point in having a mayor”, he said. For once, it is hard to argue with him. If there is no definitive budget how can a mayor plan for the future year? Dublin needs a mayor. All one has to do is look at the ghost housing estates populating the city, to see the need for this elected post. No due diligence or proper planning was done in relation to these estates. Our city planners are unelected individuals who wield considerable powers and have managed to escape public scrutiny for their many blunders (such as the water shortages at the start of this year). While it is admirable that John Gormley has pushed through this needed legislation, it is still missing many key components to make it work effectively.

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

Party People RAG WEEK 2010 PULL OUT

G A R

EK E W

Born To Do This Life 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 the paparazzi. You’ve had a busy year! Being the new presenter of the Late Late Show must be very exciting. How would you reflect on it? “Well, for starters, it wasn’t a job I was expecting. So it was quite a shock when it came. There was speculation leading up to it as to whether or not I would be getting it. There were three horses in the race as it seems and so it came to pass. It’s been an extraordinary year but fascinating and I’m delighted with it. It’s a great new world for me and I’m loving it.” Could you describe a typical day in the life of Ryan Tubridy? “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 and so is Thursday. Essentially I’m at my desk at 7:30am; read briefs for the radio show, down to the studio and do the show. 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 guests that will be on that night and then on the Friday. I’ll go home try 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 on the show so just walk through the various bits and pieces of interviews, where it’s going to go and see which tape we’re SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

playing and so on. Then go for a bite to eat, into the suit, make up on unfortunately! Record the promo’s for the Late Late Show and then do a dress rehearsal. Then back out, try and meet as many of the guests as possible and then 9:35 – show time. We then do the show, finish it and then backstage (to the) greenroom. We have a few drinks, relax. That’s every Friday so it is hectic.” Let’s go back now before you ever had your own radio show or talk show. Did you always know that you were going to end up working in RTE? “Well I felt that I wasn’t skilled enough to work anywhere else. Because all I had was the inclination to talk, to talk an awful lot so that’s my skill. It was a natural skill. When I was reviewing books as a twelve year old for radio programmes as a kid and TV shows for kids I was just bitten by 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 the world 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 would have been the two most important, subliminally influencing my interest to the love of radio.”

There are a lot of young people out there who want to break into the world of broadcasting. But it really is a very crowded profession. How would you breakthrough if you were starting off? “That’s a good question because it really is a very tricky business to get into. The only thing I will say is that there are a lot more media outlets whereas fifteen years ago there was no NewsTalk, Today FM, TV3, City Channel, Channel 6 or whatever they’re called.

but it’s about being persistent and being able to graft your way into a job and by talking to people who will be able to facilitate that so just keep on knocking. I always say, somewhat jocosity but I really mean it, be polite. A lot of people underestimate good manners but honestly, holding doors and saying “please” and “thank you”, it really has stood to me personally. It’s the small things that make the difference but it makes sense in the long term. You have to make a lasting impression, you can’t just be another drown walking into a place saying “Yeah I’d love to work here”; you’d have to say “I want to work here. I would love to work here. I need to work here and I think you might need me”. And if you can try and bridge those two requirements together then you’re in business.”

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

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

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

“Well I’d invite them both over for different reasons. Actually when you meet them beyond the cameras and microphone, they’re both extremely affable men who are leaders of their parties for good reasons. So I would bring them both over because I would like to see them both having a good ting tong as well, a bit of craic and a few jars. We could have a sing song as well maybe?!” When you started out on the Late Late Show, did you try to add more of your personality to it? Making the programme your own that is? “Yeah I think that when a programme has this legacy of, you know, having Gay for so many years then Pat for so many years and then it was Pat’s turn. By virtue of me being there, it was always going to be a different type of programme because I was younger for starters and having a very different personality to both Gay and Pat. I mean I’m not a comedian; I can’t turn into another character just for Friday night. Obviously you’re different because you’re performing in a sense and your adrenalin is more, I mean I’m not going to be the same to you now as I will be on Friday night that would be absurd. There will be 200 people there so I’m not going to be all lovely and chatting away quietly. So it’s an exaggeration of yourself, but it always yourself. So I just do what I have to do. I had to tone it down a little bit because Saturday was just an entertainment programme and the Late Late is different, the items could go from the extremely serious to the extremely frivolous so you have to watch the line and walk the line, but it’s not much different to what 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, they were lovely. It was pretty much entertainment based so it SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

was probably a little more silly and I like silly but I’m really loving 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 worrying about whether or not you’re a celebrity or not. I would prefer to say ‘one is famous’ or ‘you’re well known’. I think that if you ring the bells for the Angelus in Ireland you become famous; it’s not exactly an achievement as far as I’m concerned it just goes with the territory. I don’t mind, once it’s not too rude I don’t mind what people call me.” Photographs were taken of you and your girlfriend Aoibhinn in a park. Does that send alarm bells ringing? “No well that photograph was taken by a guy who is a professional photographer who was walking his dog in fairness; it wasn’t taken by a paparazzo. But he sold the picture on as an amateur paparazzi.” But he did take advantage of your privacy…

“I’m just going with the punches. I can’t complain”

“Well he did take advantage. And I didn’t like that and it was a step too far but I also have to realise that’s the world we live in. I’m on the television and if some people feel that they want to see a picture of me walking in the park then that’s grand. That’s up for pap’s! But, you know, just don’t go walking in the park is the answer to that question. So I just have to accept that that is part and parcel of that story. It’s a first world problem.” Do you think some broadcasters get paid too much? “I think that it’s a question that has been asked since television was created. There is a currency for the broadcasting business that is astronomical in America, it’s astronomical in Britain and by comparison it’s not as big in Ireland but it’s massive. A lot of people say it’s too much. But they are numbers that have been decided by bosses, people who represent broadcasters and that’s what they decided. So I’m just going with the punches. I can’t complain though, I’m well paid.” What has been your favourite ot most memorable interview on the Late Late so far? SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

“So far, I enjoyed meeting the conjoined twins they were beautiful little kids. That was a lovely moment I have to say. I very much enjoyed the Brian Cowen interview, and the Enda Kenny interview, I like roughing it up a little bit in the studio which is good fun. Actors like Benicio Del Toro was a pleasure. The Toy Show was my favourite night of the whole programme.” Are there any particular celebrities that you are dying to 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 an ass’s roar of the country, we’ll get there. I’ve met two of them, not Blair. I did an interview with Clinton on the phone but not in person so I want to sit down and interview one of those two, Blair or Clinton. I think that Blair thing is going to happen. I have a good feeling about that. He has got a book coming out and I would be shocked if it didn’t happen in September. So that’s an ambition, you should always have some ambition. It drives you on.”

Brian Cowen; One of Tubridy’s most memorable interviews

IRISHGUS RANT IrishGus has his say on the Catholic Church controversy As a child I attended a catholic school and was reared in that

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

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

so pious believers attended the outdated pantomime freak

refused to obey the archaic rhetoric and regulations that

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

Catholicism conveyed. I believe in one God but have had

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

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

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

tatives on earth have been involved in the systematic bug-

anticipation of the papal document being read aloud by one

gery and abuse of those most vulnerable in our society,

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

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

mote parish.

phemous conclusion that our God is not as infallible as we have been led to believe.

Mirroring the secrecy and suppression of information that has been characteristic of clerical sex abuse itself, the jester on

It has been hard to escape the controversy surrounding cleri-

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

cal sex abuse that has been unearthed by the publication of

faith was more appropriate. Quoting from John, Chapter 8

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

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

accompany the disgusting crimes of the perverted messen-

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

gers of Christ in this country was the Popes pastoral letter

disgusting appetite for controversy” and that we should “pray

read out in all Catholic churches during services last Saturday

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

and Sunday. This however didn’t infuriate me as much as when I did actuWhat 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 children, 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 authorities 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.

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

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

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

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

that sets us free”.

thinking that predatory paedophiles using their holy collars as a gagging device was the problem.

It is this arrogance, pride and surety in moral superiority that has failed. If the Church in Ireland wants to keep people

The Pope’s worthless acknowledgement of clerical sex abuse

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

and his hypocritical disgust at the actions of Irish bishops was

everywhere. The institution needs to be rebuilt from the

followed by a carefully spun apology to Irish victims. The

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

apology was about as convincing and sincere as Tiger Woods.

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

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

outbreak of abuse. Issues surrounding celibacy need to be

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

addressed and most importantly of all, the culture of secrecy

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

needs to be replaced by a public that is better informed

global issue to our shores.

about clerical matters.

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

To suggest that picking up a fucking bible and offering your

plosion and self destruction of the Catholic Church in Ireland?

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

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

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

church and its victims so much harm? Through intense prayer

families, it is the future of its Church.

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

FOOTBALL AND FALCONRY John O’Donnell talks to Manchester rockers The Courteeners Not many bands would allow their warm up act to be more famous than them, but when the Courteeners played in Dublin’s Acaedmy on March 30th they let the likes of Wayne Rooney and Franck Ribery play to their fans via big screen. It would have been an excellent gimmick too, if Bayern Munich hadn’t snatched a last minute victory from their beloved Manchester United. Shortly after the final whistle, the screen went up, the lights went 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 exact date 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 record deal and you get paid for playing guitar.” “I used to work in Fred Perry in Manchester and I was part of the management team. Even though the band was doing really well, I was still working there a couple of days a week and I got my last pay ceque on 31st of August on the day that we signed. I’ve still got it, it’s brilliant. That was the hand over, it was like Yes! Fucking freedom from shop work!” The Courteeners’ first album was the kind of album that doesn’t get made in the iTunes age. Most artists can only manage a few singles and a bit of filler. ‘St Jude’ however was a complete album with no skippers. This resulted in the lads reaching number four in the UK album chart, but the singles barely made a dent in the singles chart. Liam isn’t too concerned about the charts though. “I don’t worry about it. But at the same time you know, you’ve got to sell a certain amount of records to have a record deal. I think

fifteen years ago you could make four crap records before you made a good one. Now if every record doesn’t sell a certain amount, it’s like your getting dropped, and if you get dropped you’ve got no job. I think bands who say they don’t worry about that have either got really rich parents or they don’t give a shit. And I’ve not got rich parents and I DO give a shit. If you do well on the back of being yourself, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.” The songs that would become ‘St Jude’ saw the band build up a name for themselves before the album got released. “It’s weird. I think a lot of bands get hype because they’ve got a great PR person. We were getting hyped because we were selling out thousand seater venues when we were unsigned. You can write a good magazine article, but you can’t sit a thousand people in a room in bar next door asking where’s Bide Your Time before it’s even out. The fans were exchanging accoustic demos and stuff like that, and it just takes one journalist in one magazine to go ‘the gig was mental, blah-di-blah’ and then other journalists don’t want to miss out.” The boys looked to build on the success of ‘St Jude’ with the release of their second Album, ‘Falcon’ in February. It went in at number six and Liam thinks that just being professional musicians for a few years has brought their sound to a new place. “I think that just comes with doing your job for a longer time. We’d only just got started when we got signed so I mean ask anybody in their first year of work how good they are something and they’ll go ‘mmm yeah, pretty good.’ And that’s any job; builder teacher brick layer. After three or four years, you get better at it don’t you. We know our way round a studio and stuff now”. SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

The lack of warm up band in the Academy led to some problems with sound levels during the early part of the show but the crowd didn’t seem overly put off and by the end they were belting every chorus right back at the band. Liam has been impressed by the reception the new tunes have been getting from audiences. “Unbelievable. We were taken aback by it ‘cos we weren’t sure. I think that when you have an album that’s not necessarily comercially successful, it did

“A lot of bands spend a lot of time on the Playstation, I like to spend time on me guitar”

okay, but our fans are very intense, so we knew St Jude meant a lot. We were confident ‘cos we knew how good the songs 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 be good live, cos if it’s not good live it’s game over. But it’s been unbelievable 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 own money into getting it recorded. “We kind of used everything up and it was like we’re gonna go for broke. It’s weird because a lot of bands spend 2 years doing albums and stuff and it’s like, yeah, we wish. We had six weeks to do it in and if you don’t do it in them six weeks and get everything cut then it’s game over.” “But it was good that, it was like a pressure on us. You listen to some people who say they’ve ‘been in a studio for two years’, doin’ what? What have you been doing for 2 years? It takes three days to record a song. It could take a month to get 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 bands spend a lot of time on the Playstation, I like to spend time on me guitar.” Halfway through each gig, the rest of the band take a break, leaving Liam and his guitar to have a mini accoustic set with the audience. Part of the Courteeners’ appeal is their ability to mix hard edged rock and roll stompers and anthems with melodic, lyric driven love songs. “It’s funny cos I don’t take a lot of time over the lyrics. It tends to come, not necessarily easily, cos that doesn’t mean it’s better, if you can write it quicker, I just think it’s more a train of thought. I don’t think about what I’m gonna write. I can’t think unless I write. If I write it down that helps me. It’s pretty much stream of consciousness. 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 of the lads returned for a few more anthems. Despite the late start caused by the footie, the band were on stage for nearly and hour and a half, with no breaks. “We’ve been doing eightenn, nineteen, twenty song sets. We’re absolutly knackered when it comes to the end of it. It’s like an hour and 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 been supporting Noel Gallagher for two nights at the Royal Albert Hall, and Liam really seemed to enjoy it. “Amazing. Amazing, man! It was like one of those things you dream of when you’re a kid. He was just such a fucking geezer. Just a nice guy. He came and watched the sound check, watched the gig from the side of the stage, came and said hello and stuff. He was he really top. It was amazing. I was fuckin’ shittin’ it doing the gig but it was a really great experience.” For an extended audio version of this interview log onto jodedia.blogspot.com

“I didn’t really know how to express myself so I found the acoustic guitar” Mark Corcoran catches up with American singer songwriter Joshua Radin “Every song I have written is an honest account of some experience I have gone through” says Joshua Radin as he shuffles through yet more promo for his up and coming UK and Ireland tour in support of his latest offering ‘Simple Times’. Born and raised in 60’s America, Radin threw his first dance moves to the sounds of Ohio’s finest Motown. And now he sings love songs, lots of love songs. Love songs based on true experiences. Risky business. “It is but it’s also cathartic, because it’s honest ,it’s cathartic. I guess it’s my therapy”. Joshua Radin’s career is based around wants and needs. He sings of the girls he needs, wants or wanted and found his space in the hurley burley music industry based on an overwhelming demand for his work. “After that song was on Scrubs I got a MySpace page. People started writing to me all the time, asking me where they could find my record and I didn’t have any other songs so I figured maybe people really want this.” Whoa whoa whoa, he had a song on Scrubs? In fact it would be quite difficult to find a popular TV show that Radin’s music hasn’t featured on. Three weeks after writing his first tune, the well known and loved Winter, it popped up in Scrubs. Radin rose to fame and the rest they say etc. “I started playing music when I was twenty nine. It was kind of an after thought; I guess I just never really had the balls to do it when I was growing up.” So what got a twenty nine year old Radin into thinking of picking up the guitar? Unsurprisingly the answer has a lovey feel to it. “I didn’t really hang around with any musicians at the time. I guess it was just this break up with a girl I had been with a long time and I didn’t really know how to

express myself so I found the acoustic guitar was quite therapeutic for that. Radin returns to Dublin’s Academy on April 26. It’s the last show of a short tour that also explores the UK’s length and breath. He last played Dublin in a memorable show at the same venue last October. He admits he is looking forward to coming back. It’s very easy to throw out a back handed compliment while writing a music feature and describe the artists’ live stage performance as unique. But on that October night just off O’Connell street, Mr Radin did something I’d never seen before nor haven’t seen since. Unplugging their guitars, he and his band buddies hopped into the middle of the floor and busked Sky. “I had never seen a performer play a song that way but I just figured people are so quiet when they are listening to me play live and there are so many things we can get away with. You can play truly acoustically because people are truly intent on listening” “I like to try and push the boundaries that way and try and give people something they haven’t seen before.” Radin has stated several times that the master of all singer songwriters, Bob Dylan, has been a big inspiration to him. “I just love the stories he tells. He is such a great poet that it really makes me think about my lyrics a little bit more and aspire to reach the heights that an artist like that has. It’s something I’m sure I’ll never achieve but if you keep your goals high then hopefully you’re constantly evolving.” In his short time on the show biz beat Joshua Radin has touched many lives. Folk from all ages and walk of life have been draw to his music like a moth to a flame. So much so that he was asked to 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 was just in her living room, there were only about twenty people, it was just her family. I played about six or seven of my songs and they cried. They were just so lovely.” And that’s what’s going on with Joshua Radin. Right now he is just moving onwards and upwards, not looking back and no looking down. And singing love songs, lots of love songs. (NOTE) As for the album, ‘Simple Times’, it’s not bad. Bit wishy washy in spots but it definitely has earned its place on the iPod. Tracks like Sky and Vegetable Car are perfect for cruising ‘round town on a sunny day.

Film Reviews

Dear John is based on a book by master chick-litter, Nicholas Sparks. Sparks takes great pride in writing novels that have an uncanny ability to make us girls cry, and our male counterparts shudder with the thoughts of having to sit through one of these mush-fests with us. Dear John is no exception. It’s a through and through chick-flick, but an enjoyable one at that. The plot revolves around soldier John Tyree, played by previously perceived as talent-less, Channing Tatum. The movie changed my mind, but just a little. He also has his shirt off a lot, successfully distracting from his less fluid moments. One summer he falls in love with Savannah in true ‘knight in shining armour’ fashion. After two weeks together, Savannah must leave to go back to college, while John is deployed to war. Despite the long distance, the couple decide to keep their relationship going during their year apart; using only letters to communicate. Their love is further put to the test when John sees it as his duty to re-enlist

after the 9/11 attacks. Add John’s turbulent relationship with his autistic, coin-obsessed father to the mix and you’ve got one sappy story. Although the movie gives a fleeting insight into the trials and tribulations of deployment and the dedication and isolation that comes with separating from your loved ones, I never really felt any connection to the young couple. I think the true story here lies between John and his father. Richard Jenkins practically saves the movie in this role as a father trying to keep the connection with his son alive. Having read the book, I knew what was coming, but still thought that the script tried too hard to surprise, when it was obvious where the story was going to begin with. While it’s good for a girlsnight, the lads won’t be impressed. For a more touching tale of heart-breaking separation, crack open The Notebook and get out the Kleenex and malteasers. You know you love getting Notebooked.

(NB)

Whip It! Is yet another movie adapted from a novel, Derby Girl. Our protagonist Bliss Cavendar is from the ‘arm-pit town’ of Boden, Texas. A general misfit, Bliss’ self-depreciation is only further enforced by her mother’s relentless ambition for her daughter to win local beauty pageants, despite Bliss’ obvious dislike for them. On a shopping trip to Austin, Bliss picks up a flyer for a local roller derby. She and her best friend, Pash, secretly go to the event, where they meet derby ‘star’, Maggie Mayhem. With Maggie’s encouragement, Bliss returns the following day for try-outs. Her speedy laps impress derby coach ‘Razor’, and Bliss is crowned the ‘Hurl Scouts’ rookie. The Hurl Scouts team are universally established as the worst team going, with no tournament title to their name. A roller derby is a, predominately female, roller-skating sport where players skate around an oval track. Points are scored as the ‘jammer’ players lap members of an opposing team. Juliette

Lewis and Drew Barrymore are brilliant as two rival team jammers. By far the best part, their brief scenes as over-competitive skaters never fail to bring a laugh. This movie is also Barrymore’s directorial debut which is quite impressive. It has a good quirky feel to it and is definitely not your average chick-flick. If girls getting elbowed in the face and slammed into barriers is your thing, roll right up. The only way I’d fault this movie is with Ellen Page. Her character just doesn’t feel right, and considering she’s the protagonist, it’s a bit of a big deal. Page’s awkwardness does her no favors here, despite often serving her well with previous characters such as ‘Juno’. The real story here is about finding out what you want to do in life, discovering what you’re good at and going for it, or as Bliss is told; being your own hero. It’s a surprisingly good movie, with a unique take on a story we’ve all heard before.

(NB)

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Film Reviews

Currently awaiting extradition to the U.S, Roman Polanksi is in real trouble. His film making skills however remain unaffected with his most recent product, The Ghost Writer, a tense political thriller with ample relevance for us to chew on. Ewan McGregor is the unnamed ghost writer assigned to polish the manuscripts of retired British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). McGregor reluctantly takes the post and is flown to the PM’s holiday home in Cape Cod where he is expected to stay until his work is complete. Unsurprisingly the work is not as routine as first thought by the ghost and he becomes embroiled in a mesh of political intrigue. As imagined with this film, the real star is Roman Polanksi. He has created a genuinely gripping film in an age when such films are rare. The dark shades used by Polanksi for both land and sea build the continuous feeling inside the viewer that all is not well. There are undoubted echoes of recently released Shutter Island here as McGregor traverses the island through storms, stopping only to quiz the locals, all the

while an eerie score (Alexandre Desplat) in the background. Some credit must go to Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan also. Although both are lightweights by Polanksi’s standard, each does a fine job in their respective roles- McGregor the whiskey drinking writer with no family to speak of, and Brosnan as a prime minister, which in all reality is probably the only role he should have ever been given. Released some years earlier this film may have caused quite a stir. Its clear parallels with Tony Blair lend the movie a strange realism, although it may be with tongue lightly in cheek. Yet with Brosnan’s character accused of terror rendition flights, involvement in Afghanistan and supposed connections with the CIA the similarities are too great to ignore. Despite an ending which is somewhat gung-ho, Polanksi has created an excellent political suspense picture. It’s never a classic but wholly entertaining and with a certain bite.

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(ED)

Very early in Shelter, Dr Cara Jessup (Julianne Moore) makes it clear that she believes multiple personality disorders are scams cooked up by ne’erdowells as an excuse to beat various criminal charges. One thing she does believe in is God. She wears a cross around her neck and dresses like a Catholic school girl (in a dowdy way, not a Britney Spears way). Unfortuneatley the death of her husband during a mugging has turned her young daughter into something of an athiest. Cara’s opinions on multiple personality disorders are important because her testimony as a psycologist has resulted in numerous court cases ending with the death penalty. Her friend Dr Harding wants her to question her professional beliefs and introduces her to Adam (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who shifts personalities when requested over the telephone. Cara’s religious opinions are important because as she explores Adam’s disorder, it starts to appear that it may be more supernatural than scientific. She investigates,

and everytime she thinks she’s cracked the case a newer and more mysterious clue presents itself. Moore puts in a solid performance. The parts of the script involving her family are very organic and you get a real feel for the character. This locks you in a bit more when the freaky shit starts happening. Rhys Meyers is decent enough. He has to pull several accents out of the bag and most of them are pretty convincing. One of his personalities is wheelchair bound though, and Jonny Boy seems to have confused being paraplegic with being Rainman. Playing several characters in one body can’t be easy, but somebody should have pulled him to one side and told him less is more.

Shelter is a supernatural thriller so huge leaps of faith are required from the audience. Go in too switched off and you might not keep up with the story. Go in too switched on and you’ll pick up on plot holes and niggly unanswered questions.

(J’OD)

Is This Grass Greener ? Former Australian Rules Footballer turned high profile sports agent Ricky Nixon is quite a controversial character round these parts. He has been at the forefront of AFL recruitment of GAA players over the past few years. And he is quite successful at his job, having recruited such high profile and talented GAA youngsters as Tommy Walsh, Martin Clarke and Setanta O’Halpin. Nixon’s back to explore the length and breath of Ireland for the best the GAA has to offer. Recently he took time out of his search to talk to Cormac Coughlan. Setanta O’Halpin; successfully recruited to the AFL

So what brings you to Ireland this time Ricky? “Well it’s the same as the last few years really. My main goal over here is to try and find players who we think can play AFL football, which is a little different to what people think I am looking for which is to take the best players out of Ireland. That’s very different to taking players who can play AFL football as I’ve tried to point out the last few times I’ve been over here. Some people are surprised with some of the kids we’re talking too, but they’re the kids who we think can play our game as opposed to the brilliant players that you have got that might be the best ten kids in Ireland.” A lot of people are angry at the way you have gone about recruiting players, what do you have to say to your critics? “The press I get is usually from people who are misinformed or don’t understand what I actually do. When there was a dispute with Pat Gilroy about whether players could or couldn’t come to the camp, I spoke to Pat and had a great conversation. I won’t go into what we spoke about other then we both now understand what it’s all about and anything previous has been media and third parties saying he said this, he said that. I’ve spoken with two other managers, Paddy O’Rourke of Armagh and John Joe Doherty of Donegal and they understand. They don’t want to stop kids following their dreams. And I understand perfectly if you’re upset when a small county looses their star player, who you have trained and put a lot of effort into. I understand, but this happens in every sport and you 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 my name. It’s funny; the media helped me in a huge way. They painted me as an abductor of Ireland’s promising athletes and even though it was negative coverage, it was still coverage and people knew who I was afterwards. It always cracks SU Elections April 14th - Arthur’s Bar

Sport me up that anything I do gets into the papers. I mean, I went to a hurling match over the weekend and all of sudden according to the papers I wanted to draft a hurling player to the AFL just because I went to a hurling game”. Have you anything to say to the people who just accuse you of stealing players without manager consent? “I have given the undertaking to any manager I’ve spoken too, I will not take a player away from his county or club. We will do our talking and communicating with the manager and deciding when the best time for the player is to leave bearing in mind I have a deadline of December 21st to work too. If I say I want to take a player out to Australia in June and the manager says no Ricky I don’t want him leaving in June or July but yes take him in October, then I’ll do it in October”. What are the initial steps when you bring a player over? My job is to ID a talent pool of 30 players, get footage of them, which is not easy over here. It’s hard to get footage of players at minor or club level over here so that’s why we have the camps. Then the clubs decide who they want to bring over for a trial and they usually last between one and two weeks. Then there are talsk about contracts. A good example would be Jaime O’Reilly, he wouldn’t have been seen as being in the top 100 kids in Ireland but he had the qualities to play AFL football. He is super quickand his foot skills are very good. So, he may never have been a great Gaelic player but he might become a great AFL player because of the qualities he has got. As outsider to the GAA how can you see the GAA progressing in the next few years?

“I think the time is coming, whilst it’s been an amateur game and it’s admirable that’s it been an amateur game, can it stay an amateur game forever? I’m thinking that it probably can’t, I am not saying you should start paying the players, but to have scholarships and academies for young players and it gradually builds up. Talking with a number of AFL clubs in Australia, they have no problem paying a transfer fee for a player to come over from Ireland to play in Australia. I know the older people in the GAA would probably turn in their grave hearing this but its natural progression isn’t it.” “I reckon the day will come where a smart county manager will get like an assistant coach from Australia, bring him over during the summer break in Australia and work on tactics that can change the game. Seriously I watched a Gaelic match today and if you employed some of the tactics being used in the AFL at the moment, you would kill any other opposition”. What is your real opinion on the upcoming International rule series? “The AFL will hate me for this but, I hate it. The AFL clubs I am pretty sure hate it. Why would you want to send a player worth a million dollars, a key player in your team to a game that’s worth nothing, that’s played during the only four week break they get during the year and takes place half around the world. The only people who can win out of it are the Gaelic players, because if I was Gaelic player I would love to show the professionals I can beat them. Should the AFL sent their star players over to a game that’s worth nothing. I don’t think so.”

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