It was the epicentre of our Celtic Tiger excess. Each year, like a scene from Apocalypse Now, a swarm of helicopters would arrive, the limos would line up and the sound of champagne corks would pop like a twenty-one gun salute to our greed.
But seeing the rogues gallery, including the likes of Bertie Ahern and Charlie McCreevy, return to the Galway Races this week has rightly left a sour taste in many people’s mouth.
I was as guilty as the rest of them. Yes, while the Celtic Tiger roared I was to be found in Galway wining and dining with the best of them. But I was probably considered a nobody, because it used to be a case of if you didn’t have a helicopter you just weren’t at the races. And then reality struck. The cruel winds of recession not only ravaged our country but also gave us the cold slap of reality across our faces that we needed. The endless champagne, helicopters and horse races had to stop. Read More
As the Queen arrives in Ireland maybe she can teach Obama some media management lessons after the US government flapped and floundered desperately trying to control the storm surrounding Osama bin Laden, writes Paul Allen
It was a right royal cock up. As news of the demise of Osama bin Laden flooded onto TV screens, newspapers and magazines, what should have been a coup was quickly turning into a PR disaster. Read More
“It is vital Ireland Inc grasps the international media spot light as Obama and the Queen make their historic visits”, writes Paul Allen.
Balaclavas, beer bellies and tricolours were out in force recently in a Derry cemetery as the Real IRA ramped up its antiroyal rhetoric. Yes, even those stuck in a time warp of bitterness know how to pick their PR moment.
Many interest groups will be preparing for the intense media spotlight that’s set to shine once again on Ireland as the Queen and Obama make their historic visits to the Emerald Isle. Read More