John Burns: How Roy Keane’s star power secured a corporate box bonanza

Niall Quinn was the guest of honour at a recent event staged by the Irish International Business Network in London. He was interviewed on stage by journalist and media consultant Tadhg Enright, who tells me the highlight was an anecdote from Quinn’s time as chairman of Sunderland FC. Shortly after Roy Keane was appointed manager in 2006, Niall nervously approached his former Ireland team-mate to ask if he would consider attending a reception the club was staging for high rollers, in a bid to sweet-talk them into buying corporate boxes at the Stadium of Light.

Roy didn’t have to go, Quinn stressed. Only if it suited him, like. To his surprise Keane, bane of the prawn-sandwich brigade, readily agreed. “Why wouldn’t I want to go?” he demanded.

When the formidable figure strode into the Sunderland reception, everyone suddenly began to take an interest in their shoe laces. Keane set about his task as if it were the Arsenal defence, his sales tactic being to simply ask everyone he met: “Have you bought a box?” Within 90 minutes, 38 of them had, paying £15,000 plus VAT each. Having coughed up, they applauded Keane out of the room at the end. Such was his box-office power, the still awestricken Quinn explained.

There to hear his reminiscences at the function in the Kimpton Fitzroy London hotel were Irish ambassador Martin Fraser, and Patrick Rochford, economic and commercial counsellor at the Irish embassy. Also spotted was Deirdre McGettrick, founder of Ufurnish.com, plus representatives of Irish property developer Ballymore.

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[ Roy Keane goes in hard on speaking truth to power ]

In the question-and-answer session, one of the most thoughtful came from Bernard Brogan, the former Dublin footballer who now runs Legacy Communications. He asked Quinn for advice on how former sports professionals should cope with life after they retire from the playing fields. Brogan himself is an exemplar in that respect – the most recent returns for his PR company showed revenues had grown 40 per cent, staff had doubled, and its profit for 2021 was €145,000.

Solicitor Paddy Goodwin’s debut album

John Delaney’s personal solicitor Paddy Goodwin is about to launch his debut album, entitled The Church of the Here and Now. As well as his band, The Holy Ghosts, it features vocals from Paul Brady. Among the 10 self-penned tracks is Calling on the Devil, and fans are already enthusing about Goodwin’s “fantastic lyrics and deadly riffs”, and saying there are echoes of Thin Lizzy.

Lyric FM’s Marty Whelan recently made it his Album of the Week, while Goodwin’s local newspaper, the Drogheda Independent, has noted approvingly that The Church of the Here and Now reached the top of the iTunes Irish album charts, “knocking Harry Styles off the number one slot!”. The lawyer/guitar man will officially launch his opus in McHugh’s in Drogheda on February 25th.

Michael O’Leary and ‘stupid’ Polish politicians

Michael O’Leary has taken a break from bashing Irish politicians, and is having a pop at Polish ones instead. The Ryanair boss is unhappy with a government plan to build a mega airport between Warsaw and Lodz, integrated with rail and road transport. O’Leary has told the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita that the idea is incomprehensible to him, especially as Warsaw already has two airports.

“I can honestly say I don’t understand this investment,” said O’Leary, whose airline is the largest carrier by passenger numbers in Poland. “Even though taxpayers have spent billions on this senseless project, it is still possible to abandon it and not go further. This airport is unnecessary. It was planned in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Only very stupid politicians could decide to do something like that.”

[ Ryanair to hire 200 cabin crew ]

[ Sunderland miss out on 'box office' appeal ]

This is not the first time O’Leary has criticised the project. Two years ago, he called it a “crazy” plan that would “waste billions on a sandcastle in the middle of nowhere”.

Tweeting in response, Mikolaj Wild, the executive in charge, refused to take the bait, saying “it’s a waste of time to comment on infotainment”. He added that the idea behind the new transport hub was to ensure that Polish flyers were “not limited to air trash”. Whatever could he mean?

Spa therapists in short supply in Kerry

Visitors to Kerry may have to go without a massage, facial, manicure or pedicure this summer, such is the shortage of spa therapists in the Kingdom. The issue has been raised in the Dáil by local TD Michael Healy-Rae, who asked enterprise minister Simon Coveney if he would consider tweaking the work-permits system in response. There is an official list of “ineligible occupations”, and Coveney confirmed the role of spa therapist is currently on it. “As such, an employment permit cannot be granted for this occupation,” he explained in answer to a parliamentary question.

The sector should consider preparing a submission providing evidence that recruitment difficulties are due to shortages across the EEA and not to other factors such as pay or employment conditions, the minister advised.

A search on Indeed, the recruitment website, shows there are currently 17 vacancies for Spa Therapists in Kerry, with the Hogs Head golf club in Waterville, the Dingle Skellig Hotel, the Great Southern in Killarney and Sheen Falls Lodge among those looking for hands-on staff.

IDA search for new CEO nears completion

Has there ever been a better-timed departure from the executive suite than that of Martin Shanahan? The former IDA Ireland chief executive, who had led the agency since 2014, announced he was leaving last October and went on a period of gardening leave before he joins Grant Thornton Ireland as head of industry and foreign direct investment. Shanahan stepped down just after the IDA’s annual report noted that direct employment in client companies had grown to a record 275,384.

The agency appointed Mary Buckley as interim chief executive and, well, you know what happened next. A sharp slowdown in the global technology sector led to Meta, Twitter, PayPal, Google, Stripe, TikTok, Intel et al announcing a series of job cuts. Not her fault, obviously, but Buckley told this newspaper recently that she expected more multinational tech companies to shed jobs in the Republic this year, and agreed that the IDA’s pipeline of inward investment prospects had weakened.

[ IDA chief Buckley sees further tech job losses as overall pipeline weakens ]

The IDA says an international competition to fill the CEO role is under way, and the process should be complete by the end of the first quarter. Why do the words “poisoned” and “chalice” suddenly come to mind?

Canada calling for Ibec communications chief

Also about to go on the recruitment trail is employers’ lobby group Ibec, which will lose David Sisk as its senior communications and public affairs executive at the end of next month. Sisk tells me he’s moving to Canada to pursue new opportunities.

Gloom at Montrose

The recent transfer of some programmes out of the RTÉ Radio Centre prompted speculation among staff that another chunk of the campus was about to be sold off. The cash-strapped station, which at one time flogged paintings off its walls, sold 8.6 acres of its site to Cairn Homes for €107.5 million six years ago.

[ RTÉ Radio 1 loses listeners as news fatigue erases pandemic bump ]

In fact, the moves had nothing to do with clearing out the Radio Centre prior to a sale. Given that it’s a protected structure, the Ronnie Tallon-designed building would hardly be an enticing prospect for a commercial developer. Still, it gives you a flavour of what the mood is like in Montrose these days.