Celebrity Corner.
A reader sends an email this week with the tantalising subject line “Leinster House VIP Visitor”.
We couldn’t wait to open it. Who might this be? Beyoncé? Jarvis Cocker? Diana Ross? Daniel O’Donnell? The King of Jordan?
We’re still not over Micheál Martin’s Namedrop of the Week when he casually began a reply to a Dáil question on Tuesday with this classic: “As the King of Jordan said to me at the weekend ...”
READ MORE
Daniel, our correspondent, cuts to the chase: “I was visiting on Monday this week through my local TD when I spotted none other than Timmy Mallett from the BBC. He appeared to be receiving a VIP tour.”
That’s a name we weren’t expecting.
In fairness, it would be hard not to spot the colourful star of children’s TV back in the 1980s and 1990s as he looks like an explosion in a paint factory. Daniel says he was “quite surprised and a bit star-struck” to see Timmy in the corridors of power.
“I grew up watching him and have always been a fan. Unfortunately, despite him being only a few metres away, I wasn’t allowed over to say hello, and I later heard he may have been brought to the Dáil bar as well,” Daniel says.
Mr Mallet, we discovered, has been cycling around Ireland for the last few weeks and posting videos of his fascinating explorations on his social media platforms. His journey is in memory of his late brother Martin, who had Down syndrome and was a great inspiration to him.
A huge number of people are following Timmy’s progress, enjoying the images of Ireland’s natural beauty he has been photographing and painting along the way.
It’s lovely stuff. Tourism Ireland should strike him a special medal.
An Oireachtas staff member gave Timmy the guided tour as the Taoiseach was busy nattering on the phone to the Sultan of Brunei. And yes, Timmy did visit the Dáil bar and everyone thought he was a lovely man.
It turns out that the TV presenter, author and painter met Micheál a few weeks ago when he was exploring Co Cork. The Taoiseach even took a spin on his bike before signing his travel journal.
“Wonderful to meet you Timmy. Thank you for all you do. Your belief in humanity inspires us all. Your love of Ireland is so appreciated. Thanks. Micheál Martin (Taoiseach).”
Here’s a comment from Facebook about their encounter: “They say you should never meet your heroes, but An Taoiseach appears to have handled it well.”
A right royal family reunion
We also missed the visit of Charles and Camilla this week.
The pair of them were in the public gallery to watch Simon Harris take Leaders’ Questions and later on they enjoyed a few gargles in the Dáil bar. They make a very handsome couple.
Charles and Camilla were guests of the Fine Gael TD for Sligo-Leitrim, Frankie Feighan, who is awfully well connected. They attended Sligo races on Tuesday evening and Charles is off to Croke Park today (Saturday) to watch Leinster take on South Africa’s Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final.
“Charles Withers-Clarke is my cousin,” Frankie explained. “My Auntie Imelda [née Feighan] is his mother. She left Tubbercurry more than 60 years ago to work as a radiographer in Suffolk and she married Peter Withers, a local farmer and grain merchant. He died tragically in a plane crash in 1974.”
Peter was returning home after an England v France rugby international with 17 of his team-mates from Bury St Edmunds rugby club when their Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed just outside Paris, killing all 346 people on board. It was the world’s worst air disaster at the time.
His son Charles – Frankie’s cousin – and his American wife, Camilla, were married in Chesapeake Bay 25 years ago and they live in Bermuda with their four children, Alex, Eliza, Charlotte and Georgia.
Imelda died last year aged 91 and the family is back in Sligo to spend some time up with their Irish relatives.
And Deputy Feighan was thrilled to tell everyone on Thursday that he had none other than Charles and Camilla in Leinster House for the day.
Picture tells a story
This is a true story, but we cannot give names and timings for obvious reasons.
It concerns a Government TD who recently hosted a group of students from a secondary school in the constituency on a trip to Leinster House.
This is a very common practice. TDs and Senators regularly have school groups in for guided tours of the place.
This occasion was no different.
“It was the usual thing. We had a great day out in Leinster House, learning about our national parliament and all of that kind of stuff. Then we had the group photo outside on the steps in front of the main door,” recalls the politician.
It was a large senior-cycle group from a girls’ secondary school.
“So that was all grand and I put the picture up on my social media, as you do, and the school put it up on their website as well.”
All well and good. Lovely photo.
“So anyway, next thing is, I get a call from a woman saying she is the mother of one of the students who visited Leinster House. Then she asked: ‘Why wasn’t my daughter in that photograph?’ She wasn’t happy.”
The politician was at a loss. As far as they were concerned, nobody was missing when the photo was taken. The teachers didn’t look worried at the time and there were no stragglers. Maybe if she called the school, somebody there might be able to shed some light on what happened?
“So the mammy contacts me the following morning and says: ‘I’m very sorry. I’ve just found out that she decided to go mitching for the day. It was nothing to do with you,’” says the politician.
Turns out that the student brought in a makey-up note from home some days earlier explaining that she would not be able to go on the Leinster House tour.
And then she bunked off for the day.
“But she didn’t know there was going to be a group photograph and that her irate mammy would take up the cudgels on her daughter’s behalf because she wasn’t included.”
Big cheeses rolled out for Bloomsday
This is Bloomsday weekend, in advance of Bloomsday on Monday.
So it’s a long weekend.
There are lots of events taking place around the capital city to celebrate the day immortalised in James Joyce’s Ulysses. Full details of all the jolly japes being rolled out for the stripy jacket and straw boater brigade are readily available for those who want to miss them.
President Michael D Higgins is holding a Bloomsday-themed garden party in the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin on Sunday.
The South Co Dublin Ulysses villages of Sandycove and Glasthule are going all out as usual with a packed programme of hearty breakfasts, live cultural performances, readings, music and buckets of wine.
The highlight of the day itself has to be the official opening of the festivities, which kick off at 7.30am and continue well into the night.
In the 10am to 10.30am slot, trumpeter Niall O’Sullivan will play a fanfare to herald the merriment to come and the Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will cut a ribbon. Sure that’ll take no time at all.
And here’s the best bit.
This is peak Sandycove/Glasthule.
“Gorgonzola cutting by Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill.”
It’s such an honour.
Jennifer, holding a big knife, slicing into a big wheel of Gorgonzola, striking further fear in the hearts of hospital consultants.
Some of her political colleagues must be jealous.
“Huh. Health Minister to spend half an hour cutting the cheese,” shrugged the source who drew our attention to it.
Shady characters
The hard-working ushers in Leinster House, when not conducting tours of the building or looking after needy politicians, make sure that life proceeds smoothly by keeping order on the premises and making sure people abide by the rules.
A particularly busy and lively area is the long corridor which runs from the Visitors’ Bar past the Members’ Bar and on to the canteen and restaurants. The bars are on one side and the ground level entrance to the Dáil chamber is conveniently located on the other.
There are always ushers stationed in the vicinity.
And a constant source of complaint for them has been the quality of the light in that corridor, which witnesses so many comings and goings. They often found it difficult to make out the passes worn by visitors or quickly identify faces or get a proper look at groups of people coming out of the Dáil bar.
This week, their campaign for more light finally came to fruition and now the corridor is noticeably brighter with new candle bulbs on the light fittings.
Might be because of the couple of visitors who recently managed to slip off on a wander, pints in hand, before they were swiftly intercepted.
Of course, there will always be people who say Leinster House is a shady place, no matter what wattage illuminates the halls.
