The Front Pages
The Sunday Times runs with ‘Higgins favourite to run for president,’ which is the story that the Labour Party’s Michael D Higgins is the favourite to win his party’s nomination for next year’s presidential elections. The other candidate is Bernardo’s chief executive Fergus Finlay. The newspaper contacted ten Labour TDs last week, seven of which said they would support Higgins, while three were undecided. None said they would support Finlay.
The Sunday Times also has ‘Protest at Ground Zero,’ which is the story that the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks were overshadowed by protests over plans to build a mosque near the site of where the World Trade Center stood. Radical Christians in Wyoming, Kansas and Tennessee are also planning to burn Korans in public, despite Pastor Terry Jones calling off ‘International burn-a-Koran-day’ in Florida.
In the Sunday Independent is ‘Nama developer bash sparks rage,’ which is the story that a company controlled by Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett will get €633,000 a week off the taxpayer for the next five years, despite not being in the Nama top ten.
The newspaper also runs with ‘O’Dea call to Cowen: face up to by-elections,’ where ex-defence minister Willie O’Dea has called on the government to run the three outstanding by-elections, as “sufficient time has elapsedâ€. He also attacked the Green Party, claiming their “tweeting politics insults the public’s intelligence.â€
Tales of the Tabs
The Irish Mail on Sunday has the story that a brother and sister are to wed. James and Maura (not their real names), who are from towns 100 miles apart, met and had a child together, not realising they had the same father. In the 80s, the courts ruled that James should not be told who his real father was, while Tom, his father, was denied access to his son.
The Irish News of the World has ‘Ricky coke shame,’ which reveals that former boxing world champions Ricky Hatton had eleven pints of Guinness, four vodkas, two glasses of wine, several Sambucas and seven lines of cocaine in a ten hour bender. The paper also has, ‘Rooney tried to bed Glenda,’ in which Xpose presenter Glenda Gilson claims Wayne Rooney tried to get her to sleep with him. “Wayne Rooney is a superstar and his relationship with Coleen couldn’t be more high-profile,†she said, “but to think I’d go home with his was ridiculous.â€
The Sunday World have ‘D’Arcy: I was first choice for Tubs’ 2FM gig,’ in which Today FM presenter himself and Today FM boss Willie O’Reilly claim Ray D’Arcy was offered Gerry Ryan’s old slot, which he turned down.
The Sports Pages
In The Title, ex-Kilkenny hurler and current hurling columnist Charlie Carter claims that “Tipperary could dominate hurling for the next five years,†and believes “losing to Cork by 10 points in the first round was the making of this team.†Carter and The Title’s other hurling writers John Fogarthy and Philio Lanigan all name Tipp’s Lar Corbett as their hurler of the year, and Tipp’s Brendan Maher as their young hurler of the year.
In the Sunday World is the headline ‘Shay Given a lifeline.’ The Donegalman’s chances of playing for Manchester City again were boosted after Joe Hart made a terrible mistake to cost City a win against Blackburn. Robbie Keane, meanwhile, was on the bench for Tottenham, despite the recent injury to Jermain Defoe. Harry Redknapp chose to play only one up front away to West Brom, and opted for Roman Pavlyuchenko.
In the News of the World is ‘Arsene to Nick him,’ in which it is claimed that Arsene Wenger is willing to pay up to €2.4million to bring 16-year-old Crewe player and England under-17 international Nick Powell to Arsenal. The paper also run with ‘Harry’s Spanish warning,’ in which Harry Redknapp claims the English teams don’t have a chance in the Champions League this year, as Real Madrid and Barcelona are too good.
