The Front Pages
It may be a day of relaxation for most people, but The Irish Times leads with a story that’s hardly light reading. They lead with the story that outside consultants Merrill Lynch who had been charged with advising our dear, befuddled government had concerns over the bank guarantee scheme that we’re now lumbered with and recommended a €20bn lending fund instead.
The recommendation was made in the final piece of written advice by the global business advisors prior to the economic meltdown. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said that, overall, the documents produced by Merrill Lynch supported the government’s decision to introduce the guarantee in September 2008. Of course he would say that.
Fine Gael’s finance spokesman Michael Noonan said that the documents showed the exact opposite – and, of course, he would say that.
Elsewhere on the front of The Times, there’s talk of Israel proposing to finally end their blockade of Gaza, but only if they get support on the ground by a massive international intervention, led by the EU. And Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness is to be invited to speak at the annual Conservative Party Conference later this year.
Yes, you did read that last sentence correctly.
The Irish Independent goes with the same lead story as The Times. It points out that “Cowen took a €440bn shot in the dark†when the government snubbed its own special advisers.
The Indo also points out that the Department of Finance thought Anglo Irish Bank would only lose €8.5bn, whereas the real figure was a world-record €15bn and that Anglo vastly overstated its financial health just two weeks prior to the government guarantee being agreed.
The front of the Irish Examiner is dominated by a picture of RTÉ’s favourite broadcasting twiglet Ryan Tubridy. He’s pictured making his last broadcast as host of his current Radio 1 morning show. After a summer break, Mr T will take the helm of 2fm’s flagship morning slot, replacing the late G Ryan.
Tales from the Tabs
The Irish Sun leads with the headline “Ryan: I’m not Gerryâ€.  The Sun helpfully shows a picture of Tubbers and a picture of the late G Ryan, just in case we didn’t realise that they were two different people.
Did we miss something here? Is this really a news story that deserves to be splashed across the front page?
The Irish Daily Mirror staff appear to have a better grip on what makes a news story, since they lead with the story which is dominating the broadsheets – that of the Government ignoring the top financial experts they employed to give them financial advice. The Mirror is also giving away toys to promote Toy Story 3. We’ve heard that the film is very good and is enough to move grown men to tears.
Inside the Irish Daily Star is news that U2 have been the biggest earning stars in the music business over the last 12 months, raking in more than €100million.
Several of the tabloids have pictures of Wayne Rooney with his hands down his shorts and his wife Coleen with her finger up her nose. Class. The two are currently on holiday in Las Vegas.
There’s also a report that George Hook claims to be flattered that his Sky TV ads were mimicked by the Apres Match lads during the World Cup.
Really, George?
The Sports Pages
Golf dominates all the sporting pages this Saturday. The Open over at St Andrews proved a nightmare for Rory McIlroy yesterday after making history on the day previous with his round of 63. On Friday he battled the weather and lost, carding a dismal 80 as he fought his way around the Old Course.
The back page of the Irish Daily Mail has a picture of him lying on his back with his arms outstretched, accompanied by the headline “Rory blown off courseâ€. The Mirror, Star and Sun all have variations of the same photo.
Of course, there is other news out there, and the news that GAA President Christy Cooney has said that he wanted there to be a Louth-Meath replay means that last weekend’s big sporting story (we’ll gloss over the World Cup Final) doesn’t look like dying down just yet.
As the Indo reports, Cooney has also said that he plans to get tough with spectators who launch pitch invasions and warned that life bans are in the offing for the Louth supporters who attacked referee Martin Sludden.
The Sun reports on Chelsea’s final bid for Liverpool’s Fernando Torres, and the Star has a shot of new Bhoy Daryl Murphy in his new Celtic kit following his move from Sunderland to the Glasgow team.
