The Front Pages
The Sunday Times runs with ‘Callely: I’m a victim of a witch-hunt,’ in which the infamous Ivor claims that a powerful figure is trying to get him out of the way. “There is a witch-hunt on, it is being well-orchestrated,†he said, “There are politicians who wish I would bow out, but I’m not going to take the option to turn down the flame.â€
Ivor also makes the front of the Sunday Tribune and the Sunday Independent who run with ‘Callely faces arrest in Garda expenses investigation,’ and ‘Ivor breaks silence and gives phone cash back.’ The latter reports how he’s given the €2,879.45 in mobile phone expenses back (how is it possible to run up that kind of figure) and the former notes that he could end up in prison for up to ten years.
The Sunday Independent also has ‘RTE’s €8m in sponsorship fees raises concerns on impartiality.’ The level of money being taken in sponsorship has been criticised with RTE looking for €500,000 to sponsor Ryan Tubridy’s new show. Drivetime is currently being sponsored by the HSBC, Sport at Seven is sponsored by AIB, while The Late Late Show is sponsored by under-administration Quinn Insurance.
The Sunday Times also has news that there is a ‘New U2 album on the horizon,’ as the band have been very productive in the song-writing department while Bono has been recuperating from spinal surgery. The new album could be out before the end of the year.
While the Sunday Tribune also has ‘[Noel] Dempsey given €5,000 cash advances for overseas trips,’ a headline that does exactly what it says on the tin. The €5,000 the minister was advanced was for personal use. One of his trips, to the US for Paddy’s Day, cost the taxpayer over €70,000.
Tales from the Tabs
On page 20 of The Irish Mail on Sunday is ‘the ugly truth about getting ahead in the workplace,’ in which a new study has suggested that being attractive can adversely affect the careers of beautiful women applying for jobs. This suggests that there is some sort of standard for beauty, and that each man doesn’t have their own particular tastes, but we’ll move on.
This study only points out that there are certain jobs where it is a disadvantage such as ‘manager of research, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction.’ It then points out late in the story that it is an advantage for a woman to be attractive when applying for ‘every other kind of job,’ so really the story should have read that ‘it is an advantage to be an attractive woman apart from four exceptions.’
The Sunday World has ‘Smoking is a drag for Bono.’ See what they did there? Smoking! Drag! A double meaning! Genius. It’s the story that Bono has defied doctors by starting to smoke again. On the same page they have ‘Lady sees red,’ in which Lady Gaga is currently rowing with her mammy and daddy. She wants her sister Natali to go on tour with her as a backing singer, while her parents want her to go to college.
The Irish News of the World has ‘Crouch & the hooker: A pass in the club, then he scored at hotel,’ which is one of your standard kiss and tells. It claims that Peter Crouch hired a teenage prostitute on a drunken stag weekend. 19-year-old Monica Mint alleges that she received £1,000 for sex in the back of a taxi off the Tottenham forward.
“I didn’t know he was engaged to Abbey until afterwards,†Monica says. Because that is the kind of thing that normally matters to prostitutes.
The Sports Pages
The Irish News of the World has ‘New Italian job for Trap,’ which is a slightly misleading headline. It reveals that several Italian clubs have asked Giovanni Trapattoni his opinion on Irish players. He’s recommended Sean St Ledger and Kevin Doyle in particular. It also has ‘Robbie deal on,’ in which Keane is still linked to Aston Villa, and ‘Crouch is Pool target,’ in which Peter Crouch is alleged to be a target for Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool.
In The Irish Mail on Sunday they have ‘Cork will pay for Cusack’s jibes, warns Carter,’ in which Charlie Carter and Kilkenny have suddenly got offended by Cusack’s comparing of Kilkenny with the Stepford wives in his autobiography that came out in October 2009. Eddie Keher has also been critical of the book which he hasn’t read.
The Sunday World has ‘Hill 16 fans get caged,’ which reveals that the fence in front of the famous hill is to be raised to nine feet to prevent pitch invasions. The paper also runs with, ‘Hogan’s a doubt’ which reveals that Kilkenny centre-back Brian Hogan might miss the Cats semi-final clashes with Cork.
