The Front Pages
The nation will mourn much-loved RTE radio broadcaster Gerry Ryan, as thousands are expected to turn out for his funeral in Clontarf, tomorrow. All the front pages of this morning’s papers highlight a couple of different angles on Mr Ryan’s death and funeral arrangements.
On The Irish Examiner the story focuses on the decision taken by RTE to broadcast Mr Ryan’s funeral live on 2FM and to provide a live stream via webcam on their 2FM website. The reaction and calling from Gerry’s listeners has influenced the decision by RTE to broadcast from St John the Baptist Church tomorrow.
‘More Tests To Find Out How Gerry Died’ reads the front of The Irish Independent. The circumstances in which Gerry Ryan died have still not come to the public light following a post-mortem yesterday and the Indo says that results of toxicology tests will be revealed in the coming weeks. The body was released to the Ryan family yesterday evening for tomorrow’s funeral “as they prepared for a final, heartbreaking farewell.â€
To view the JOE.ie tribute gallery to Gerry Ryan click here.
In other top stories, The Irish Times covers the Irish airport debacle following the return of the Icelandic volcanic ash to airspace. Disruptions to Irish airports are expected again today as Dublin and Knock will come to a standstill from 11am. Donegal and Sligo will have restrictions from 8am and 9am respectively whilst Cork, Waterford and Kerry are likely to have disruptions from 2pm. Seemingly, both Shannon and Galway will remain unaffected.
Tales from the Tabs
The tabloids are dominated with X-Factor related stories with Jedward and Susan Boyle back in the headlines today.
The Daily Star reveals that the Irish twins John and Edward Grimes will make £1 million in a deal to feature in a new Shake n’ Vac TV advert.  Jedward are set to star in a remake of the 1980s carpet freshener ad according to The Star. Termed by the tabloid as “Pop flops†they certainly seem to be able to make the big bucks as their Irish manager Louis Walsh claims the twins will earn “£2 million this year.†Not bad for “flops.”
‘No new SuBo for ten years’ says X-Factor judge Amanda Holden in The Sun. Singing sensation Susan Boyle is a rarity according to Holden and reckons that it may be a decade before another star of such quality will come up on the radar. Hard to figure out where the 39-year-old came up with that prediction but Holden’s career has spiralled as a result of SuBo’s unprecedented success, so it’s understandable to talk her up every once in a while!
The Irish Daily Mail run a simplistic front page headline ‘He’s Home’ referring of course to the late Gerry Ryan. A full-page picture of his remains being carried into his family home in Clontarf sets a sombre tone.
The Sports Pages
Tonight’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham is being billed as a “£50 million match†by the The Sun. With Champions League qualification at stake there’s an enormous financial reward riding on the clash of the fourth and fifth-placed clubs.
Adding fuel to the fire ahead of tonight’s crunch match, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has hit out at Manchester City by saying they used “bully-boy tactics†in the transfer market, that’s according to the The Daily Star.
Redknapp is referring, of course, to the capturing of Craig Bellamy from his very own grasps as the Spurs manager attempted to sign the journey-man in January of last year. Harry knows how to ramp up the tension ahead of a big one!
