DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 31
Irish Olympic House mystery takes new twist
DUBLIN - When Pat Hickey, the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), was interviewed by the Irish Independent on November 14, he spoke of the close cooperative work between state and sporting agencies in Ireland in the build-up to the Olympic Games.
Less than 24 hours later, he had penned his resignation from a maj or government task force set up to find ways in which Ireland could benefit from London 2012, labelling it a "toothless talking shop."
Among a range of things Hickey was unhappy with the way Tourism Ireland had handled a request made to it by his own son, Stephen.
The appeal, which turned out to be unsuccessful, was for the sponsorship of approximately EU300,000 towards the cost of running the Irish hospitality house earmarked for the Roundhouse venue in Camden.
Stephen Hickey is employed by THG sports in the UK, the company tasked with finding a location for the 'Irish House' and mnning it during the Games. THG is also the official London 2012 ticket reseller for Ireland.
Stephen Hickey refused to comment when contacted about the matter.
PAT HICKEY is shown above at the official opening of Irish House in Vancouver in February 2010 along with guests John Carr and Pam Glass.
A spokesman for the OCI confirmed the intention remained to hold an 'Irish House' in London, though he conceded alternative venues were being looked at in case an agreement was not reached with the Roundhouse in Camden.
He said, "We expect to know in the next fortnight if we will use the Roundhouse or not. It's a popular music
venue and it needs to know what it's doing next summer just as we do.
"THG Sports are looking at other locations as well but the plans to have such a house for Irish people in London during the Games remains."
The cost of hiring out the venue and running the house during the Games is expected to cost in excess of one million euros.
Call for Irish tourism agencies to be merged into one entity
DUBLIN - At a conference on Irish tourism in Co. Clare, National Roads Authority chairman Peter Malone fired off several broadsides at the state of the industry.
He told delegates the Irish had lost the cead mile failte and that prices were too high. He also called for Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland to be merged into one agency.
In his outspoken address at the 23rd annual Clare Tourism conference in Ennistymon, Malone - who oversaw the expansion of the Jury's Hotel group from three to 36 hotels - said, "We have lost the friendliness that we became famous for."
He added, "staff don't say 'please', don't say 'thank you'. The little touches that I learned all over the years in Jury's, they're gone.
"You get into a lift in any hotel, staff won'teven say 'goodmorning' or 'good evening' to you. Go into a shop, go into a post office, go in anywhere, we snarl at people."
Malone warned, "Unless we stop the rot soon and improve training and standards in our country, the friendliness will not return. We have a long way to go."
He also hit out at the prices that tourists are forced to pay. "Food in restaurants and bars are at unreal prices. Even a cup of tea or coffee is often EU2.25 or more."
He told delegates, "Take your children out now at your peril as they are charged just as much."
In calling for the merging of agencies Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, he said, "There is great confusion all over the country in the tourism sector as to who is doing what job and the industry
has become frustrated. When we had the one agency, Bord Failte, it was much better."
Malone said the new Tourism Mnister Leo Varadkar was "really keen in cutting back on quangos and this is an ideal time to put everyone back into one tourism body."
TLC orders Irish dancing reality series
LOS ANGELES - The TLC broadcasting network has acquired the network broadcasting rights for the acclaimed documentary film Jig, which it aims to screen as a warm-up for its new reality series Irish Dancing Tweens.
The documentary, directed by Sue Bourne, follows the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships held in Glasgow last year, which saw 3,000 young dancers competing from all over the world.
Sirens Media will soon commence production on the reality series for TLC, based around the lives of competitive Irish dancers. The eight-part series, tentatively titled Irish Dancing Tweens, will follow various dance schools, chronicling the intense practice and preparation which comes with Irish dancing, and the roles played by strict coaches and overbearing parents.
Each episode of the series will follow individual dancers as they ready for competition. It will debut in the summer of 2012. "TLC is excited to share this subculture of dance with our audience," Amy Winter, TLC's general manager, told The Hollywood Reporter. "Irish dancing is a global phenomenon and the series will reveal the world behind the sport in a compelling combination of heart and competition."
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