Back to school!

I was back amongst some of my former school teachers last week - as a guest speaker at the annual Ard Scoil Phobal Bheanntrai awards night.
As you can imagine, when one is in school, one has no idea that in the future one might be selected for such a task! So it was slightly surreal... but also very enjoyable.
I got great feedback from my speech - including a lovely text from one of the students while on air last Sunday afternoon. But truly, I think it was the students who were the inspiring ones - they are diligent, mannerly and talented - and deserved all the accolades bestowed upon them. Organising such a smooth-running awards night is also no easy task - so well done to everyone involved!
Below are a few of the photos from the night - first one is me with Christina Murray, a bit of a mathematics genius by all accounts!

Below is school principal Michael Milner (formerly my geography teacher!), with John O'Grady, who achieved 600 points in his Leaving Cert last year and is now studying medicine in UCC. Marguerite O'Driscoll, awards night co-ordinator, and science teacher at the school, completes the line-up.

...And above is Mr. Milner again and also Danny O'Sullivan, who is an outstanding dancer and performed for us on the night. He has already come second in a World Championship. The future Michael Flatley, I reckon!

Fun at Cork CABAS Ball.

Another ball... another excuse to don another black dress (maybe I need to expand my colour repertoire!)
The Cork CABAS Ball at Rochestown Park Hotel was held on Saturday night, raising funds for the CABAS school on Boreenmanna Road, which caters for the needs of autistic children, with specialised one-on-one teaching. (See tomorrow's Evening Echo, by the way, for more details.)
The teachers at the school do an amazing job and are extremely dedicated, so it was lovely to see them let their hair down, so to speak, at the ball - and didn't they all look stunning! Amongst them were Debs, Jeanelle, Kate, Marie, Siobhan, Aishling and Caitriona (the latter whom will surely look equally dazzling at her wedding to Declan in August!). Other CABAS staff enjoying the night were Yolanda, the principal; plus supervisors Eithne,Triona and Rosarie. I'm sure a huge amount of money was raised (it was the impressive sum of €27,000 from the ball in 2006!) Well done to all involved. It was a great night. Here are a few photos below...

Laura Curtin of Communicate PR is having a giggle behind my back!

Here, one of the organisers, Martina Walsh and I are larking around - Neither of us meet Martinas very often so we were having a laugh over the Double Martina Special!

Below are Susan and John O'Leary, originally from Cork, who now live in Dublin and flew down specially for the ball...
And Jenny Coppens can boast one better... She came over from Belgium specially for the ball! She was also there in support of her daughter An, who was on the Ball committee. You might recognise An from the RTE seies How Long Will You Live? in which she helps members of the public achieve a balance between work and life in general... something most of us need help with, truth be told!

Still alive!

Well, you could be forgiven for imagining that I had dropped off the face of the planet - so long it has been since I posted a blog entry! And you may also have tuned into RedFM during the day and found me on the missing list. Well, I'm still alive and kicking, thank you very much. The past few weeks have been ones of change. I am now broadcasting on a new show 'Red At Night' from midnight to 2am, Monday to Friday and I've also taken over the airwaves at the weekends, coming to you from 12noon to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Hope some of my regular listeners will also tune in at these new times...

So while most of my waking hours have been taken over by these new changes over the past few weeks, there has also been time for a little extra-curricular fun... and it doesn't come much better than the recent fashion extravaganza at City Hall in aid of Chernobyl Children's Project International. With supermodels Helena Christensen and Jodie Kidd leading the line-up, it was sure to be a glamorous affair. They, along with Adi Roche, held a press conference prior to the show, which I attended. See my rather blurry grainy photos below... So what's the low-down? Yes, they are gorgeous, yes, they are slim - but happily they also look very healthy. I'm pleased to report that there are no bones jutting out through their skin! Helena, in particular, has this aloof quality about her, like an untouchable goddess, wheras Jodie is more girl next door (for a very lucky next-door neighbour, that is!)
The press conference was followed by a drinks reception at which I had a lot of fun celeb-spotting. Spoke to Bono's best friend GavinFriday, who is writing an album with a Cork musician at the moment so has been in these parts quite a bit. He has the same mannerisms as Bono which is a bit freaky. Bono's beautiful wife Ali was there too, dressed in black as seems to be her signature look. Colin Farrell's sister Claudine was there - an absolute stunner, I must say. I met busty Amanda Brunker, who didn't really want to be there! She complained of being tired! These Dublin socialites are probably too used to big parties and gigs so they get a bit complacent. You wouldn't have found any Corkonians complaining about being tired in CityHall that night!
Met Paul Harrington of 'Rock n'Roll Kids' fame (Past Eurovision winner, along with Charlie McGettigan, for those not in the know!) Also saw Dave Fanning, style queen Celia Holman Lee and a whole host of others.
Then there was the show itself... Apart from a major technical hitch which found us sitting in the dark listening to a DVD about Chernobyl (yes, we were supposed to see the footage!) everything else ran very smoothly. And when we did eventually see the DVD, it was worth it - as the images were a gruelling reminder of the real reason we were all there. Grainne Seoige was the MC for the evening and I must say, she handled that hitch particularly well. She had to come onstage and basically fill time as the techies got the problem fixed. I would have been coming out in some sweat if it had been me!
Helena and Jodie got the loudest cheers but the Irish models like Samina Zia, Sarah Morrissey, Glenda Gilson and Lizanna Kirwin looked fabulous too. And then there were the male celebrity models... Diarmaid Gavin (the gardener), Former Boyzone singer Keith Duffy and artist Rasher amongst them.
I had a fantastic seat... it could hardly be better... thanks to Jackie Dawson, the wonderfully capable PR person for Brown Thomas who looked after me. Hell, I was so close I could check for cellulite! There was none, however!
The fashion, all from Brown Thomas, was a delight to see - collections from the likes of Stella McCartney, Diane Von Furstenberg, Chanel, Burberry and all the top designers.
It was every fashionistas dream really... so lets hope they do it again next year and make Cork the style capital of the country!