1. art and entertainment
2. radio

4 | THE IRISH WORLD | 4 April 2015
NEWS & COMMENT
F
Irish World House, 934 North Circular Road,
London NW2 7JR. Telephone: 020 8453 7800
RTE’s DAB plans for
UK are squelched
or some time
now RTE has
struggled to
hide
its
incomprehension and incredulity at
some UK Irish people’s
reluctance to relinquish listening to Long
Wave.
The tone of its radio
executives has ranged
from patronising to
condescension to one
of genuine bafflement.
Why can’t people
just listen to the Radio
One service they so like
on their smartphones
or tablets when they’re
on the go or on their
satellite receiver or Sky
TV box, they ask – without listening to the
answers.
One is therefore
tempted to think that
those same executives
had hoped to be able to
pull, as if a rabbit from
a magician’s hat, the
news that they had
secured a DAB slot for
RTE Radio One from
next year – the centenary of 1916, as we
well know by now.
One doesn’t know
how hard it tried to
persuade Ofcom, if it
even did, of the desir-
ability of a DAB station
for a million or more
Irish living in the UK.
But if it did it didn’t
succeed as the broadcast regulator – which
says the bids are
assessed
on
the
proposed
service’s
appeal to new tastes
and interests – was
swayed by a business
plan to bring back
Virgin Radio, last heard
in 2008.
RTE Radio’s output
is varied, talk sits
alongside
music,
factual and documentary as well as drama,
hence its appeal to so
many Irish, and nonIrish, in this country
when they can receive
it.
So one has to ask
how strongly its case
was made and, if it was,
to sympathise that it
failed.
The
broadcaster
now says it is now
committed to look at
all its options in the UK.
Might it be too much to
ask that, if DAB is now
a non-starter, the
station mightv look at
the recently vacated
Bulgarian channel on
Long Wave?
I
Landmark Cricklewood Irish shop
closing for good on Easter Sunday
“I’ve been around for 45
years and I’d love to thank
all the customers,” he told
the Irish World.
An online review of the
shop by ‘Katie B’ in 2011
reads:
“Oh Eddie how I love you
and your selection of
Barry's Irish tea!
“Eddie is a lovely man
and treats you like an old
friend every time you go in.
“So if you're in the area
go on, pop in and say hello
to Eddie and give Barry's tea
a whirl.”
rish newsagent Eddie
Brown will serve his
last customer this
Easter Sunday as he
retires after 29 years.
His shop on Cricklewood
Lane has become a hub of
the community, where he
stocks Irish newspapers
and food stuffs, and was as
much of a place to catch up
with locals then it was to do
your shopping.
Eddie, 72, is well known
for having the chat as well,
moving to Cricklewood Lane
after two separate stints on
the Broadway too.
Barrister all set for London Marathon
A BARRISTER, IN his fifties, is
preparing to run in the London
Marathon later this month to
raise money for Dulwich
Helpline and Southwark
Churches Care.
Patrick McMorrow (right)
has selected the charity for the
work that they do in supporting and providing companionship to elderly people who live
Golden wedding
anniversary for
Kilburn Couple
alone.
The 58-year-old started
running four years ago when
he was offered a charity place
in the 2012 London Marathon
on behalf of Hospice UK.
“It was an unforgettable
experience and I have run
several half-marathons since
then and the Brighton
Marathon last year,” he said.
“I've
been
training
througout the winter months
and I'm really looking forward
to this year's race which will
probably be my last if my physiotherapist has anything to do
with it!”
If you'd like to make a
donation visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/patric
kmcmorrow1
Duo raise £10k for
Marie Curie hospice
If you need help administering somebody`s
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whether there
Is a Will or not, contact:
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David Tracey at
S O L I C I TO R S
9 Churchill Court, 58 Station Road
North Harrow, Middlesex HA2 7SA
Telephone: 020 8424 7070
Fax: 020 8424 7050
DX: 83903 North Harrow
[email protected]
www.redfernssolicitors.co.uk
CONGRATULATIONS
TO
Mary-Ellen and Vincent
O’Donnell who reach their
50th wedding anniversary this
Friday.
Mary-Ellen O’Malley, from
Tonragee in Achill, wed her
Charlestown husband in 1965
in St Agnes Church in Cricklewood.
They moved to Kilburn
soon afterwards where MaryEllen worked at St Mary’s
School, and Vincent worked as
a telephone engineer until
their retirements.
The couple have three
children; Michelle, John and
Steven, seven grandchildren
and six-month-old great-great
granddaughter Celina Jayne.
“They are a wonderful
couple and dearly loved by all
their family and friends.
We wish them a very happy
anniversary and many more,”
said Michelle.
Their children would
especially like to thank them
for being the best parents ever.
Sarah Connolly and Patricia Donnelly (second and third from left)
A PAIR OF Irish women have
raised £10,000 for the Marie
Curie Hospice in Hampstead
through a string of charity
events.
Sarah Connolly and
Patricia Donnelly organised
a benefit night at St Joseph’s
Social Club in Highgate, with
Billy and The North Winds
providing music on the
night.
Connolly and Donnelly
are also set to partake in an
upscaled fundraising event;
as they travel to Asia to make
a sponsored walk to the
Great Wall of China from
May 9 – 17; with all proceeds
going to the charity.