Meteoric: 1. Nadine O'Regan and Caghal Funge; 2. Angelica Salomao and Trish Fallon; 3. Aoife McCormack and Graham Knox. (Pix. Kieran Harnett)

Meteor celebrated the addition of the augural Irish Song of the Year category to the Meteor Choice Music Prize at a launch party in Dublin’s Doheny & Nesbitts. Some of the nominees including The Kanyu Tree, Cashier No 9, Lisa Hannigan and This Club took to the stage to perform their nominated songs and some additional tracks.

The Irish Song of the Year competition will see 10 of Ireland’s favourite songs from the past year compete to take home the title of Meteor Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year 2011. The shortlisted acts include: Bell X1 – Velcro, Cashier No 9 – Goldstar, The Coronas - Addicted to Progress, Lisa Hannigan – Knots, The Kanyu Tree – Radio, Little Green Cars - The John Wayne, Royseven - We Should be Lovers, Maverick Sabre - Let Me Go, Snow Patrol - Called Out In the Dark and This Club - I Won’t Worry.

The winning entry will be awarded the Meteor Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year Trophy along with a prize fund. Vote online at www.facebook.com/Meteor

Spotted at the launch party was Michelle O’Doherty, Graham Knox from The Corona’s, 2FM’s Ruth Scott and Jenny Huston and Louise Duffy from Today FM. It was an extra special night for RoySeven’s Paul Walsh who celebrated his birthday on the night with a candle lit birthday cake!

Red Bull Bedroom Jam

Spreading their Wings: 1. Heather Mulligan & Ashlee Dickinson; 2. Freya Drohan & Karl Miller; 3. Laura Webber & Maeve Kenefick (Pix: Brian McEvoy)

The Workman’s Club on Wellington Quay played host to the launch of the Red Bull Bedroom Jam initiative. Up-and-coming Irish talent can raise their profile and further their careers as Red Bull wants to push young Irish bands to expand their "wings".

Back with a beat in 2012, the competition is open to acts nationwide, giving young Irish bands the opportunity to perform at Ireland’s biggest music festivals in 2012 and one lucky act the opportunity to record in the Red Bull Studio with a top producer in the Autumn.

Judges on the panel include Stuart Bailie and Brian Boyd. The Minutes launched the project and over the coming months Irish bands such as Kanyu Tree and Rams Pocket Radio will be giving Red Bull Bedroom Jam support gigs in Dublin and Belfast at venues including UCD and the Speakeasy at Queens.

Gold Cup style

Gold Standard: 1. Emer O'Reilly Hyland; 2. Godfrey Deeny with winner Margaret Connolly; 3. Gabrielle and Barbara Dunne. (Pix. Kieran Harnett)

This year’s Hennessy Gold Cup, one of the most stylish events in the Irish social calendar, once again welcomed a variety of special guests from the world of fashion, sport, music and the arts. On the day however, it was the fashion stakes that had heads turning due to the ladies involved in the Hennessy Best Dressed Lady 2012 in association with Design Centre.

The overall winner Margaret Connolly from Mullingar was announced in front of a huge crowd at the Hennessy Best Dressed Marquee and presented with a voucher for €7,000 to spend in Design Centre. Margaret impressed judges, international fashion commentator, Godfrey Deeny, Ashling Kilduff from Design Centre and Caroline Sleiman from Moët Hennessy with her stunning cream dress and coat by Lilli Ann, brown suede gloves and brown bag, both from House of Fraser and shoes from Barratts.

A host of Hennessy’s customers and specially invited guests enjoyed the celebrations on the day in the private event hosted in the Pavilion at Leopardstown. Guests included The French First Councillor Aurelie Bonal and Maurice Hennessy, Ambassadeur de la Maison Hennessy as well as Hon. Desmond Guinness and his wife Penny, comedian Barry Murphy and singer Camille O’Sullivan.

SS12 at BT

Airs of Spring: 1. Jacqueline Honor Sullivan and Joanne Hynes; 2. Helen Steele; 3. Stacey O' Donnell; pictured at the launch of the Brown Thomas Spring Summer 2012 collection in Brown Thomas. (Pix: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland)

Hennessy Best Dressed Lady

The closing date for online registrations for the Hennessy Best Dressed Lady 2012 in association with Design Centre has now been extended to Thursday, 9th February at 5.00pm.

This extension will allow all stylish ladies a chance to put their best dressed foot forward at this year’s highly anticipated Hennessy Gold Cup. Regarded as the premier winter racing event, it takes place at Leopardstown next Sunday, 12th February.

Contestants are encouraged to register online at www.hennessybestdressed.ie, and they can also present themselves at the registration desk in the Hennessy Best Dressed marquee on race day. The winner will be awarded with a €7,000 design voucher to spend on the collection of exquisite designer clothes from Design Centre, in Powerscourt Townhouse, not to mention the kudos of actually winning.

Hundreds of Ireland’s most stylish ladies will hope to make an impact on this year’s judges, Ashling Kilduff of the Design Centre, Caroline Sleiman from Moët Hennessy and international fashion commentator Godfrey Deeny (pictured), who advised: “I will be looking for a lady who is ‘bien dans sa peau’ or ‘at ease in her own skin’, as they say in Paris.”

TV3's Big Week

Telly Ready: 1. Madeline Mulqueen, Michael O’Doherty & Holly Sweeney; 2. Ursula Halliagn; 3. Roz Purcell & Noel Cunningham. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)


As TV3 springs into 2012 off the back of a great 2011, a year which saw TV3 become the only broadcaster in the Irish market to grow share for the 3rd year in a row, the TV station today announced its spring schedule at a launch in The Convention Centre Dublin.

The schedule promises over fifty hours of home produced content each and every week, including live studio output from Ireland AM, Vincent Browne and Xposé. And TV3’s studio output is only set to increase as building is underway on two brand new studios at Ballymount. When the project is finished in August 2012, TV3 will be home to the largest and most advanced studio in the country, HD ready and with live audience capacity.

This season TV3 is concentrating on its Big Week, where each day will be dedicated to the biggest shows in entertainment - making every night a big night on TV3. Shows such as interior designer Neville Knot’s Doorstep Challenge, The Irish Bake Off and Southside Housewives will be high on home-grown entertainment.

Saturday is the day the stars come out to play for TV3’s big week. All across the country people have been roping in their families to battle it out on Alan Hughes’ Family Fortunes, and that includes some of Ireland’s best known celebrities. While on Sunday the most popular television show of all time, Dallas, returns for a brand new series.

Divine Style

Divine: 1. Mary Greene and Karen Koster; 2. Edwina Mahony and Sarah Curtin; 3. Sarah Rickard and Sarah Morrissey. (Pix. Presence)

Divine boutique hosted a wonderful show in the stunning confines of Carton House Maynooth last month. The show was in aid of Kilcloon National School with all proceeds going towards new facilities for the school.

Almost 300 gathered to see Divine's collections, from coats in the season's hottest shades of cinnamon, biscuit and grey to Knits with Irish label Electronic Sheep adding an element of cool to your warming wardrobe and a stunning collection of party dresses. Divine’s dedication to supporting Irish fashion was clearly evident with pieces from Unicorn, Trixibelle Shoes, Designs by Shimmer Headpieces and the grand finale of the amazingly stunning Deborah Veale dresses.

Guests were greeted with a wine reception sponsored by Avenue Restaurant, Maynooth and the Dean Martin Tribute Show singer Aidan Cullen who really got the party going. Following the show Willie Coonan started the auction followed by the raffle presented by Xpose's Karen Koster. And one lucky lady Catherine Kelly walked away with €1000 shopping spree at Divine after winning best dressed lady on the night!

F1 for Fibre

Early Birds: 1. Holly White & Alison Healy; 2. Caitlin McBride; 3. Fiona Gratzer & Melanie Morris. (Pix. Presence)

Research shows that 80% of Irish adults are not getting enough fibre in their diet and while 70% of women surveyed would like to add more fibre to their diet, it can be a struggle to find tasty and enjoyable high fibre food options.

Recognising the importance of fibre in our diet to promote a healthy digestive system, Nestlé Cereals has introduced FIBRE 1, combining high fibre and great taste! FIBRE 1 is a touch of honey on big, crunchy flakes with sliced almonds and every bowl ofthis delicious combination contains 30% of your daily fibre requirement.

A special breakfast was hosted to launch the new cereal with guest including nutrition expert Brighid McKevith, trainer Karl Henry, Caitlin McBride from VIP and health guru Dr Eva Orsmond. Nestle also conducted a breakfast survey last week. 98% of people surveyed recognised the health benefits associated with a diet rich in fibre and 52% where able to identify the correct amount of fibre that should be consumed each day.

Irish men Brian O’Driscoll and Niall Breslin proved popular choices when respondents were asked which celebrity they would most like to share a bowl of Fibre1 with but it was George Clooney who came out on top with 15% of the votes. 57% of people surveyed eat their breakfast at home with 35% of people admitting to breakfast being an anytime treat and the stunning location of the Maldives received the largest number of votes when asked where would be the number 1place to enjoy a bowl of Fibre1 cereal.

Friday Feeling

Doing Friday: 1. Ciara Donnelly and Declan O'Toole; 2. 98 FM's Dermot and Dave; 3. Cici Cavanagh and Amanda Man. (pix. Kieran Harnett)

Apparently Dublin Does Fridays like nowhere else in the world and it was certainly a hive of activity last Friday as new campaign to celebrate the sociability of Dublin pubs - kicked off in The Bank on College Green. Guests, including 98FM's Dermot and Dave, Tom Dunne and Jennifer Maguire gathered to put the working week behind them with awell-deserved after-work drink with friends and colleagues.

Dublin Does Fridays runs until 30th March in pubs across the city and suburbs with an invitation to give our world-class pub scene a boost by filling it with people who are the heart and soul of Dublin. Also tune in each week to Snug TV on YouTube, a special online show fronted by Jennifer Maguire, which will be recorded in selected Dublin pubs round the city over the next nine weeks.

Get involved by visiting www.dublindoesfridays.ie

Dirty Dancing

Hey Baby:: 1. Anna Daly; 2. Ruth Scott; 3. Claire Moore and Danielle Moyles. (pix. Brian McEvoy)

Dirty Dancing touched down at Dublins Grand Canal Theatre this week with Phil Michael Jones as Johnnie and Charlotte Gooch as Penny, while Emily Holt plays Baby One of the most successful tours in West End history, having broke box office records in 2006 when it opened in London with advance ticket sales of over 15 million euro, the show has since played to over 1 million people receiving nightly standing ovations.

Among those on the red carpet on Thursday night were Miriam Ahern, Jenny Buckley, Gay Byrne, Sinead Desmond, Joe Duffy, Glenda Gilson and Karen Koster, as well as George McMahon and Mairead Farrell. The show continues at The Grand Canal Theatre (soon to be the Bord Gais Energy Theatre) until Saturday 25th Feb 2012.

Haywire

Haywire: 1. Pauline Wrenn and Zoe Spowage; 2. Karl Shiels; 3. Sinead Kennedy and Kate Van Buren. (pix. Brian McEvoy)

The much anticipated new action movie Haywire had its Irish premiere screening recently and with many scenes set in Dublin it’s sure to be a hit here. Starring Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender as well as Channing Tatum and Antonio Banderas was mainly shot in Ireland in early 2010.

Among those attending the first night screening were Mary McEvoy, actors David Pearse, Karl Shiels and Ned Dennehy, model Carmen Castro and RTE presenter Katie Van Buren.

So SABO

Strike a pose: 1. Jo Mullane and Vikki Tadross; 2. Emma Waldron; 3. Harald Winzer and Rozanna Purcell. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

THOMAS SABO launched its new Sterling Silver Collection Spring/Summer 2012 at Dublin’s Westbury Hotel to an admiring assembly of guests. Stunning Irish model and Roz Purcell showed off the new collection while Managing Director of Thomas Sabo, Harald Winzer commented on how pleased he was to be in Dublin for the launch.

The name of the new collection is ‘Glam & Soul’ and reflects the identity and history of the brand. Influences of Jazz and Soul have imbued a modern beat into the new collection and it’s recognised as a reinterpretation of the greatest THOMAS SABO iconic pieces including the skull, starfish, cross and the winged heart.

THOMAS SABO also presented the ‘Special Addition’ collection line for the very first time. With its motto “Create your own pieces of jewellery”, the Special Addition collection comprises 44 pendants, five new bracelets, as well as a range of brand-new necklaces with matching earrings and rings.

Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival launched last weekend and takes place until the end of January in Utah in the US. 2012 marks the first year that Grey Goose has been an official partner of Sundance, one of the most high profile film events in the world. To celebrate the association, Grey Goose opened the Grey Goose Blue Door.

Over five nights the Grey Goose Blue Door pop-up club hosted a series of premiere parties for movies being screened at the festival. Guests in attendance included Ireland’s very own Cillian Murphy, whose new film Red Lights also starring Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Olsen was shown at the Grey Goose Blue Door. Also in attendance was Eve Hewson (pictured, left with sean Penn), daughter of Bono and Ali Hewson, who stars along Sean Penn in This Must be the Place, which also premiered at the festival.

Spring into BT

Strike a pose: 1. Laura Whiston; 2. Sarah Rickard and Katie Grannell; 3. Gillian Brett. (Pix. Leon Farrell / Photocall)

Brown Thomas hosted an exclusive preview of its Spring Summer 2012 Collections. Spring predicts a bright and colourful fashion future, with designers tapping into their feminine side for inspiration. Emerging from this womanly pursuit is a whimsical yet elegant imprint. The dress remains fashions big story, with ‘Ladylike Glam’ its sartorial headline.

Little steps to spring

Spring: 1. Rebecca Idrisa and Constance Harris; 2. Louise Spotten and Lisa Brady; 3. Grace Fox and Courtney Smith. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

Despite the fact that we’re still within the throes of winter (mild and all as the weather is) it’s good to look forward to sunnier times. Littlewoods Ireland hosted a preview of its 2012 Collections at a special invite only fashion show in Fallon and Byrne in Exchequer Street recently.

Guests arrived to a summer themed room, complete with its own sweetie bar, while models Sinead Noonan, Michelle Lima and Ursula Byrne strutted their stuff in spring / summer pieces. The compere on the evening was stylist to the Cathy O’Connor while the guests numbered Maura Derrane, Sybil Mulcahy and Sean Munsanje among them.

P.S. Let’s hope Fallon & Byrne weathers the storm of financial examinership and remains the beacon of gastro goodness that it is...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0112/breaking29.html

Peaches & Cream

Peachy: 1. Sarah McGovern and Sinead Sanderson; 2. Joan Mulvihill and Ailbhe Lee; 3. Jenny McCarthy and Martin King. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

Sinead Sanderson of Peaches & Cream lingerie boutique in the Hibernian Way threw a party to celebrate the opening of her new improved and expanded store.

Since opening in 2006, Peaches and Cream has had numerous high profile customers through their doors such as Ali Hewson, Amy Huberman, Grainne Seoige and many more. A recent project saw Peaches & Cream fitting Holly Carpenters underwear for the Miss World Competition.

Big Maggie

(Pix Brian McEvoy)

Opening Night: 1. Charlie Murphy, Sinead McPhillips and Sarah Greene; 2. Aoife Hannon; 3. Mairead and Dave Egan.

Druid Theatre Company is currently on tour with John B. Keane’s Big Maggie. Money, land and secret sex make for a riveting story in this one of John B. Keane’s most popular plays with well known actors including Aisling O'Sullivan as Big Maggie, Keith Duffy and John Olohan leading a cast of eleven of Ireland's leading dramatical talent.

Shocking for its time – the play premiered in 1969 – the portrait that Keane painted of the dark side of Irish family life seems now to be eerily prescient.

From the 18-21 January the play will visit the Hawk’s Well Theatre in Sligo will mark the venue’s 30th birthday. In 1982 it was a Druid production of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare that officially opened the venue. Big Maggie will also return to Galway from 24-28 for a further five performances before returning to the Gaiety for a final showing.

Commenting on the tour, Druid’s Artistic Director Garry Hynes said: “Touring is in Druid’s DNA. It’s great to be back on the road again, this time with a cast and crew of 18, and in particular with this much loved play by John B. Keane.”

http://www.druid.ie

All that glitters...

Jewel: 1. Sarah White and Julianne Relihan; 2. Caitriona Hanly with her mother Imelda Hanly and sister Tara Hanly; 3. Annemarie O’Connor and Jessie Collins. (Pix. Brian McEvoy)

Designer Catriona Hanly launched her new range of Art Deco jewellery in style at her beautiful studios in Mount St, Dublin. Catriona looked resplendent in a creation from her new Marie Antoinette collection, due to launch next month, as she greeted her guests and talked them through her gifts range on display in the French inspired surroundings.

Enjoying the sumptuous and stylish surroundings were Off the Rails producers Denise Dunne and Caty Greene, celeb agent Donna McGarry, author Valerie Pierce, fashion writer Annemarie O’Connor and stylists Cathy O’Conner and Maria Fusco.

Leaving behind Versailles, Catriona is busy with preparations for an upcoming party at that she and her pal David Battye will be hosted at Kilronan Castle, Roscommon, in February. The theme is the Beautiful and the Damned from the roaring '20s. Wear your best Art Deco if you’re going.