Madagascar 2 Premiere

Pictured on the red carpet at the Irish premiere screening of Madagascar 2 at the Savoy were: 1. Alex the Lion with Elain Crowley of TV3 and Rory Donoghue; 2. Brian Ormond and his daughter Chloe; 3. Lewis Dardis with Alex the Lion.

Hennessy Artistry

Pictured at the final Hennessy Artistry gig of 2008 in the Sugar Club were: 1. Jilly Hamilton and Tamso Doyle; 2. Kathryn Thomas; 3. Nadine Hiland and Shane Dunny.

Hennessy Artistry

At the final Hennessy Artistry of 2008 were: 1. Caroline Byrne and Aoife Kearns; 2. SJ Wai and Nadine O’Flynn; 3. Diana O’Connor and Elaine Prendeville.

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Hennessy staged the final Hennessy Artistry event for 2008 and entertained a full audience of invited guests at The Sugar Club in Dublin recently. Performances on the night came from rising Irish band, Dirty Epics, the internationally acclaimed Dhol Foundation and one of Ireland’s most promising acts, Jape.

The event saw individual performances from all three acts, culminating with all three acts coming together on stage to perform an amazing and alternative version of Thin Lizzy’s legendary song, ‘Jailbreak’, that is sure to be remembered as one of ‘the’ performances of 2008. MC duties on the night were looked after by the beautiful SJ Wai from Dirty Epics.

Some of the names who were spotted sipping Hennessy City cocktails (blended by top mixologist Aaron Wall and his team) and enjoying the blending sounds included Astrid Brennan and Emily O’Donnell, Aisling Kilduff, Trevor White and Paul Trainer from The Dubliner, PoD’s Siobhan O’Dowd, Nadine O’Flynn, DJ Alison Curtis and Kathryn Thomas among many many others.

The event also included representatives from the Irish music scene and was packed with record label execs, concert promoters and music media alike. Hennessey Artistry challenged the audience to listen to the music and discern the vast differences in styles that ultimately blended together. The styles of the acts selected were set to simultaneously create a contrasting musical session while honouring the individual craft of each of the acts performing. The concept behind the event is that true greatness in any art form is achieved when influences, cultures, ideas, styles and talents are blended or mixed.

Clodagh ... Love Aprons

At the launch party for Clodagh McKenna’s new LOVE aprons were: 1.Erin McKenna and Greg Kira; 2. Agata Stoinska and Clodagh McKenna (wearing one of her creations); 3. Hugo Arnold and Sue Bruce - Smith.

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Clodagh McKenna flew in from Italy last night to launch her new stunning range of LOVE Aprons in the Lennox Cafe and Bistro in Portobello. Invited guests were treated to glasses of Prosecco, which they sipped from Waterford Crystal’s new ‘Clear’ glass collection, as well a selection of delicious canapés, cupcakes and homemade Florentines.

Guests in attendance included ‘foodie’ Hugo Arnold, fashion editor of the Sunday Independent Constance Harris, Sinead Christian of Waterford Crystal and Emer O’Reilly Hyland of VIP magazine. Other guests enjoying the night included presenter and model Glenda Gilson, Kay Sheehy from RTE and fashion photographer, Agata Stoinska. All guests were delighted to receive a goody bag containing their very own fabulous LOVE Apron to take away with them at the end of the night.

The LOVE Apron range is available from www.clodaghmckenna.com and stockists nationwide and will retail from €35.00, (RRP). An ideal Christmas gift for the fashionable foodie, LOVE Aprons are available in both a day and night option, so you can effortlessly go from prepping and chopping to stylish dinner party serving in no time - think Sex and the City style meets soufflé heaven!

As Clodagh says, “I designed and made these aprons about three years ago, as I couldn’t find really beautiful aprons in the shops. These aprons make you feel great and lure you to the kitchen. The aprons hang just to the knee with a pleated finish that bounces when you walk, giving a very feminine feel. They are all inspired by the domestic goddesses in the 1950’s.”

WeAreOriginals

At the event were: Niall Breslin and Rebecca Davis; 2. Alice and Lili Forberg; 3. Jonah Lomu; 2. Tara O’Shea and Nick Harris.

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Former All Black and rugby legend, Jonah Lomu, Niall Breslin from The Blizzards, leading Irish photographer, Lili Forberg and top UK Skateborders, Shaun Witherup and Neil Chester (part of the adidas Skateborder team) were the star judges at the final of the Champion Sports and adidas Originals campaign, WeAreOriginals in the Old Veritas Warehouse, Hanover Quay. There were 18 finalists who were shortlisted from hundreds of entries on the official WeAreOriginals website over the past two months in 6 categories - music, sport, skill, design, photo and film.

The winners for each category turned up to compete for category prizes of a cool skateboard and €500 CS gift voucher and the top prize of a trip for two to LA and being kitted out with adidas Originals from the adidas store in Melrose Avenue. Cormac Kelly from Cabinteely, Co.Dublin was selected by the Judges as the Overall Winner of WeAreOriginals for his entry into the Film category. Cormac was awarded with his prize in front of a crowd of 350 hipsters made up of DJ’s, graffiti artists, photographers and film makers.

Other winners on the night were:

• The Red Labels who performed live at the event won in the Music category
• Anthony Murphy who won in the Skill category
• Daniel Dennehy who won in the Sports category for his fancy footwork
• Anthony Kavanagh who won on the Photo category for his creative entry
• Claire Horgan who managed to walk away with two awards on the night, for the best adidas Originals Trainer and in the Design category

WeAreOriginals really was one of the most original event of the year so far... check out www.weareoriginals.ie for a full list of entries and winners.

Geraldine MacDonald

At Geraldine MacDonald’s exhibition were: 1. Beatrice Kelleher and Brian Walsh; 2. Hazel Williams and Brian Barnes; 3. Geraldine MacDonald and Andrew Rudd.

Dublin born artist Geraldine MacDonald welcomed friends and well wishers to the opening of her latest exhibition “Of Night and Light and the Half Light” at a private gallery on Fitzwilliam Street recently. With a previous career in music and song writing Geraldine has been a full time painter working from her studio in Dublin City Centre for over a decade.

In this exhibition she presents a selection of paintings and sculpture that are both figurative and abstract embodying a sense of the dream. In her paintings colour is a vital and informing energy and it is through this medium that she strives to explore and develop the inner core of her work. Geraldine creates a freshness of colour often using cerulean blues, naples yellow, sap green, pinks, violets, and textured black giving a luminosity and depth to her work. The colour red was also prominent among her works with the eponymous sold sticker adorning many.

Her experience of nature was awakened while living and growing up in Howth at a time when children were free to explore and discover its natural and unspoilt beauty. Her time spent in the south of Spain, America, India and North Africa reopened her eyes to light and colour.

Art curator Tony Strickland, TV chef Andrew Rudd, Leanne de Cerbo of Social & Personal, publicist Sinead Ryan and RTE’s Brian Walsh were among the guests.