Anastasia's

1. Catherine Byrne & Sonia Lennon; 2. Elaine Prendeville; 3. Anne & Hannah Cooney. Pic: Kieran Harnett.

Sonya Lennon, stylist and TV presenter of RTE’s ‘Off the Rails’ popped into Anastasia Boutique to dish out her pearls of styling wisdom recently. To celebrate the Spring/Summer 09 season, she styled customers of Anastasia focussing on key pieces of the season, how to adapt an outfit to the occasion and wear it in different ways and on how to introduce colour into an outfit.

With so many fantastic designers to choose from that come from different parts of the globe, Anastasia is a great place to find the right outfit to match the occasion. It is a relaxed and friendly environment to shop with plenty of space and light and a touch of luxury.

The small team of staff of different ages identify with the customers offering a true personal service. Anastasia’s ethos is for customers to have a pleasant shopping experience and to leave feeling confident and happy in what they are wearing. Amen to that.

Andrew Flood exhibit

At No. 10 were: 1. Richie Price and Choi Cheung; 2. Aidan Fox and Bill Hughes; 3. Jenny Hayes, Andrew Flood, Robert Hayes.

Cherrylane Fine Arts hosted a special preview of the work of contemporary impressionist, Andrew Hood, at No. 10 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1 this week. Guests at the exhibition, entitled ‘20 New Works’, included John Farrington from John Farrington Antiques, Michael O’Brien from O’Brien Press and producer Bill Hughes.

A number of artists were also there to support Andrew’s first solo exhibition in Dublin including English artist Elaine Jones, up and coming Irish artist Edia Connole, photographer Tracey Walsh and portrait painter Cian McLoughlin.

Inspired by his travels, Andrew’s work boasts a distinctive style and records a multitude of diverse towns, abstract landscapes, cities and their inhabitants from North Africa, France, Spain, Ireland and beyond. His use of location sketches as reference and choice of bold primary colours, perfectly depicts the mood and weather of each location.

Andrew uses oil and acrylic as his preferred medium, combining this with a masterful use of the palette knife, while also employing various objects such as sticks, plastic and torn pieces of card.

Cherrylane Fine Arts will showcase the latest collection by Andrew Hood exhibition in the Cherrylane Fine Arts gallery, Killincarrig, Delgany, Co.Wicklow, until mid June - cherrylanefinearts.com

Boodles Spring Summer

At Boodles were ... 1. Dee Breen and Norman Pratt; 2. Gillian and Ronan Colleran; 3. Aoife Cogan and Shauna Carroll.

Boodles have been putting a smile onto people’s faces for over two centuries and there was no exception at the Boodles Summer Showcase, held at the Boodles store, 71 Grafton Street, Dublin 2, where the diamond specialists teamed-up with Harvey Nichols showcasing their latest summer designs.

Hosted by James Amos of Boodles and Kenny Robertson, Harvey Nichols, a select number of guests enjoyed the private viewing from the two houses most associated with premium design and style that included Spring Summer highlights such as a Boodles Waterfall design necklace, comprised of heart shaped diamonds, Peacock Design Pendant with Emerald Cut diamonds.

Also featured were Ashoka hoop earrings set with 22 Ashoka cut diamonds and the Boodles Cabaret Star design necklace comprised of Aquamarines and diamonds. Harvey Nichols featured a selection of dresses from designers including Donna Karan, Poleci, Lanvin and Vera Wang.

Familiar faces in attendance included the British Ambassador H.E. David Reddaway and his wife Roshan Firouz, TV presenters Mary Kennedy and Colette Fitzpatrick, businessman Paul Wallace, FM104’s very own Margaret Nelson, Padraig and Ita Slattery.

Kieran and Ann-Marie McManus, Dee Breen and Abby Comyn were also there to enjoy the pink champagne on arrival and canapés courtesy of Restaurant Harvey Nichols. Other invited guests including the growing number of Irish advocates of Boodles including Simon Stokes of Residence and his wife Conach, Leigh Arnold, Nicky and Georgina Byrne, Alison Doody and the ever stylish Lisa Fitzpatrick.

EYP Playground...

At the EYP event were: 1. Karolina Attispodina and Arina Morozova; 2. Anne Sexton and Miriam Abel; 3. DJ Jan Veering.


It’s not what you know, it’s who you know – or so the saying goes. In today’s economic climate this is proving to be increasingly true. Now one organisation has come up with a snazzy initiative to promote links between business professionals within Ireland and beyond.

Free to join, Dublin based European Young Professionals (EYP) welcomes executives from across every industry, every nation and every age to attend our hugely popular networking events to make friends, establish valuable business contacts and to have fun.

The most recent EYP event happened last week in Spy, South William Street, where official sponsor Durex Play teamed up with EYP to present a networking event called “The Playground”. Durex Play will kept everyone "stimulated" with various networking games involving Durex products and their very own magician.

For more info go to www.eypglobal.org/dublin.

FitFlops

At the FitFlops party were: 1. Collette Fitzpatrick; 2. Grasieli Criag & Annemarie O’Connor; 3. Cathy O’Connor & Aisling O’Loughlin.

FitFlop, the hottest footwear in town, brought summer in with a bang with the launch of its new collection of styles and colours for Spring Summer 09 at No.3 Fade Street, Dublin 2.

Guests were encouraged to get their feet ready for some FitFlop action, as they were treated to complimentary pedicures and reflexology treatments. A fleet of Brazilian beauties were also on hand to model the foot candy and demonstrated perfectly the benefits of this innovative toning footwear.

Out on the terrace, guests kicked back with some FitFlop inspired cocktails such as the BerryBootilicious and the Perfect Pins, as they soaked up the unexpected sun and some chilled out South American music. Many dedicated FitFlop followers turned up wearing their own treasured pair, proving that this flip flop with a gym built in can be worn from day to night and suits both sporty and dressy occasions.

Guests in attendance on the night included stylist Cathy O’Connor, who is a devoted fan of FitFlops, Xpose’s Aisling O’Loughlin with Colette Fitzpatrick (who married Neil McDermott on Saturday, congrats!). Loretta Lambkin, Jayne O’Keeffe, beauty writer Maura Derrane and style guru Annmaire O’Connor were also there. Each of these dedicated fashionistas left proudly wearing their FitFlops and sporting refreshed and happy feet.

Clean & Clear / Hannah Montana

At the Clean & Clear VIP screening were: 1. Sarah O'Mahoney, Lily O'Mahoney and Emily O'Donnell; 2. Frankie Bannon; 3. Kim O'Donnell & Justine Moynihan. Pics: Photocall.


Girls flocked with excitement to Movies@Dundrum for the exclusive Clean & Clear ‘best friends’ movie screening night in association with Kiss Magazine. Clean & Clear's special guests giggled and sang along with their best friends as they watched the adventures of Miley Cyrus in the new Hannah Montana: The Movie.

Guests enjoyed party food before taking their seats where they received goody bags jam-packed with the latest issue of Kiss Magazine plus lots of product from the Clean & Clear range including the new Deep Action Refreshing Gel Cleanser.

It was a resounding thumps up for the movie, which is open in cinemas nationwide.

Nikki Beach at Krystle

At the Nikki Beach party were: 1. Nadine Wai – O’Flynn and SJ Wai; 2. Irma Mali and Angelica Salomad; 3. Nicky and Leigh Arnold and Marcus Sweeney. Pics: Richie Stokes.


Nikki Beach are known for hosting the biggest parties in the world in destinations such as Miami Beach, FL; Hollywood; Saint-Tropez, France; St. Barths; Marbella; Marrakech, Morocco; New York City; Koh Samui, Thailand ... and now Dublin. The Nikki Beach family spread its wings to Ireland for a once in a lifetime event in Krystle Nightclub on Friday night.

Chosen for its luxurious surroundings and Mediterranean atmosphere Krystle, Penthouse 995, and the VIP Suite were transformed into a heaven of white with Nikki Beach invading the venue with their Resident DJ, electric violinist, saxophone player and energy dancers for the exclusive White Party.

The white carpet was rolled out for guests including Gilson, Rosanna Davison, Baz Ashmawy, Brian Ormond and Pippa O’Connor.

Awarded 'Best Nightclub in Ireland' by Irish Hospitality for the last two years running, Krystle has gone from strength to strength since opening its doors in 2006 and is widely regarded as one of Dublin's top VIP venues.

Galway Knees-Up launch

1. Cathy O’Connor & Alan Hughes; 2. Gillian & Ruby Walsh; 3. Darren Kennedy, Sandra Byrne and Norman Pratt. Pics.: Sharpix

Details of the inaugural “Galway Knees Up” event were announced this week at Residence Members Club, Stephen’s Green. The “Galway Knees Up” – Ladies Day After-Party takes place on Thursday, 30th July at Hotel Meyrick in Galway with all proceeds going to The Irish Hospice Foundation.

The event takes place after “Ladies Day” at the Galway Racing Festival, one of the most popular events in Ireland for racing and non-racing fans alike. It is set to become an annual event closely tied in with the racing community and wider audience who descend on Galway each year for the races.

The evening kicks off with a drinks reception – to help celebrate the day’s winnings! The dress code for the event is “from races to after-party”. For those who wish to freshen up after the long day at Ballybrit, there is a Spa refresh zone offering a little pampering for the ladies with expert make-up artists and hair stylists on hand to refresh make-up (and remedy any signs of hat head!). Dinner is followed by a charity auction to raise much needed funds for the Irish Hospice Foundation. A percentage of the funds raised will also be donated to the Galway Hospice. Guests will be entertained by the infamous Cheltenham 21 Club DJ Richard Davies.

Guests who attended the launch party included The Apprentice’s Brian Purcell, Sandra Byrne (who is planning her upcoming birthday bash), Marion Deegan of Meditech Clinics and former Miss Ireland Linda Duffy. The racing set were also represented by Tamso Doyle, Paul Carberry and Jackie Mullins.

The “Galway Knees Up” – Ladies Day After-Party is also sure to attract some well known faces. The guests already confirmed include MCs, Xpose’s Karen Koster and Hector O’hEochagain. Champion jockeys Ruby Walsh and AP McCoy will also attend and will host tables on the night. AP McCoy is a patron of the event and is supporting it with great gusto encouraging the racing fraternity to let their hair down on the Thursday evening all in aid of a good cause - racing the next day does not start until 5.30pm so there’s no excuse not to party!

Tickets for this event cost just €100 per person to include drinks reception, a three course meal, entertainment etc. For further information and bookings, please log onto http://www.galwaykneesup.com/ / http://www.hospice-foundation.ie/.

XPOSE Live

1. Eoghan Quigg and Celia Holma – Lee; 2. Michella Heaton and Hugh Hanley; 3. Aisling O’Loughlin and Nikki Hambledon – Jones. Pics. Brian McEvoy.

XPOSE Live was a tour de force of fashion, beauty and style over the weekend with fashionistas attending in their droves. On the Friday evening TV3 hosted a VIP reception in the Martini Terazzo bar where details of the new XPOSE Factor TV show were announced.

With presenter Sybil Mulcahy leaving to present a new show there will be a vacancy for a new fave of the hugely popular entertainment program. Andrew Hanlon, head of news for TV3, revealed that the producers are looking for a girl, or boy, of any age to be part of the team. The search for Sybil’s replacement will kick off in July with a talent search show.

Among the guests at the party were Corrie actor Jack Sheppard, Ireland AM’s Alan Hughes, Michelle Heaton and Hugh Hanley, broadcaster Darren Kennedy and ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena who performed after the gala fashion show. Other musical performers over the weekend included X-Factor finalist Eoghan Quigg and old time also-ran Chico.

Sybil herself got a good send off from the team, including glamourous executive producer Debbie O’Donnell (she’s like the 5th Beatle, the girl behind the girls), when a montage of her highlights was shown to the 1,000 strong audience on the Sunday evening.

Farrell & Brown

1. Paul Carthy & Jennifer Maher; 2. Model contest winners Adele Greene & Simon Zebo; 3. Emma Jones & Laura Whiston.

Farrell & Brown, the cool younger label from the Blarney Woollen Mills dynasty are one step ahead in the search for Ireland’s next top model as Simon Zebo and Adele Greene have been named as the two winning faces from the popular Face of Farrell & Brown nationwide search at a party in the Dawson Street store.

Selected through an intensive national competition looking for unique and stylish individuals to represent the Farrell & Brown brand, there were over 500 entries for the ‘Face of Farrell & Brown’, and the designers were hugely impressed at the quality and style of the entrants attending auditions in Bunratty, Blarney and Dublin.

The winning guy, 19 year old Simon Zebo is no stranger to the spotlight and has been marked as a promising rugby international. The talented winger is a regular with Cork Constitution and the Munster U20 squad as well as being part of the U20 Ireland development squad. Winning girl Adele Greene is from Glanmire Co Cork and at 22 years of age is completing her masters in Economics at University College Cork. A stunning example of beauty and brains combined i'm sure you'll agree.

The two winning models will now star in the new spring/summer campaign to be displayed across all five Farrell & Brown locations across the country as well as picking up €1000 each to spend on reinventing their summer wardrobe with the key looks from the new Farrell & Brown collection.

MINI Open Cinema

1. Alan Fitzgerald & Lindsay Kutner; 2. Anastasia Campion & Emma Frisby; 3. Clodagh Flanagan & Chris Upton. (pics. Kieran Hartnett)

MINI launched its latest convertible version last night with a special Open Cinema at Meeting House Square in Temple Bar. It was all open... the cars, the cinema and later in the evening the sky as the rain poured down on the guests.

Fortunately though it didn’t dampen the spirit and the kind people at MINI had raincoats for all who attended and the screening of Ferris Buellers Day Off went ahead regardless.

Raw Sessions with Sony Ericsson

1. Robert Ryan and Frida Dagis; 2. Majella Murphy and Patrick Hughes; 3. Natasha and Declan Herbert from Noise Control.


The music fraternity were out to beat the band at the Sugar Club this week at a party to announce the launch of The Raw Sessions with Sony Ericsson, a brand new eight-part interactive music series on television which will see eight talented Irish music acts write, record and mix an original song in front of the cameras in 12 hours or less. Viewers can vote for their favourite song and by downloading it can help the artists of the week into the Irish charts.

The Raw Sessions with Sony Ericsson, which will be presented by recording artist, actor and producer Dez Ryan, will be broadcast on RTÉ Two every Tuesday at 11.55pm from 12 May. Independent artists including Majella Murphy, Rarely Seen Above Ground (RSAG), Sickboy, Noise Control, Dirty Epics, Hoarsebox, Infomatics and Sweet Jane will take part in the series with the goal of becoming “Sony Ericsson Artist of the Year”.

The Raw Sessions concept was conceived and developed by Dez Ryan and producer/artist Chris Gubisch and their band ‘Surplus’ in a garage studio in LA. The innovative programme represents a first for Ireland by creating an original music series format while being the first television programme to produce and bring two original songs to life on air each week, which are then offered to audiences for download following the show via www.therawsessions.ie .

All downloads count towards the Irish charts so it is important that viewers download the free song in order to help their favourite band into the charts!! The top three artists who record new songs in Grouse Lodge will perform at a live event where one of them will be named “Sony Ericsson Artist of The Year”.

Star Trek Premiere

Pix Brian McEvoy

At the Star Trek premiere were: 1. Elaine Crowley of TV3; 2. New band Industry; 3. Actress Emma Bolger.


The Star Trek movie had its Irish premiere last week at the Savoy in Dublin. The film charts the early days of the Starship Enterprise, with original cast member Leonard Nimoy in a cameo role as Spock. The event dispensed with the traditional red carpet in favour of a special blue Star Trek one.

Already receiving rave reviews this latest in the franchise is set to be a massive hit. Even if you have never before seen, or heard of, Star Trek you will undoubtedly enjoy it., I know I did.

Paramount Pictures hosted an after party in The Sycamore private members club where guests enjoyed special ST cocktails and danced the night away.

The film is due to be released across Ireland on May 8th.

ABSOLUT Dublin Gay Theatre Festival

Pix: Brian McEvoy

At the Absolut Drama Queen launch party were: 1. Amanda Azams and Alan Amsby; 2. LisaConnell and will St. Leger; 3, John Carroll and Jane McDougald.



Dublin Gay Theatre Festival has revealed ABSOLUT as its new headline sponsors at the official announcement of this year’s programme. The fortnight long festival which returns for its sixth year on the May Bank Holiday, will now be known the ABSOLUT Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.

Taking place in city centre theatres between May 4th and May 17th, the festival will present a diverse range of 40 productions, including drama, comedy, musical theatre and dance.

In spite of the global economic situation, the festival welcomes to Dublin, companies from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia, Canada and the USA, in addition to many from Europe and the UK. Established in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Oscar Wilde, the 2009 run will see the festival surpass its 1,000th performance within its first week.

Although the 40 productions in this year’s programme are connected by having a gay theme, character or relevance, the festival’s Artistic Director, Brian Merriman insists that the festival is an inclusive event.

“Everyone is welcome to contribute to the ABSOLUT Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and many do. Our participants are as diverse as our audience; gay and straight, men and women, young and old, of many races and beliefs. We provide a fortnight of good employment for actors, playwrights and technicians, good value prices and quality entertainment for the people of Dublin and beyond. This festival punches way above its weight when you look at the resources we have to draw upon, and I thank all those whose generous contributions make it possible for this unique event to happen in Dublin city”, he said.

Among the highlights of this year’s festival is Frank McGuiness’ critically acclaimed play, The Bird Sanctuary. Not seen in Dublin since its Irish premiere at the Abbey, it is staged at The Project Arts Centre during the first week.

For more information go to www.gaytheatre.ie.