Santa’s Ice Palace. Keith and Dustin kept the crowd warm with their repertoire as Fire Poise gave a fantastic display of fire juggling. Anna Graham, aged 5 from Stepaside helped Keith turn on the 80,000 Christmas Lights before Santa appeared amid a cloud of smoke to the delight of waiting families.

Santa’s Ice Palace is open every day from 10am and is located in the Town Square.

Church Wedding
The angel turned crazy chick, Charlotte Church, is keen to marry her rugby hunk Gavin Henson.
Charlotte told the Sun all about her love for the Welsh rugby star. She said: "I do want to marry Gavin because he's lovely to me and I really love him.

I hope that we stay together and marriage happens for us." Charlotte is determined to keep her man and wants to keep their relationship private. "I would not sell my wedding, though. It's sacred and I wouldn't want to take money for it."

Charlotte was one of the highlights at O2 in the Park this summer as she performed her hit single Crazy Chick, from her new album Tissues and Issues, to a crowd of over 100,000 in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Other acts on the day included RnB star Lemar and the gorgeous Lee Ryan from Blue. Presenters on the day were reality TV stars Brian Dowling and Fran Cosgrave along with the every stylish, Caroline Morahan.

Britney Spears Becomes a Mother
Twenty-three year old Britney Spears has just given birth to a new baby boy.
The pop princess and her husband, Kevin Federline are thrilled at the good news. Kevin was with Britney when she had the baby. They say the baby is happy and healthy and they are ‘ecstatic' about the birth.

READ ALL ABOUT IT - GRÁINNE SHOWS HER SUPPORT FOR MS READaTHON 2005 WITH SPECSAVERS!
Top Irish News Reader Gráinne Seoige showed her support for the 18th annual MS READaTHON with Specsavers today (Friday 22nd September) when she revealed her favourite childhood book, one of the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. This years MS READaTHON with Specsavers will run from 14 October until 14 November 2005. An your marks get set and…….READ!

MS Readathon will be starting very soon, so it’s time to open those books and be ready to win some fantastic prizes!

For more information on how to get involved visit the MS READaTHON with Specsavers website at www.msreadathon.ie or phone 1850 650 950.

O2 Rocks the Park - 100,000 Fans Enjoy O2 in the Park
100,000 fans gathered in the Phoenix Park last week for Europe's Biggest FREE Concert, O2 InThe Park with RTE 2fm.

Fans rocked to 30 Irish and International acts including Welsh beauty, Charlotte Church, RnB legend Lemar, G4, Lee Ryan and the Saw Doctors.

The day offered up a good mix of music with something for everyone, Picture House, The Rags, Hazel Kaneswaren kept the fans rocking and the much anticipated duet from presenter Fran Cosgrave and Natasha Hamilton was a real hit with the audience.

Celebrity Euro Star Winner, David Mitchell was greeted by cheering fans as he made a surprise appearance on stage. The O2 Interactive Village created quite a stir as thousands of fans tried out the experience zones and visited the O2 Customs Crew in the 'Pimp My Mobile' Bubble!

Harry Potter story nearly escapes
As we were all eagerly looking forward to the release of the 6th Harry Potter book, along with millions of other people around the world a mistake by a shop assistant in Canada nearly ended the wait.

The person working in a Canadian department store accidentally sold 14 copies of the new book; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The 14 customers thought it was their lucky day until they were told they were not allowed to read the book and had to give them back until everyone was able to buy them.

However, they will be given the autograph of JK. Rowling, the author of the book, which should make them feel better.

Ronan Keating Walks the Whole of Ireland
Former Boyzone Star Ronan Keating is planning to walk the length of Ireland for the second year in a row.

The walk is in aid of the Marie Keating Foundation, a charity Ronan founded in memory of his mother.

He plans to raise €200,000 for the charity by doing the walk, which is 361 miles long and begins in the very north of the country in County Antrim and finishes in the very south of the country in Kinsale, Couty Cork.

U2 announce Irish Concert
U2 have confirmed that they will play Croke Park on the 24th June 2005.

The Vertigo World tour will then continue in Cardiff on the 29th June.

The tour kicks off in San Diego on the 28th of March.

Tickets for the Irish concert go on sale on the 4th of February. Croke Park can take up to 80,000 people.

Last week Westlife kicked off their most spectacular world tour ever, “The Red Carpet Tour”, in the Odyssey arena in Belfast. The band looked very smart for their debut performance!

Wearing stylish black suits, Nicky, Kian, Shane and Mark made a dramatic entrance from the back of the arena and worked their way to the stage through thousands of screaming fans.

The lucky concert goers were treated to plenty of costume changes, special effects and impressive dance routines throughout the dazzling show.

The band finished the concert with their three greatest hits – “World Of Our Own”, “What Makes A Man” and “Flying Without Wings”. Some fans were even lucky enough to go backstage and meet the band after the show!!

Westlife play eight nights in Dublin’s Point Theatre in February.

The Hilarious story revolves around King Neptunes missing crown. Bikini Bottom is thrown into chaos when Mr. Krab is accused of stealing the Kings precious headpiece. The King is sure to kill Mr.Krab unless someone can prove his innocence; this is where the hilarious adventure begins! Spongebob and his reliable friend Patrick the starfish step up to the challenge and set off on their journey to Shell City in a bid to retrieve the missing crown and save their friends life!!

The famous nickelodeon characters new film will be released in Irish cinemas on the 11th of February and is rated PG.

Harry Potter Author has Baby Girl
JK Rowling, the author of the famous Harry Potter books has just had a baby girl. The baby was born in Scotland at the end of January.

This is JK Rowling’s third child.

The baby is born in plenty of time for the release of the next Harry Potter book.

She has not yet revealed what the baby’s name will be.

Christmas Television
There is great viewing in store this year for Christmas. A fantastic choice of big films from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, the first of the successful Harry Potter movies.

There will also be hour long specials from some of your favorite soaps, such as Fair City which will be airing on Christmas day.

TV3 is opting for some oldies, with films like Beethoven, The Nutty professor and Stir Crazy all showing on TV3 on Christmas Eve.

7Up on Ice
The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern helped to launch this years BUPA Ireland Smithfield on ice in Dublin. Along with the taoiseach Ireland’s top figure skater Nadia Elatrash was also there to help the launch.

The huge festive outdoor ice rink , which is Dublin ’s only open air ice rink, is opening Friday 26 th November. And will remain open until January 7th. The rink will be open for eight weeks in total, and more than 110,000 people are expected to attend the ice rink.

For more information check out the website, www.smithfieldonice.ie

U2 launch their new album
Bono and the band performed a free gig in New York this week for the launch of their new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

They started their performance driving through New York on a flat bed truck, and ended in a city park performing to thousands.

U2 are hoping to knock Eminem of the top spot in the US and British charts. It’s reported that 2.2 million copies of the album have sold in the US alone this week.

U2 fans queue late at night to buy first albums
U2 fans queued along Grafton Street in Dublin last week to be the first to buy the group’s newest album.

HMV in Grafton Street opened at midnight last Thursday to sell the first copies of “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” to excited fans.

Some fans had been queuing in the rain from 10 o’clock in the morning to make sure they were top of the queue.

People travelled from England to be among the lucky ones to get one of the first copies of the album.

Keith Duffy’s generous charity donation
Generous Keith Duffy, who used to sing in the famous Irish boyband ‘Boyzone’, has just given £25,000 to charity.

The charity is called SPEAC, and was actually set up by Keith to help children who have autism. Keith’s own daughter was born with this disease a few years ago.

SPEAC wants to build one of the first schools for autistic children in Northern Ireland, so Keith has given them all this money to help make that dream come true. Everyone can see Keith on their tellies on ‘Coronation Street’, where he plays Ciaran the friendly Irish barman.

Sun shines for 100,000 fans at massive free gig
Sunshine beat down on 100,000 fans for Ireland’s biggest free concert, which was held in Dublin at the beginning of September.

The concert began at 3pm and ended at 9pm. Thousands of teenagers spent the afternoon sunbathing, eating ice cream and listening to pop music.

The line-up contained big names such as Blue, Brian McFadden, Girls Aloud and 411. Brian McFadden thrilled the crowd as he sang for the first time with his new band Franklin.

At 6pm the crowd went wild as Westlife took to the stage. Thousands of teenagers sang and danced to Westlife as the band performed all their well-known hits.

A special cheer was given to Irish Olympian Cian O’Connor when he showed the crowd his gold Olympic medal for show jumping.

Britney Spears to Celebrate Marriage in Brazil
Britney Spears is planning a honeymoon in Brazil with her fiance Kevin, according to her pals.

The singer is delighted Federline has agreed to celebrate their marriage in South America.

The plan is to take them to Rio de Janeiro to stay in a private penthouse. The lucky couple will then be flown via helicopter to stay at a millionaire's private home in Buzios, where Brazil's rich and famous live.

Britney Spears is getting married!!
After all the drama with ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake and her whirlwind marriage earlier this year, Britney Spears has decided to get married again.

Yes, that’s right! She’s marrying her dancer/ boyfriend Kevin. This will be her 2nd marriage following her wedding to her friend, Jason which ended in an annulment 72 hours later. Hopefully this one won’t end in an annulment.

NEW The Simpsons Is the Longest Cartoon Ever
Did you know that the Simpsons is the longest-running cartoon series ever?

The popular cartoon with stars Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie started on 14th Jan 1990. Think of how old you were back then!

The Simpsons had their 225th episode in May 1999. They have a huge following worldwide and the shows have been translated into many different language so people throughout the world can enjoy the favourite family's antics.

Britney Comes to Ireland
Britney performed all the fans’ favorite hits including “Hit Me Baby One More Time”, “Lucky”, and “Oops I did it again”. She also impressed the crowd with her fast-paced dance routines.

There was huge excitement in Dublin when fans learned that Britney planned to pay a visit to Brown Thomas on Grafton Street and some fans were lucky enough to bump into her as she was walking down the street.

Eurovision Disaster
Winner of You're A Star, Chris Doran went to Turkey to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. There were 35 European countries competing to win the contest.

Unfortunately Chris failed to impress the voters in the 34 other countries, who texted in their vote for their favorite entry.

His song, which was co-written by ex-Westlife star Bryan McFadden came second-last.

But we still think you're a star Chris and wish you the best of luck in the future!

Westlife Live On
It was announced on Wednesday 10th March that Bryan McFadden was leaving Westlife. Since then there has been much speculation about the future of the band.

Westlife supporters all across Europe were hoping they wouldn’t split up.

The good news for all Westlife devotees is that the four remaining boys were spotted in Dublin taking a break from rehearsals for their upcoming tour. Fans are delighted that Westlife will continue entertaining their followers with performances of their popular hits.

Bryan said that he left the band to spend more time with his gorgeous wife Kerry and their two little girls, Molly and Lily. Bryan, who wrote the Eurovision song for Chris Doran will be supporting Chris for the Eurovision Song Contest. So no doubt he will not leave the spotlight of the media for long.

Best of luck to Westlife on their summer tour and to Bryan, wherever his future may take him.

St. Patrick’s Day 2004
St. Patrick’s Day was a day of sun and fun for everyone all around the country. The highlights of the day were the many parades in towns and counties throughout Ireland.

Half a million people lined the streets to watch the big parade in Dublin. Grand Marshall Rosanna Davidson led the parade in which 3,500 performers danced, sang and celebrated the occasion in colourful costumes.

Cities and towns around Ireland also held extravagant parades to honour our patron saint. Wexford celebrated the town’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade for many years with colourful Caledonian pipers musically meandering through the streets. Circus elephants were the highlight of Sligo Town’s parade.

Cork city was closed to all traffic other than marching bands and vibrant dragons, while Girls Aloud entertained the crowds in Belfast.

Westlife Win Record of the Year Again
Westlife were presented with the Record of the Year award for the third year. They are the first band ever to win this prestigious award three times. It was given to them for their popular song Mandy.

The award is decided by a live telly vote on ITV. They beat other chart-topping acts such as Beyonce, Busted and Dido. The producer of the ITV show flew over to Dublin to present the boys with their award.

Their new single Obvious is also doing very well at number 2 in the charts. Congratulations to the boys and long may their success continue.

Kerry Crowned Queen of the Jungle
Bubbly Kerry McFadden was crowned Queen of the Jungle on Wednesday. Kerry spent 14 days in an Australian jungle for the TV show "I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here".

While in the jungle she faced many challenges and once even ate insects and worms.

Her husband Bryan McFadden from Westlife couldn't contain his pride for Kerry during their emotional reunion when the show ended. He says, "She's my hero".

The real winners are the two Irish charities that Kerry elected to receive donations from the show. The Variety Club of Ireland and Temple Street Children's Hospital in Dublin will be given proceeds from the text votes that helped Kerry win.

Childline Concert raised a terrific quarter of a million Euro. 
Last weekend, the Childline concert raised a terrific €250,000. The concert has taken place for the past 7 years. Westlife’s Bryan McFadden and Nicky Byrne had great fun hosting the gig for the second year running.

A host of stars entertained the crowd in all their glitz and glamour. Performers included Girls Aloud, the gorgeous Gareth Gates and Simon Casey. Westlife headlined the gig for the fifth year in a row.

RTE will screen the concert soon, for all of you who couldn’t attend or want to re-live the great experience.

8 Children Honoured
8 young children were honoured last weekend for their determination by the Share a Dream Foundation.

The children, who all suffer from serious illnesses, received the awards for the great strength they have shown.

The 8 winners will travel to Disneyland Paris as part of their prize.
The 8 award winners are: Sinead McGuire from Meath who is 6 years old, Niall Foley from Galway who is 11, Gavin Cuffe from Dublin (7), Aaron Lynch from Louth (7), Aishling Arthur from Limerick (8), Ursula Gavin from Tyrone (15) and Jade Murphy from Wexford (7).

Bryan and Kerry McFadden Plan to Adopt Children
Westlife star Bryan McFadden and wife, Kerry are planning to adopt children.

The famous couple already have 2 of their own children, 2 year old Molly and eight month old Lilly-Sue.

They want to have a bigger family and Kerry is determined to adopt an unwanted child. Kerry says she wants to adopt because she was raised in care homes and by foster parents.

They also want to have more of their own children.

Kerry in children's charity campaign.
Hundreds of would be singing stars have been attending You’re A Star auditions throughout the country in the hope of becoming next year’s Eurovision representative for Ireland. 

The first series saw talented Mickey-Joe Harte beat off hundreds of competitors to win the chance to sing “We’ve got the World” before millions of viewers throughout Europe in the Eurovision last May.

The first show of You’re A Star 2 will be on television on Sunday, November the 16th. There will be 18 shows altogether and a new star will be selected to sing for Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest next year.

Who will be the new Mickey-Joe?
Hundreds of would be singing stars have been attending You’re A Star auditions throughout the country in the hope of becoming next year’s Eurovision representative for Ireland. 

The first series saw talented Mickey-Joe Harte beat off hundreds of competitors to win the chance to sing “We’ve got the World” before millions of viewers throughout Europe in the Eurovision last May.

The first show of You’re A Star 2 will be on television on Sunday, November the 16th. There will be 18 shows altogether and a new star will be selected to sing for Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest next year.

Little Irish film stars.
A pair of Irish sisters have become film stars! Sarah and Emma Bolger star in Jim Sheridan’s new film, ‘In America’, which will be in cinemas in Ireland very soon.

‘In America’ is about an Irish family who go to live in America. The two young Irish actresses play the daughters in the film. 

Sarah is just twelve and Emma is only eight, making them two of Ireland’s youngest movie stars! 

The sisters are really excited about the film coming out in Ireland. They even got to go to the film premier in Dublin and meet Bertie Ahern and The Corrs.

Stay Away From Fireworks this Halloween

Last week the police carried out a test to show that illegal fireworks can actually blow people’s hands off.

The Gardaí have warned that bangers being sold in the streets this Halloween are not in good condition and have no safety standards.

A frightening example of the danger of fireworks was shown when a family home in Co. Meath went on fire. Gardaí believe that the fire was caused by a rocket exploding in the garden of the house.

13 year-old Anthony Prizeman from Killinarden Community school got the shock of his life in August of this year when a firework set his head and hair on fire. He has vowed never to go near fireworks again because, he says, they are too dangerous.

Children are also warned to be careful around bonfires this Halloween.

RTE Newsreader Anne Doyle made friends with a group of teddy bears last week to launch a campaign to help disabled people.

RTE Newsreader Anne Doyle made friends with a group of teddy bears last week to launch a campaign to help disabled people.

For the next three years care bears will be in all the shops, and people who buy them will be helping to raise money for the disabled and their families.

The organisers hope to raise over 1 million Euros over the next three years of the Rehab Care Bear programme.

You’re a Star Winner Expecting New Baby.

You’re a Star Winner, Mickey Harte has announced that he and his wife Louise are expecting a new baby.

The singer, who represented Ireland in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest already has 2 children: Kyle, who is 7 years old and Kayleigh who is 11.

Mickey, whose own father died six months ago, is delighted that their third baby will be arriving next year.

Mickey’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, ‘We’ve got the World’ made it to number 1 in Ireland.

Spice Girls to reunite for farewell Concerts.

The Spice Girls may do 2 enormous farewell concerts in Britain and the USA.

Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Posh and Baby are thinking of getting together one last time to promote their Greatest Hits Album.

Despite the angry words that were said around the time of Geri's split from the band and the fact that all of the others work apart now, it looks like the girls may be able to over come their differences.

So maybe once again we will see Mel C doing back-flips, Victoria Beckham doing her posh dance, Mel B scaring everyone, Emma dressed in baby pink and Geri returning to her previous image, all holding hands to take that final farewell bow.

Bob Geldof’s daughter Peaches – a famous author?

Bob Geldof’s beautiful daughter is already thinking about what to with her future and she is only 14 years old.

Peaches, who has a huge interest in fashion says she wouldn’t mind combining her writing and fashion design.

She says she has already been moved up to a higher English class in school and has all sorts of ideas for a career as a writer. She would also like to be in charge of a big fashion house and says she dreams of running a place as good as Armani.

She says there are already a number of well-known people around at the moment who she could give a few fashion tips to.

Ronan Keating sings special song for his mother.

Ex-boyzone star, Ronan Keating sang a beautiful song in memory of his mother, Marie Keating on live TV last Friday evening.Ronan's Mum, Marie died of cancer nearly 6 years ago and Ronan has found it very difficult to talk about it until now.

Ronan loved his mother very much and since her death has done an enormous amount of volunteer work to raise money to fight cancer. He set up the Marie Keating foundation in honour of his mother.

He sang 'This is your song', paying tribute to the fantastic person his mother was on 'You're a Star' judge, Phil Coulter's show. Phil was honoured that Ronan chose his show to play this beautiful tribute to Marie Keating.

Nicky and Georgina tie the knot in France.

It was a star-studded wedding with guests including all the Westlife boys, Louis Walsh and Ronan and Yvonne Keating. Nicky surprised Georgina by singing a beautiful love song at the ceremony. It was a beautiful day and all the ladies wore light summer dresses in the 40-degree sun, meanwhile the groomsmen, including Nicky's little brother Adam all wore purple suits. Dustin the Turkey was another special guest who entertained guests at the wedding. Nicky and Georgina both wore white. Nicky had the first letters of his and Georgina' names: 'N' and 'G' sown onto his suit. French police guarded the castle where the couple married and the castle was closed to the public for the weekend.

After a special goodbye brunch to which all their guests were invited, Nicky and Georgina left the chateau on Sunday to head off on their honeymoon.

Posh and Becks take private plane each!

David and Victoria Beckham showed the world just how rich and glamorous they are when they flew in separate private planes this week.

The two had just spent a lovely holiday in the South of France in the home of their friend, Elton John.

David took his plane back to Madrid where he has just joined the Real Madrid team; meanwhile Victoria flew back to their home in England, known as 'Beckingham Palace'.

Victoria is currently house hunting in Spain. It has also been revealed that Posh has signed up with former Spice Girls manager, Simon Fuller to promote the Beckham brand worldwide.

Madonna writes children's books

Harry Potter, watch out!
Pop star Madonna is planning to launch her own children's book, called English Rose". Madonna has huge plans to bring the book to children all over the world and plans are in place to publish the book in 30 different languages in 100 countries.

The book is the first in a series of five books that the superstar mother of 2 is writing for children. Madonna will jet off to Paris to unveil "English Rose", which is due to be released soon. Madonna's huge fame will help her to sell her books though catching up with the success of Harry Potter might need a touch of magic! 

Ex-Boyzone Star to Climb Highest Mountain in Africa

Coronation Street actor and ex-Boyzone singer, Keith Duffy will climb to the top of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for autism.

Keith’s own daughter, Mia, suffers from autism, so he believes it is very important to do something about the disease.

Kilimanjaro is 5,963 metres high, and is the 4th highest mountain in the world.

9 other people will go on the climb with Keith.

The plan is to raise enough money for a centre for people with autism in Ireland.

18 year-old Irish girl to sing at Rugby World Cup.

Colleen Shannon, an 18 year-old soprano singer from Co. Kerry will travel to Australia this October to sing at the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup.

Colleen will be joined on stage by 25 year-old Alistair Davis from Dublin.

Colleen says she is very nervous about singing in front of so many people on the 10th of October this year, but is delighted to have the opportunity.

They will sing together with a male and female singer from each of the countries represented in the Rugby World Cup for the opening and closing ceremonies.

The two will also sing before all the Irish matches.

Bono honoured at Trinity College.

It was an honorary degree; meaning Bono did not have to study for it. He was given the award to recognise his great achievements as a singer and also to mark the fantastic work he had done to ease the sufferings of mankind.

Bono has been in the news a lot lately, because of his campaign to encourage Western governments to cancel Third World Debt.

He has always cared deeply about suffering people and took part in the international Live Aid concert organised by Sir Bob Geldof, another Irish singer back in the 1980's.

Bono wore his famous sunglasses when receiving his award at Trinity College.

Irish pilots break record

Two pilots have created history by being the first Irish pilots ever to fly around the world in a single-engine aircraft.

The heroes, 29 year-old Alan McMahon and 33 year-old Paul Ryan received a huge welcome when they flew into Shannon airport last week after completing their round-the-world trip.

Paul and Alan flew over Europe, the Egyptian deserts, India, Asia, the USA and Canada. The trip was 25,000 miles long and took 70 days to complete.

Paul and Alan left Ireland on the first of May, planning to break a record but also to raise €50,000 for the Marie Keating Foundation.

The first thing they did when they got home was have a full Irish breakfast, which they say they really missed while they were flying around the world.

Cabin Fever ship goes down.

Disaster struck for the crew of Cabin Fever 1 last Friday when the ship struck rocks off Tory Island and sank.

Cabin Fever 1 is famous for being the ship used on the RTE Reality TV show, Cabin Fever. There were 11 people on board the ship when it began to sink.

The crew were very lucky and all escaped unhurt. Helicopters and rescue boats immediately arrived on the scene and brought the crew to safety before the ship was completely covered by water.

People in local B&B’s looked after the shocked people, giving them food and clothes, as a lot of their belongings had gone down with the boat.The strange thing is, the accident happened on Friday the 13th, which is known as a very unlucky day, especially for ships. In fact local people on Tory Island, beside where Cabin Fever 1 crashed say they will never go out on the water on Friday the 13th.

Ex-Boyzone Star May Stay in Coronation Street.

Keith Duffy, who plays the part of Ciaran McCarthy, the Irish chef in Coronation Street may stay with the show for at least another 2 years.

28 year-old Keith who used to be in Boyzone along with Ronan Keating has been offered half a million Euros by Coronation Street to stay in the show.

The bosses of the show were really impressed with Keith's acting and would love him to stay on.Other actors say that Keith is very lucky to be offered so much money and he would be crazy not to accept it.

Ronan Keating and Keith Duffy are now the best-known members of Boyzone since the band broke up.

New baby for singer of Yellow Submarine

"We all live in a yellow submarine, we all live in a yellow submarine!" 

One of the singers of the well-known song is to become a Daddy again this October. Paul McCartney, who used to be in the band, the Beatles, is delighted to be having a new baby with his wife, Heather Mills this year.

The singer, who is 60 years old, has three other children, Mary, Stella and James.

Paul married Heather in June of last year.

All they have to decide now is which of the Beatle's songs will be the new baby's bedtime lullaby!

8 year-old hero saves mum and little sister
An 8 year-old boy from Portmagee, Co. Kerry became a hero this week when he rushed for help for his mum and sister who were stuck in their car, which had turned over.

Ronan Riordan realised he had to think quickly when the car hit a ditch at 1 a.m. on a dark country road.

He bravely climbed out of the shattered back window and hurried to the nearest house to alert the fire brigade. He said his experience climbing with his cousins meant he knew how to go about it.

He gave his baby sister, Tara her bottle and kept her calm by promising he would be back straight away, before heading off to alert the fire brigade.

Help arrived soon afterwards and all three members of the Riordan family were taken to hospital. The good news is, apart from a few bruises, no one was badly hurt.

Ronan is very calm about his experience, but his Mum says Ronan is a true hero and if he had not been so good, they would have been stuck in the car all night.

Space bus to find life on Mars?

The spacecraft Mars Express will be jetting off to the Red Planet in search of alien life in June.   An Irish scientist, Professor Susan McKenna has been working her magic to come up with a device that may be used to detect alien life during the space trip. The space team are hoping to prove that the fourth rock from the sun has water on it. This may lead them to the discovery of whether or not life existed on Mars.
The mission is jetting off from a launch pad in Russia on a Russian rocket and will stay in Mars for 687 Earth days or one Martian year.

Students design weird and wonderful outfits

The Coca Cola Form and Fusion Design Awards this year is encouraging students from over 345 schools to design weird and wonderful costumes.

Baby bottle tops, orange peel and CD's are some of the materials used in the design of the costumes. The 35 finalists have been chosen from over 1,000 entries and the students are all aged between 15 and 19.

The students have to present their work in a two-minute performance with funky music playing in the background. The first competition took place in 1998 and since then it has grown to be one of the students favourite events in the school term. It gives them the opportunity to show their creativity to their fellow students.

Flintstone Fun Fundraiser

Barney Rubble made a colourful contribution to a recent fundraiser event that took place in Co. Offaly. Students paid €1 to guess who was dressed as the famous Flintstones character Barney, whowas accompanied by a masked giant baby. The students raised €260 for Ciara's Crusade, a charity that was set up in memory of ten year old Ciara died from cystic fibrosis. The fun packed day proved to be a great success, and will help other children who suffer from the same disease as Ciara.

Mumba to visit Zambia

Samantha Mumba is planning to jet off to Zambia at Easter to discover the roots of her father's family.

This is the first time she will visit and she is representing UNICEF. She hopes to raise awareness for the need of

medical help for one of Africa's poorest countries and at the same time find out more about her African heritage. Samantha is also planning to meet up with her Grandmother who still lives in Zambia.

Samantha is already a celebrity in Zambia where her songs are very popular and she has already received a lot of fan mail from Zambia. The singer's tour will help promote a fact-finding trip called Kids helping Kids, which UNICEF organises to raise money to donate to Zambian charities.

Meteor Awards at the Point

This years Meteor Awards at the Point were packed with all the top names in the music industry.Westlife, Samantha Mumba and Tom Jones were among some of the fantastic pop performances on the night.

Bono from U2 has added another award to his collection. Colin Farrell the Irish actor who is causing a storm in the America presented U2's lead man with an award to recognise all the work he has done in Africa. 

Bono has decided to donate his prize winning cheque of €100,000 to Goal and Concern and said that they were the real heroes. U2 also won Best Group award. Bob Geldof was delighted to receive his first Irish music award and Westlife picked up the Best Pop Act award.

Bryan and Kerry celebrate birth of new baby, Lilly Sue.

Bryan and Kerry McFadden are having huge celebrations following the arrival of their new baby girl on Monday.

This is the delighted couple's second daughter. Her big sister Molly who is a year and a half old was thrilled to welcome little Lilly Sue into the family.

Bryan found it difficult to decide which member of Westlife would make the best godfather for their little girl, so he put all their names into a hat and Kerry picked out the winner. Shane Filan was the lucky member of the Sligo band and was honoured to be chosen as godfather for baby Lilly Sue.

Kerry, who used to be in the group, Atomic Kitten, was working up to the last moment before giving birth. She was a live judge on the RTE You're a Star programme up until 10 o'clock on Sunday evening and 4 hours later went into the hospital to give birth. Kerry is now taking a break as a judge from the Eurovision competition to look after baby Lilly Sue.

Stars flock to Rings premiere
Hollywood star Liv Tyler cast a spell on a crowd of thousands as she topped the guest list at the UK premiere of the latest Lord of the Rings movie. The actress - who wore a black Stella McCartney satin trouser suit - was stunned by her reception as fans chanted her name in London's Leicester Square. "That's the most people I've ever heard screaming my name in my life - I can't take it all in," she said. Tyler, who plays Princess Arwen in the second Lord of the Rings installment, The Two Towers, headed a glittering guest list of stars at the launch of the fantasy epic. Cate Blanchett, who also stars, made a late entrance for the 4,000 crowd in a white Versace knee-length dress. The Australian star, who now lives in the UK, had not seen the movie beforehand. She makes only the briefest of appearances: "I think it's only about 60 seconds really. I've seen absolutely nothing so I am really excited."

The Two Towers picks up from the first movie Fellowship of the Ring and sees Frodo and Sam carrying on their journey into Mordor to defeat the forces of evil. 

8 year-old hero saves mum and little sister

An 8 year-old boy from Portmagee, Co. Kerry became a hero this week when he rushed for help for his mum and sister who were stuck in their car, which had turned over.

Ronan Riordan realised he had to think quickly when the car hit a ditch at 1 a.m. on a dark country road.

He bravely climbed out of the shattered back window and hurried to the nearest house to alert the fire brigade. He said his experience climbing with his cousins meant he knew how to go about it.

He gave his baby sister, Tara her bottle and kept her calm by promising he would be back straight away, before heading off to alert the fire brigade.

Help arrived soon afterwards and all three members of the Riordan family were taken to hospital. The good news is, apart from a few bruises, no one was badly hurt.

Ronan is very calm about his experience, but his Mum says Ronan is a true hero and if he had not been so good, they would have been stuck in the car all night.

 Santa Bono

Bono has loaded his own super sleigh full of Christmas gifts which is destined for sick children in Africa. The U2 singer helped to pack the world's largest cargo plane with 80,000 shoe boxes containing festive gifts. Operation Christmas Child was organised by Rev Franklin Graham and the boxes were filled by children across America, including many children who are sick themselves.

Bono hugged some of the ill children who helped as he prepared to wave off the mighty Antonov 2255 from New York's JFK Airport. The star has been campaigning tirelessly over the past two years for American funding for Africans. He has recently been on a two-month tour visiting some of the poorer regions of the countries.

Westlife's Shane to marry in Sligo

Shane Filan of Irish boyband Westlife is to marry girlfriend Gillian Walsh in Sligo.

Gillian has said that the couple will marry in an open ceremony and will not sell the rights to photos of the wedding. Gillian told the News of the World newspaper, "I would never sell my wedding pictures to a glossy magazine… I wouldn't put my family and friends through it!" She added, "We want the wedding to be here in Sligo if we can get the right place." A date has not yet been set.

Westlife's Greatest Hits album, "Unbreakable", is due for release on 11 November.

Check-Out Catwalk Stunner Catriona

A former check-out girl in Dunnes is now earning €13,000 per day as Ireland's biggest ever international model. Stunning Catriona Balfe (22), has become such a success that she's splashing out on her first home - a swish apartment in Manhattan. Catriona, who is signed to the Elite model agency, jets between the fashion capitals of New York, Paris

and Milan. However, just a few years ago the dark-haired Irish model was packing bags at the check-out of Dunnes Stores in Rathmines in Dublin. 

This season alone Catriona appeared in 13 catwalk shows at New York fashion week and 12 in Paris fashion week. "She is the talk of all the designers. Marc Jacobs is a massive designer in America and he won't open a show without her. Yves St Laurent in Paris is the same", said Margaret Humphries of Assets model agency in Dublin. "She worked this season for Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Christian LaCroix, Chanel and John Rocha. She also did an accessories campaign for Calvin Klein and a shoe campaign for Bally. You can't pick up a copy of any glossy magazine she's not in at the moment." The Assets boss said that Catriona's modelling talent shone from the very start and also revealed that Ireland's 22-year-old catwalk queen has not been changed by her stunning new-found success.

Date: 16th December 2002

Nadine is back on Son

Derry's Nadine Coyle has made it through to the second round of Popstars - The Rivals show. Songbird Nadine (17) shot to fame on the Irish version of the ITV smash hit show Popstars. Nadine was picked by pop guru Louis Walsh to be a member of chart sensations Six. However, Nadine was controversially axed from the band after it was revealed she had lied about her age to the show's producers.

Nadine had claimed to be 18-years-old, but show bosses had no choice but to kick her out after it was revealed she was only 16. She was forced to leave the house in heartbreaking fashion, with each moment recorded for TV.

However, on Popstars - The Rivals, there's no over-18's rule so Nadine has decided to make a second stab at fame. And it's paying off - the stunner will appear on the show next Saturday. The judges are Geri Halliwell, pop producer Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh, manager of Westlife. The judges will pick 20 performers to make up the panel from which the five-member rival band will be chosen. Louis already knew of her talent, but Geri and Pete have also been blown away by Nadine's singing skills.

Date: 09th September 2002

Fighters see red in saucy fiesta

Tens of thousands of people stripped off their shirts and hurled truckloads of tomatoes at each other in the annual Tomatina food fight. The slugging match sent knee-deep rivers of tomato sauce down the streets of the small Spanish town. The annual festival just keeps getting more popular. The crowd of 38,000 - mostly young tourists - broke last year's record of 30,000 who converged on Bunol, which has a population of just 9,000.

At noon, municipal trucks hauled in 132 tonnes of ripe, juicy plum tomatoes and spilled them at the feet of adrenaline-charged crowds in the main square of the town, 300m southeast of Madrid.

Within seconds everything within sight was splattered in blood-red slime and clouds of tomato sauce filled the air. 

The participants, including many females, had ripped off their shirts and many wore goggles to keep the airborne vegetables from stinging their eyes.

A rocket fired from a balcony signalled the end exactly one hour later and residents helped wash off the participants with hoses.

Date: 2nd September 2002

Eminem is booed at MTV gongs

Eminem won four awards the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, but it didn't put the rapper in a good mood - he found time to feud with his enemy Moby, then ended up getting booed by the crowd.

It was just part of the annual celebrity circus that is the Video Music Awards, which featured a typically bizarre appearance from Michael Jackson, a standing ovation for former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and a Guns 'n' Roses performance featuring Axl Rose - but apparently none of the other original members such as guitarist Slash.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off the show with a rousing performance that celebrated the spirit of the city. Springsteen sang the title song to his new album, The Rising, which touches on the emotions and the aftermath of September 11.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening was when pop queen Britney Spears emerged to give an "Artist of the Millennium" award to Michael Jackson, whose first album of the new millennium, Invincible, produced only two hits and was a commercial disappointment. The award coincided with the Kong of Pop's 44th birthday. "When I was a little boy growing up in Gary, Indiana," Jackson said softly, "I never dreamed of getting the Artist of the Millennium Award." 

Date: 2nd September 2002

Nice day for a white wedding

Sequined belly-dancing Indians, a Hungarian singer, musicians from Morocco, a band of Scots and lots of Irish traditional groups - millionaire boyfriend in the sunny island of Majorca. And beautiful Andrea was bridesmaid for one of her musical sisters for the second year in a row.

Sharon married barrister Gavin Bonner last year with Caroline and Andrea by her side. Caroline, 29, married her long-time love Frank Woods at the romantic ceremony. She wowed family and friends by dressing in a simple but stunning white wedding gown but bridesmaids Andrea and Sharon wore daring red dresses. 

Property Tycoon Frank proposed to Dundalk-born Caroline during a romantic weekend break in Paris last month. Guests invited to the tiny Majorcan village of Deia included U2 stars The Edge and Bono.

Andrea could be the next Corr to get hitched - she's been going out with former Charlotte Church manager Giles Baxendale for more than a year.

Date: 26th August 2002

Big Fella Neeson honours hero Collins

Actor Liam Neeson revealed how his Irish hero, Michael Collins, brought him through a near tragic accident. The Hollywood star said as he lay in a New York hospital bed after a motorbike crash he asked himself: "What would Mick do?" and in his best doctor's acting voice, Neeson declared: "You were told to do one-hour physical therapy - you will do two hours and be thankful for it." To a cheering crowd, he said: Forgive me, I am just an actor, I have to do something."

The anecdote brought a rousing response from thousands of people who packed Emmet Square in Clonakilty, Co. Cork on Thursday 26th August on the 80th anniversary of the death of Michael Collins. Neeson portrayed Michael Collins in the 1996 movie, which grossed over $30 million at the box office.

At the invitation of a National Monument Commemorative Committee, Neeson made a transatlantic dash to unveil a life-size bronze statue to Collins in the patriot's native West Cork. "If my presence here today will help to keep alive his memory, I will be doubly honoured," said Neeson. Committee chairman Traolach O'Donnabhain disclosed that Neeson had responded to by fax within 24 hours of being invited to unveil the statue. The Ballymena-born actor was accompanied by his mother Kitty. 

"Collins was a remarkable man," said Neeson. "He was always his own man. In these days of corporate shenanigans, where the buck is passed, in Collin's day the buck stopped with him." The actor proudly declared: "He's my hero. He still inspires me." Church bells tolled to sound the hour at which Collins died in an ambush at 8.00pm on August 22 on the roadside at Béal na nBláth. His armoured car Sliabh na Mon, in which Collins had toured West Cork on his last fateful journey, was parked beside the Kevin Holland-sculptured monument in the shade of leafy chestnuts.