Thinking of applying for Dragons’ Den?

Writing by aj@lecraic on Monday, 13 of October , 2008 at 11:25 pm

Rte-dragons-den

If you were thinking of applying for RTE’s Dragons’ Den, you might want to give a little pause for thought. A tiny piece in the Irish Daily Mail yesterday caught my eye.

“Gavin Duffy, one of the Dragons in the forthcoming series Dragons’ Den, said he did not know whether funding novice entrepreneurs is a sensible investment given the current recession.

The Irish version of the the hugely successful reality show will see hopeful entrepreneurs pitching their business plans to a set of five investors, including Mr. Duffy, who will offer capital in return for a stake in the project if the candidate can convince them of its worth.

Duffy, a media consultant, and a founder of LMFM radio, who made millions from the Irish property market, claimed that he will have to invest somewhere in the region of €300,000 as capital over the 8 episodes in the series.

He said : ‘It’s been in the pipeline. I was approached a good while back to see if I was available. At the time I thought it was a great idea. I’m now quite worried because the way the economy is going… do I have the money? There are going to have to be some good ideas.”

This is a joke. People are expected to go in front of someone like this on national television after he wonders aloud if he has the money? He wonders if now is the time to fund entrepreneurship in Ireland? Surely there is no better time than now to invest in entrepreneurs. I’m sure there was some point in his own career where someone took a chance on him and lent him some money or gave him an opportunity.

RTE’s blurb says that “The Irish Dragons are successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who have been there, done that”. Has Mr. Duffy forgotten the definition of entrepreneurship?

Any real entrepreneur out there reading this ought to ask themselves do you really want to go in front of someone like Mr. Duffy who, it appears, would prefer to sit on his money and wait for the ideal time (like when investing in property was mistaken for entrepreneurship) to take a risk.

Shame on him. If Shinawil/RTE had any cop on, they’d deliver the famous line “I’m out” to Mr. Duffy.

(Photo above is from stock photo site and does not depict an actual homeless person)

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Category: telly

Irish Apprentice Watch - Week 3 - The one with “do you want fries with that”

Writing by aj@lecraic on Thursday, 9 of October , 2008 at 10:42 pm

Apprentice Week 3 Review
4/5

Week three review by Ian Walsh

After 2 wins by the girls at team Pheonix and 2 men fired, its time for a bit of a mix up this week a mixture of guys and girls on each team. Exciting stuff ! Avril steps up to the mark to lead team Phoenix and Shane for team Dynamo. With the teams and project managers in place, the task is revealed to be managing a branch of Supermacs : O’Connell Street (Dublin) and Eyre Square (Galway). The objective of the task : maximise profit.

Any logical person would say ‘oh without a doubt the O’Connell Street branch will win’, but that wasn’t the case at all. Team Phoenix were very, very poor and lost by almost €1000. They were literally like headless chickens and had no master plan. Team Dynamo put some effort in and had Galway celebs on hand to create some buzz in the form of county hurler Joe Canning & the Galway Rose. Paddy O’ Dea gave a motivational speech to the staff in Galway at the start of the day, and it was they who were the real stars.

In the boardroom it proved to be third time unlucky for Ronan as he was fired for his poor performance. Bill gave Avril a chance because she was a ‘warrior’ and fought. They were all infected with the phrase. The word hasn’t been used so much since Braveheart was filmed. At the end of the shakedown, Ronan became the third candidate and the third male to be fired. This was one of my favourite episodes so far in the series.

There was a great quote from Fiona Looney in the Daily Mail - ‘If there’s a ballroom dancing task anytime soon, the girls are in trouble’.

Rated 4/5 on Oct 9 2008
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Category: Apprentice Ireland, telly, the apprentice

Reeling in the Years coming to DVD

Writing by aj@lecraic on Thursday, 9 of October , 2008 at 10:47 am

RITY

It only took 10 years, but finally, finally, ‘Reeling in the Years’ has made it to DVD. This 150 minute, double DVD will feature all the great memories from 80’s. Remember those days? Ireland was a basket case economy, emigration was rife, the doles queues were long, the queues for jobs were longer still. But there was lots to cheer too in those times. Like the Irish football team and Miley hitting the charts with ‘The Byroads to Glenroe’. Ah yes, heady days indeed.

We’ve come a long way since then baby and what a rollercoaster ride it’s been. Almost a cruel twist of fate that the DVD is being released now. It’s a time when some of the ghosts of the 80’s we thought were dead are coming back to haunt us.

For now though we can rejoice that those busy bees in RTE literally spent years getting copyright clearance for all the clips and music on the DVD’s. This could quite possibly be one of the biggest sellers of all time in Ireland and perfect timing for my birthday which is coming up on 12th November.

I’ll treat myself to it and revel in the memories whilst chomping a Wispa bar and saying a little prayer we get through these tumultuos times ok. Hopefully we can all ride the rollercoaster upwards on the next cycle and leave no child behind this time round.

[More on RTE.ie]

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Category: current affairs, telly

Apprentice bits ahead of Week 3

Writing by aj@lecraic on Sunday, 5 of October , 2008 at 5:17 pm

This week’s live blog of the Apprentice is happening over at The National Lottie – be sure to fire up the browser and join in with the commentary!

Don’t forget to check back here for the review by Ian Walsh as well.

Brian Purcell, the really serious looking right hand man of Cúchulainn, reckons that the eventual winner of the €100,000 job will become a hangman.

Cúchulainn reckons the bank bailout package will all come good in the end and he should know as he’s lived through rough times since he became a multi-millionaire. He’s gone through 5 recessions and we should just work our way out of it. Where the jobs will come from isn’t specified

“He [the Taoiseach] seems to have ticked all the boxes and has done it over a period of time. They didn’t rush into the panic station that the crisis was creating. They stood back and took a good view; and from what I can see, they’ve ticked the boxes. I’m sure that something will come up that we weren’t aware of, but overall it’s a tremendous package which gives great comfort to the banks and to the people they’re going to try to borrow for. There is money out there, whether it’s in Dubai or Russia or China. There’s lots of money out there, and I think this is going to stabilise the economy”.

The latest candidate to be fired, Derek Ramsey, has a go at the producers, the other candidates and the universe for what he perceives as unfair portrayal on the show. Thems the breaks Derek – you must have known that the bad tv people would edit things that might not make you look good.

Didn’t know Ronan Whitty was of Whitford House Hotel fame. Wexford People report he is now working for Aer Lingus, so he obviously doesn’t win then?

It was rumoured but it seems to be coming –  an Irish Dragons’ Den - also produced by Shinawil and to be fronted by Richard Curran.

UK Apprentice is getting an airing in the US on CNBC – wonder will TV3’s version get seen overseas as well?

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Category: Apprentice Ireland, telly, the apprentice

Ireland’s Top 100 TV Programmes - The RTE Guide list

Writing by aj@lecraic on Wednesday, 1 of October , 2008 at 10:30 pm

Top100tvshows

A few weeks ago I posted that the RTE Guide were looking for your input to compile a list of Ireland’s Top 100 TV Programmes.

Well, the latest edition of the RTE Guide has published that list and the 100 to 1 countdown is shown below.

I do seriously recommend picking up the magazine as the whole feature takes up about 10 pages and there are lots of titbits and interesting facts about the various programmes.

48 out of the 100 programmes are BBC, ITV or Channel 5 with 20 from RTE. Although a fan of Friends, I’m surprised to see it so high up the list. Also surprised WWTBAM is so high up too (although I did vote for it myself).

Is anyone surprised at the Number 1, I don’t think so. Legendary.

So here it is. Ireland’s Top 100 Television Programmes… Let the debate begin :-)


Rank Programme Producer
100 Steptoe and Son BBC
99 Blind Date ITV
98 Baywatch NBC
97 Jim’ll Fix It BBC
96 Emmerdale ITV
95 What Not to Wear ITV
94 Strictly Come Dancing BBC
93 The Eurovision EBU
92 V NBC
91 Life On Earth BBC
90 Podge & Rodge Show RTE
89 Jamie’s School Dinners Channel 4
88 Tomorrow’s World BBC
87 The Royle Family BBC
86 Naked Camera RTE
85 University Challenge ITV, BBC
84 Roots ABC
83 The World at War ITV
82 Top Cat ABC
81 Show Me the Money RTE
80 Top of the Pops BBC
79 Panaroma BBC
78 Mastermind BBC
77 How to Look Good Naked Channel 4
76 24 Fox
75 Inspector Morse ITV
74 The Full Circle (Michael Palin) BBC
73 Worzel Gummidge ITV
72 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fox
71 Murder, She Wrote CBS
70 Property Ladder Channel 4
69 Pole to Pole BBC
68 Nationwide RTE
67 Fair City RTE
66 Glenroe RTE
65 The West Wing NBC
64 Dallas CBS
63 The Krypton Factor ITV
62 The Panel RTE
61 Pride & Prejudice BBC
60 Hell’s Kitchen ITV
59 Magnum P.I. CBS
58 Heroes NBC
57 Killinaskully RTE
56 Tubridy Tonight RTE
55 I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out Of Here! ITV
54 Parkinson BBC, ITV
53 Off The Rails RTE
52 Prison Break Fox
51 Deal or No Deal Channel 4
50 Grange Hill BBC
49 The Wire HBO
48 Blackboard Jungle RTE
47 Wanderly Wagon RTE
46 The Flintstones ABC
45 So Graham Norton Channel 4
44 Frasier NBC
43 Family Guy Fox
42 Batman ABC
41 Star Trek NBC
40 The A-Team NBC
39 Scrubs NBC
38 MacGyver ABC
37 Desperate Housewives ABC
36 Countdown Channel 4
35 Lost ABC
34 The Weakest Link BBC
33 Grey’s Anatomy ABC
32 Sex and the City HBO
31 Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway ITV
30 ER NBC
29 Location, Location, Location Channel 4
28 Bosco RTE
27 The Restaurant RTE
26 EastEnders BBC
25 The X-Files Fox
24 The Den RTE
23 Sesame Street CTW
22 Home and Away 7 Network
21 Planet Earth BBC
20 The Simpsons Fox
19 The Muppet Show ITV
18 Prime Time RTE
17 Band of Brothers HBO
16 The Premiership RTE
15 The Sopranos HBO
14 The X Factor ITV
13 Friday Night with Jonathan Ross BBC
12 Coronation Street ITV
11 Top Gear BBC
10 Only Fools and Horses BBC
9 The Late Late Show RTE
8 Match of the Day BBC
7 The Sunday Game RTE
6 Reeling in the Years RTE
5 CSI CBS
4 Friends NBC
3 Who Wants to be a Millionaire? ITV
2 Fawlty Towers BBC
1 Father Ted Channel 4

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Category: current affairs, telly

Irish Apprentice Watch - Week 2 - The one where the lads get all laddish

Writing by aj@lecraic on Tuesday, 30 of September , 2008 at 8:39 pm

Apprentice Week 2 Review
4/5

Week two review by Ian Walsh

We get more of an insight into the candidates this week, which is why I am always sad for the person who is fired on week one. They are generally not remembered. For those of you who cannot remember who was fired already it was David Neary.

Launching a video game should be easy, or so I thought, especially in this world of modern technology & games we should know everything there is to know. If in doubt though Fight Club must never be used as the 6 lads proved last night, they suffered a knockout punch of their own by using Adidas branding when launching an EA Game. I’m sure Adidas was only delighted of course but the man from EA wasn’t best pleased.

The lads just cocked it up again, there were just too many mistakes, from Stuart being controlling, bitching, & Derek with his Adidas signs which doomed him into getting fired. Mark (the team leader last week), was yet again a high performer even though he was only in the boardroom by default, for taking Ronan in last week.

Mark is certainly the candidate I would tip to win because he is hard working and focused so far. He’s just been let down by the others.

It’s tough when up against feisty girls who never give up as they made it 2 wins out of 2 before the shuffle up next week which well really make or break the candidates.

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Rated 4/5 on Sep 30 2008
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Category: Apprentice Ireland, telly, the apprentice

Apprentice Week 2 - Live Blog tonight

Writing by aj@lecraic on Monday, 29 of September , 2008 at 2:26 pm

Don’t forget the Apprentice Live Blog tonight at 9pm on Deborah’s blog.

I’ll have the popcorn on anyway :-)

Hope you will join in!

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Category: Apprentice Ireland, telly, the apprentice

Apprentice bits ahead of Week 2

Writing by aj@lecraic on Sunday, 28 of September , 2008 at 5:52 pm

The first show in the season pulled in 237,000 for TV3. The Herald said on Thursday that:

“New figures show that the Bill Cullen-fronted show, which is expected to be the station’s greatest success story, only scored half as many viewers as Who Do You Think You Are? on RTE.”

The RTE1 programme took 471,000 viewers. A comment during the live blog last week pointed out that RTE shifted the start of Raw from 9.00 to 9.55 and showed an old CSI instead. They are repeating that this week, which is perhaps a sign that RTE know they won’t win on ratings in a head to head with The Apprentice. No doubt the viewing figure will be watched closely to see if the interest is sustained over the remaing 11 weeks.

Live Blog of this weeks episode is happenig over at Deborah’s place, so keep an eye out there and join in the discussion.

The house where the Apprentice Candidates were holed up for the duration of the filming is a closely guarded secret. The Herald (again). got a good look at the plush surrounding.

Local newspapers report on their Apprentice hopefuls. Orla McAdam, Ronan Whitty.

Andrea Roche will make a guest appearance and the show bosses hope she will add “some glamour” to the mix.

Bill’s lookee-likee, Mark O’Rourke is getting great encouragement from his mates on his Bebo page. Latest comment is classic – reproduced verbatim below.

“alright mark seen that you where on the apprentice thingy you’ve come a long way from selling crack to kids to selling 5 banana’s for 50 on moore street you should of fit right in with the big gay head on ya lol.(maybe not since the place is flooded with them imports and tiddley winks)
Sure I’m only jokin about the big gay head thing but them kids will never be right after that dodgy batch.
Anywho a big congrats from the Kelly’s in Oz and we hope ya do well”

There’s no mistaking, this version of the Apprentice is uniquely Irish :-)

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Category: Apprentice Ireland, telly, the apprentice

what's le craic?

le craic is a blog based in ireland which will feature various items that take my fancy. the "i" in question is me, aj o flaherty - an irishman. although the blog is based in ireland, it is not specifically and exclusively about ireland, so everyone is welcome here. thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoy your visit.