February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Eileen Murphy
Well, ladies, we hate to be the one to break the news, but somebody’s gotta do it, so here goes: Daniel O’Donnell won’t be slipping a ring on anyone’s finger anytime soon.
The squeaky-clean singer, whose high-profile romance with Scottish singer Rose Lynagh went kablooey last year, has confessed to the world that he doesn’t have any burning desire to get married. He’s quite content with his own company, thank you.
"At the moment, I can’t see marriage happening for me," he told the Sunday World. "But it’s not something that’s absolutely essential in my life."
Daniel – or, as we like to call him, the answer to every mother’s prayer – thinks his life is too hectic for other people to cope with. (And don’t send us letters pointing out the dangling preposition in that last sentence – we’re extremely upset, O.K.?)
"While I have enjoyed the relationships I’ve been involved in, my life is not an easy one for anyone to live with," said Daniel.
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Besides, he says, he’s lived on his own for so long that he’s happy with his own company. "Being in a relationship is not something that is uppermost in my mind," he adds.
In more Daniel news, he says that he’s happy that he’s left the bright lights and wicked city wimmin of Dublin for the more bucolic pleasures of his native Kincasslagh, Co. Donegal. In fact, the 38-year-old singer has moved home – literally. He recently had the family home remodeled and sectioned off his own wing or area or boreen or whatever you call such things in Donegal.
"Moving home just made sense for so many reasons," he confided. "I’m always away working and when I had my home outside Dublin it was empty for most of the year."
Personally, we suspect that Mrs. O’Donnell – Daniel’s mammy, that is – likes being able to keep an eye on her pride and joy, him being single and good-looking and rich and single and rich and all. And we suspect that Daniel, for all of his protests, enjoys playing the field. So everybody’s happy. Well, except the single chicks, anyway.
Bono meets the ‘funky’ Pontiff
So Bono and the pope were having a chat the other day, and the pope said . . .
What’s that? You think it sounds like the beginning of a tasteless joke? Well, we’d have to agree, except that Bono and the pope did meet last week. And what’s more, the Holy Father tried on Bono’s yellow and black wrap-around glasses.
Last Thursday, a delegation from the Jubilee 2000 campaign – including Bono, Bob Geldof, Quincy Jones and Harvard economics professor Jeffrey Sachs – traveled to the pope’s summer residence, Castlegandolfo, for a private audience. During the meeting, they discussed the aim of Jubilee 2000, which is to resolve Third World debt and allow the poorest countries in the world to enter the millennium with a clean slate.
Bono, dressed in a black suit and white shirt (but no tie), was introduced to the pope by Bishop Diarmuid Martin, who said, "Holy Father, this is Mr. Bono and he is a singer." Mr. Bono then presented the Holy Father with a copy of Seamus Heaney’s "Collected Poems."
When Bishop Martin suggested that the pontiff would like to examine Mr. Bono’s distinctive shades, the singer quickly handed them over. The pope popped the glasses onto his face "grinning mischievously," while Mr. Bono told him that he (the pope) was "a great showman."
Mr. Bono later told reporters that he was filled with admiration for John Paul II.
"You can see what a struggle it is for him physically, yet he made it seem easy to hang out with a bunch of pop stars and economists," he said.
"I told him he was a great showman, the first funky pontiff!" Mr. Bono added enthusiastically.
Live Aid founder (and former Boomtown Rat) Bob Geldof was also happy to meet the pope. He told reporters, "I just hope the spirit of humanity that guides him could move politicians."
Of course, Geldof’s duds didn’t match his fancy words. The notoriously ragamuffin Sir Bob wore a brown jacket, checkered pants and a T-shirt.
Does he always dress like that? we hear you ask.
Er, is the pope Catholic?
Briefings
You’ll be glad to know that no matter how crappy their albums are, there are no flies on the boys in Boyzone. Frontman Ronan Keating is rolling full steam ahead with his solo projects, which will include recording a version of the Jimmy McCarthy classic "Ride On." He’s also teamed up with the Bee Gee’s Barry Gibb, who could teach Ro a thing or two about effect of tight pants on one’s vocal range.
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Speaking of music, it’s always a hoot to read the Irish pop singles charts. Where else would you find the GooGoo Dolls (at No. 5 with "Iris") TLC (at No. 8 with "Unpretty"), Ricky Martin (at No. 20 with "Livin’ La Vida Loca") and Bog the Donkey (at No. 29 with "The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee").
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Oooops! Had a little brain freeze last week while writing the piece about all the Irish dance shows tapping their rhythmic way across the globe. As we all know, it was Bill Whelan who took home the Grammy for composing the score for "Riverdance." Geez, like we don’t have a billion pictures of him around the office . . .
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Michael Flatley’s legs are perfectly well-rested these days, and he’s ready to resume the lead in his latest show, "Feet of Flames." The blond dance god plans to tap, tap, tap his way back into our hearts (and wallets), so he’s letting his parents live in his fancy new mansion, Castlehyde, in County Cork. See, he won’t be home, and someone’s gotta leave a note for the milkman.