Busy, busy

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:12 PM | add or read comments (0)

A busy few days so apologies for the lack of blogs.
I have just returned from an editors' conference in London. We have been sharing our thoughts on what makes the ideal website for a newspaper - and discussing ways to improve the coverage of holidays in newspapers.
As you may know, we devote four pages a week to travel (in our Saturday supplement, Weekend Post). Going on holiday is now one of the biggest items in many household's annual budget so it is important we help people make good choices about where to go and what to do.
Tomorrow night is our Achievement Wales annual business awards at the University of Wales in Bangor. Brian Fleet, from Airbus, is guest speaker - very interested to hear his views on the future of air travel!
We are also just a few days away from our Thousands of Christmas Voices concert in Llangollen.
But before that it is the Santa Fun Run (this Sunday). My suit and beard have arrived in the post, along with my race number...667.
"Good job you didn't get the number before," said my wife.
Fair point - I don't really fancy pounding the streets of Oswestry dressed as Father Christmas wearing the number of the Beast.

Thanks for your support

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 3:29 PM | add or read comments (0)

Thanks to all those who made it out on a rotten night to our Ask Rhodri evening. I'm afraid the chap with the Iraq question couldn't make it so I missed my Dimbleby moment but there were some useful issues raised over Hafod quarry tip, support for hospices and the lack of a decent North-South route in Wales.
If you look carefully at the picture on page 2 today you will notice that a) My glasses are bent and b) Rhodri Morgan has the biggest hair of any male politician in the world. What a mighty mane!
Have a great weekend. And stuff the cricket, just remember to cheer on Wales against the All Blacks

Doing a Dimbleby

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:28 PM | add or read comments (0)

Just making the final preparations for tonight's Ask Rhodri Morgan event at Ysgol Bod Alaw in Colwyn Bay. We're putting the First Minister in front of an audience of Daily Post and North Wales Weekly News readers to answer a series of questions on subjects ranging from the threatened closure of community hospitals to the plan for more wind turbines out in the bay.
My good friend Sarah Kearsley-Wooller, appeals manager at Hope House, will be raising the important question of statutory funding (or the lack of it) for hospices.
Keep your eyes peeled next week by the way when we will be asking readers to add their names to a campaign for more funding for hospices - it's appalling how these magnificent organisations are left to struggle by. If it wasn't for the tireless efforts of Sarah and those like her, they wouldn't be here. And if you have ever seen a loved one in a hospice you will know what a huge comfort and support they are.
But back to tonight - yes, Rhodri WILL be asked about his views on the Iraq war. I expect he will be asked to explain his views on the initial intervention - and his hopes for Britain's eventual withdrawal.
In preparation, I have just re-read the transcript of the discussion he became embroiled in back in February on BBC's Question Time.
Bloody hell. What was that all about?
Even good old David Dimbleby couldn't get a straight answer (and not for want of trying) - I'll do my level best to get some more clarity.
Hope you can join us - the event starts at 6pm and shouldn't last much longer than an hour or so. If you fancy popping along, the entrance to the school is opposite Eirias Park - just down the road towards the town centre on the other side of the road from the park's main entrance.

Shine a light

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 3:29 PM | add or read comments (0)

We are putting together a piece for tomorrow about police trials of a hand-held electronic fingerprint reader.
The pilot has begun in Bedfordshire but North Wales will take part in the trial at a later date.
The hope is that this nifty device will save massive amounts of police time and money by allowing officers to identify suspects on the roadside without having to take them to the station.
It's one of the those "usual suspects" stories with various civil liberties bodies having their say and lots of tired old cliches about Big Brother.
I have read 1984 at least half a dozen times and I don't recall any of the Thought Police asking Winston Smith to place his hand in the scanner, they were too busy smashing his teeth in with truncheons.
Anyway, no one's getting too hot and bothered about a voluntary scheme which is just a pilot - legislation would be required to make people to have their hands scanned on the hard shoulder.
But two things really caught my eye about this tale. One is the Home Office claim (which I have no reason to doubt) that six out of ten people stopped by the police tell fibs. Amazing, we are a nation of storytellers!
The second is the name of the scheme - Operation Lantern. What a strangely olde worlde name for such a hi-tech project. Couldn't they think of something a bit sassy? How about Operation Fingered or Operation Dial-a-Dab?
Is the Home Office caught in the grip of Victoriana? Can we look forward to a crackdown on people who fail to use their rear view mirrors - Operation Looking Glass? Will people who plug their Christmas lights into next door's outdoor supply be snared in Operation Candelabra?
I think we should be told.

No news alert

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 3:04 PM | add or read comments (0)

3.35pm UPDATE - a cracking story is breaking - full details on tomorrow's front page!

Looks like the silly season has arrived a few months late. Yes, the news fairy has packed her bags and headed off to the Canaries, leaving editors scratching their heads wondering what to stick on their front pages.
It's like that great Spitting Image sketch showing a weekend TV news bulletin in which the lead item was "No news on Sunday, claims report".
At this moment in time this is the BBC's and Press Association's exciting main national headline: "Parenting experts to help families in areas beset by anti-social behaviour." Mmm, that'll really have a news hungry public a-beggin' for more.
As for us - the front page of tomorrow's Daily Post is still very much a "work in progress".
I thought I'd trawl round and see what the globe's greatest newspapers are chatting about.
Here's the New York Post's best offer: "O.J. Simpson's explosive new book, "If I Did It" - and an accompanying TV sit-down in which he "hypothetically" details how he brutally murdered his wife and her pal - have been axed."Well that was pretty boring when I read it in the UK papers this morning.
Something different from the Sydney Morning Herald: As many as 25 nuclear power plants could be built by 2050, producing one-third of Australia's power and slowing the growth of greenhouse emissions. Might be worth noting if you're looking for a new life after Wylfa shuts.
What about the dear old British Currant Bun? Lead story on the Sun's website is Heather Mills claiming she really did love Paul McCartney. Yeah, sure.
The most desperate piece I ever saw during a news "lull" was in a national newspaper. An "investigative" reporter had exposed a shopping rip off - by counting the number of cornflakes in a variety mini box and a typical family size box, then working out on a cornflakes per £1 rate that the little boxes were nowhere near as good value for money!
Watergate had nothing on that expose.
In the meantime, we'll keep plugging away looking for tomorrow's smash hit.
Anyone got some Coco Pops on them?

If it can go wrong...

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 10:16 AM | add or read comments (0)

Achievement Wales - the Daily Post's annual business awards night - will soon be upon us. I have just been reading through the proofs of the brochure that will be on the tables come the big night. Someone has managed to put the wrong newspaper branding on every page - for the Liverpool Daily Post.
Good job I checked, wasn't it?
There are an incredible number of things that can go wrong at awards ceremonies. I don't know why but Murphy's Law seems to double in strength the moment people in dinner suits start to gather in front of a podium.
At a newspaper I used to work on we managed to put the wrong name inside the gold envelope. Fortunately the chap presenting the prize knew it was wrong and read out the correct name. Bloody embarassing, though.
So we'll be burning the midnight oil to make sure that all is well come December 1. And I'll be looking out for Murphy and his pal Sod lurking in the wings.
Before that we have our gathering at Ysgol Bod Alaw at 6pm this Thursday - when Daily Post readers can fire questions at First Minister Rhodri Morgan. And to round off a busy week I'll be at Cardiff to see Wales take on the mighty All Blacks. But after the experience of my first Wales football international (a drubbing at the hands of Slovakia) they might not let me in the stadium.

Are you ready, Rhodri?

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:50 PM | add or read comments (1)

We have had some marvellous questions sent for our "Ask Rhodri" evening next Thursday (November 23) when readers whose questions have been chosen will be invited to put them straight to the First Minister.
We will be grilling at Rhodri Morgan on a range of issues including his latest views on the British armed presence in Iraq (in the light of Welsh casualties), the lack of decent road and rail links between North and South Wales, the problems facing the NHS, the lack of funding for hospices and the lack of help for home carers.
Come along and join in - I will be throwing the debate open to the audience. Be at Ysgol Bod Alaw on Colwyn Bay at 6pm.
The next big event in my diary is tomorrow night's party in the park for Children Need at Eirias Park . As you may have seen on dailypost.co.uk this morning, high winds have badly damaged the stage but the work crews are confident all will be fixed in time for the concert - let's hope so, as 10,000 people are due to turn up!

Run Robert Run Robert Run Run Run

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 10:22 AM | add or read comments (1)

Journalists' website holdthefrontpage.co.uk has reported my intentions to run in the Santa Fun Run for Ty Gobaith-Hope House in December. They have kindly put a cross-reference to the Daily Post's website so that people can make a donation or sponsor me.
I haven't got the sponsor form yet but if you have faith that I can make it round a 2.5 mile course (form guide...aged 41, overweight, ex-smoker, daily dog walking) then please send a donation via me.

Cheques are made payable to Hope House. Send them to Rob Irvine, Editor, Daily Post, PO Box 202, Vale Road, Llandudno Junction, Conwy LL31 9ZD.

And if you want to see a picture of me wearing a Santa Hat, go to holdthefrontpage.co.uk.
Diolch yn fawr, thanks for your support

YOU can grill Rhodri

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 6:21 PM | add or read comments (0)

So what do you think of the Welsh Assembly - a vital step on the road to self government in Wales?... a toothless talking shop? One thing is for sure, with a £14bn budget, what goes on in Cardiff Bay has a material effect on OUR daily lives.
That's why we are delighted to have First Minister Rhodri Morgan offering to take questions from Daily Post readers at a question time session in Colwyn Bay later this month.
So come on, if you have got an opinion on the First Minister, the Welsh Assembly or big issues in Wales, now is your chance to grill the man at the top to face to face.
I will choose the best 12 questions (I'm certainly not going to give Rhodri any soft options). The authors of the questions chosen will be invited to come along and ask Rhodri the question themselves - and once he's had his say I will pass the debate back to the questioner before throwing it open to the audience.
So put Rhodri on the spot. Whether it's how the £14bn is spent, the lack of NHS dentists, the closure of hospitals and schools, English rubbish being dumped in Welsh quarries - the choice is yours.
The event takes place at Ysgol Bod Alaw in Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay on Thursday November 23 at 6pm.
Send your questions by November 15 to:
Ask Rhodri, Daily Post, PO Box 202, Vale Road, Llandudno Junction, Conwy, LL31 92D. Alternatively you can put your questions in an e-mail and send it to:
paulaevans@dailypost.co.uk
Or you can send your question to me.
Don't forget to include your name, address and phine number so we can contact you and invite you along!

Bodelwyddan tragedy

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:36 PM | add or read comments (0)

Juat a very short entry today as we are working flat out to bring you the latest on the tragedy involving the deaths of two young children at an address in Bodelwyddan.
We have already updated the website (dailypost.co.uk) and will be putting more online very soon (including a video from the police's press conference).
We should have about four pages of coverage in the paper tomorrow. I can't see many stories competing with this for the front page. A very sad story and it is one we realise that people want to know about.
Tomorrow's edition will also carry part two of our partwork guide to North Wales restaurants - plus the second voucher in our meet Katherine Jenkins competition.
That's all for now.

Rear of the year

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:03 PM | add or read comments (0)

There's no getting away from it. The main picture on page 23 in today's Daily Post is a cow's arse (no disrespect to Charolais enthusiast Iain Miller, who is also in the frame).
Andrew Forgrave does a fabulous job reporting on the farming community in North and Mid-Wales and I know from talking to farmers that the weekly Farm & Country section in Thursday's Daily Post is required reading. We are looking at a plan to carry more farming content on another day of the week as well. I'll keep you posted.
The back end of a Charolais makes a much prettier site than the pictures of two handcuffed criminals featured on page 3 today. They have been brought before the courts thanks to the efforts of an undercover policeman. We will bring you details of their sentences in the Daily Post on Friday.
We are just going through the final proofs of the restaurant guide which we are publishing next week. Collect the various sections which will appear from Monday to Friday and, voila, you have a fantastic 24-page guide to eating out in North Wales. We are delighted with it - and hope you will like it too.