I'm dreaming of a Brown Christmas

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:58 PM | add or read comments (0)

I have just driven past Tesco's car park - it looks like most people have already started their Christmas holidays. What a crush. If everyone of them buys a Daily Post then we're in clover.
Mrs Editor had suggested this morning that we should go shopping after work tonight. I went all quiet at the suggestion, preferring the prospect of the crush at the bar of the Albion or Liverpool Arms than the crush of trolleys around the dates and walnuts. But glad tidings of great joy have just reached me - she's already been, the cranberry sauce and sausages etc have been acquired and I'm sitting pretty with no need to see the inside of a supermarket for days. Hurrah.

Today we say a fond farwell to Richard Williams, our picture editor, who leaves to take up a similar post in Liverpool. We wish him all the very best.

The last of the corporate Christmas cards have arrived. A very nice one from Samantha and David Cameron but nothing from Mr Brown and his missus. I can imagine why:
"Gordon?"
"Yes, my sweet one?"
"Have you sent all your Christmas cards?"
"Er, most of them, my dearest"
"And did you send one to Rob and his team at the Daily Post"
"I'm not sure, I really have been rather busy."
"Well David Cameron's sent one - and it's a nice one with drawings by children on it"
"Look woman, the economy's collapsing, every Government department is committing massive cock-ups and the public thinks I'm not up to the job, how the blazes is sending the editor of the Daily Post a Christmas card going to make it all better?"
"I'm just saying..Mr Cameron made the effort and so should you. And Rob's had one from the household of the Prince of Wales."
"Good grief, everyone gets those, it's always some watercolour of a Scottish glen by the Prince and anyway it's not from the Prince it's from his household and someone called Paddy signs them, so they don't even count."
"Now there's no need to be all touchy and go blaming it on the Prince of Wales or Rob Irvine if everyone thinks you're not as good as Tony..."

Nadolig Llawen i bawb - have a great Christmas folks.

• Tags:
• David Cameron
• Gordon Brown
• Prince of Wales
• Tesco

Santa baby, slip some flip flops under the tree for me

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 4:48 PM | add or read comments (0)

All I want for Christmas is an attack alarm, flip flops, lollipop, condoms and a bottle of water...apparently.
This bizarre little stocking is being handed out to revellers (that wonderful newspaper euphemism for folks out on the lash) in Conwy county this festive season.
Why flip flops? Well, it’s not for a stroll on the beach at West Shore – it’s because lots of women end up in casualty after trying to walk home in bare feet, presumably because a stiletto failed somewhere during Hi Ho Silver Lining.
The lollipop is possibly to divert you from heading for an artery-clogging kebab, thus serving another important health and safety function.
The organisation generously spending your tax pounds to help drunk people is the Conwy Community Safety Partnership
The partnership consists of representatives from Conwy council, North Wales bobbies (of course), the fire and probation services, Conwy local health board and Conwy and Denbighshire Youth Offending Team.

Ooh I bet their Christmas party was a scream.

This and more in tomorrow’s Daily Post including the ghastly tale of a particularly odious and vile couple called Iris and Derek Way who have been found guilty of some quite appalling sexual crimes against children.
Very sad news about the poor old chap in the house fire in Denbigh, which we reported on the front page today. He suffered some terrible burns and died this morning.
Also on the newslist are Llangollen’s bid to host a regional casino plus the latest on the X Factor voting scandal (Justice for Rhydian!).

• Tags:
• Conwy
• Denbigh
• Llangollen
• North Wales Police
• Rhydian
• X Factor

Cold news and old news

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 4:45 PM | add or read comments (0)

I have just about regained the use of my legs after last night's Thousands of Voices Christmas concert. It was a great show but crikey was it cold. Bum-numbingly, frozen-from-feet-to-knees cold.

As I have to go on stage and do my bit I have to wear a dinner suit (complete with soup stains from the recent Achievement Wales awards) but what the audience couldn't see was the thermal vest and two pairs of socks. Most folks in the audience were far more suitably attired. I bumped into one chap who seemed to recognise me. I thought he was Nanook of the North then realised that under the padded layers was reporter Gareth Hughes.

The show went like a dream. The soloists Elin Manahan Thomas and North Wales' very own Rhys Meirion were fabulous, as were all the choirs. A special mention must be made of the young soloists from Ysgol Glanaethwy. They'd wipe the floor with the X Factor lot.

Judging by national newspapers and the BBC you would think icy North Wales was in some remote corner north of Greenland. Fleet Street finally caught up today with our story from Saturday about the chief constable breaking into his own HQ. Aunti Beeb, the great story sponger, finally creaked into action at lunchtime today, with Radio Four breathlessly retelling the story our readers had more than 50 hours earlier.

Great isn't it - you get bullied with the threat of jail into paying your licence fee then they give half the money to Jonathan Ross and the rest goes on rehashing two-day old newspaper stories.

• Tags:
• Achievement Wales
• BBC
• North Wales
• Rhys Meirion
• Thousands of Voices

Humbug, Mrs fforbes-Hamilton

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 6:41 PM | add or read comments (0)

We had a quick get together today to discuss our plans for the Christmas week editions. It's never easy. Many regular sources of news dry up as politicians and criminals put their feet up with a tin of Quality Street and Dr Zhivago on DVD.
Stories are carefully stockpiled and pages made ready for when the domestic feast sparks the news famine. We will of course be ready to move when things do happen (and they do, as sure as chip pan fires follow nights on the ale).
We'll have a skeleton crew in on Christmas Day itself for, as you know, skeletons don't celebrate Christmas.
Actually it will be me myself, night editor John Williams, news editor Debbie James, reporter Roland Hughes and photographer Stacey Roberts with help from multimedia editor Dan Owen. I know, even Bob Cratchit got Christmas Day off (and he turned in late on Boxing Day!) but the aim is to keep the workload to a minimum on the day. And having looked at my Christmas Radio Times I think I'd rather be at work. To the Manor Born? - are the BBC bloody mad?

• Tags:
• BBC
• Christmas
• news
• news editor
• night editor

A damn fine Curry

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 7:03 PM | add or read comments (1)

An interesting few days.

On Friday night we had our Achievement Wales business awards at Bangor University. It was a reet good do. Declan Curry (breakfast telly - business) was the compere and did a wonderful job, including ad libbing for several minutes about the global economy when we thought our guest speaker had got stuck in traffic.
He was a star performer - and so was our chief guest and speaker Sir Roger Jones, pharmaceutical entrepreneur, when he breathlessly arrived shortly after.

Back into costume on Sunday but this time all in red rather than black tie as I joined the 500 Santa fun runners on Llandudno Prom for the Hope House Santa Dash. It was a hoot - and not as tough as the hilly and longer Oswestry course last year. Just very glad that old friend Keith and I, who ran the course with me, had taken it steady the previous night (He introduced me to a good friend of his, a Mr Jack Daniels, some time ago and we were starting to renew our acquaintance when good sense prevailed).

News editor Debbie James has put together another cracking news list for tomorrow. I'm not going to reveal the splash (it's a good 'un) but we do have a great follow-up on the school chemical scare plus, of course, all the details of the Yorkshire police chief banned from driving for speeding in North Wales. You've got to smile, haven't you?

• Tags:
• Bangor University
• Declan Curry
• Llandudno
• news editor
• North Wales