The first Christmas party memo of spring

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 7:46 AM | add or read comments (1)

A Victor Meldrew moment.
I don't belieeeve it.I have just received the first memo about the company Christmas party for 2008.
I am sure D Day wasn't planned this far ahead.

That said, our plans for the Daily Post calendar for 2009 are well advanced. North Wales Castles and Coastline should be on sale in time for the summer holiday season. As with this year's very successful North Wales from the Air calendar, we are producing a DVD to go with it.

To whet your appetite, next week's Daily Post will feature a five-part partwork building into a 40-page photo special called Castles and Coastline. There is also a short promotional video on dailypost.co.uk. We are also using a slightly heavier type of paper to maximise the reproduction quality. Let me know what you think.

And the other big, big piece of activity at the moment is the launch of our new touism website, northwales.co.uk. The site is now prepared and is being rigorously tested prior to the full launch on March 10. I am devoting one of next week's blog entries to this subject.

• Tags:
• northwales.co.uk
• tourism website

Prince Harry fights the Taliban in Afghanistan

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 5:30 PM | add or read comments (0)

The Press Association has just reported that Prince Harry has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the 23-year-old Household Cavalry officer has spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in war-ravaged Helmand Province.
Editors had been sworn to secrecy while Harry was out there to avoid adding to the dangers he and his fellow soldiers faced.
But the arrangement broke down today after news was leaked out on a US website the Drudge Report.
A full story is going online at dailypost.co.uk asap - and we'll have plenty more in tomorrow's paper which also has a damning report on a North Wales council - and the chance to win Grand National tickets!

• Tags:
• Prince Harry
• Taliban

Here's tomorrow's news list

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 7:55 PM | add or read comments (0)

The debate goes on over where we should break news first - the paper or the web. As a clue to which side of the debate I am on, here is tomorrow's newslist as of 8pm-ish.

p1/p5 Interview with family of man who has been killed sniffing lighter fluid.
p2 David Jones MP claims in Parliament that only eight patients in England are still waiting more than 13 weeks for treatment but in Wales there are 47,000
picture: Madagascan ambassador visits Ysgol Bryn Elian, Colwyn Bay
p3 Axe-wielding husband jailed for six years after attacking a man he wrongly thought was having an affair with his wife
p4 Climbdown by health minister as future of cardiac services at Llandudno hospital is fudged
Picture: Duffy to headline the Wakestock festival at Abersoch
p6 North Wales reaction to earthquake which struck UK in the night, with panel and national situation from Press Association - with pictures and graphic
p7 tbd
p8 Police on Anglesey put “suggestion boxes” in primary schools across island to encourage youngsters aged 3-10 to give them advice - cross reference to comment
p9 Owner of amusement arcade in Rhyl says the new Gambling Act is hammering business -
pic of owner at arcade
p13 Thug went up to man sitting on a park bench and hit him in the face, fracturing his jaw in a completely unprovoked attack, court told
pic: Appeal to find a home for Roly the lurcher
p15 - national page - fears there are more bodies at Jersey children's home.
Farm and Country front page - fears that new charging systems will hit small abattoirs
Business lead - new unit in Rhyl to produce insulation made from Welsh wool
Nostalgia page - do you remember the game Tin Can Alley?

The sports pages are still in their infancy and are covered in headlines that just say hydydydyd dhdydydydd headkline herepepe at the moment. Rest assured that the post mortem on Wrexham's latest defeat continues.

Let me know what you think.
That's enough now - if you want more you'll just have to go and buy the paper!

• Tags:
• farming
• hospital
• sport

A weighty story about Kate Garraway

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 6:58 PM | add or read comments (0)

How do you feel about celebrity news? I’m not a major fan myself.
It’s often banal beyond belief – a reporter I knew who joined a reporting agency in Hollywood told how on her first day she was rushed to a restaurant where Cameron Diaz had been seen… eating a salad.

And celeb news is often cruel and nasty which I’m also not a big fan of, unless it’s about a politician or an England football manager, or some WAGs who really get on my wick.

And the celeb news agenda has a really, really unhealthy obsession with weight.

The Daily Mail website today reported that Kate Garraway has “piled on the pounds” after returning to GMTV from her stint on Strictly Come Dancing.

The article features a picture of a very far from large Kate in which the “growth in the blonde presenter's girth” is hard to define. Especially compared to mine.

Anyway, for fun I entered the phrase “piling on the pounds” in the search box on the Mail’s website.

It seems to be a popular choice of phrase for the site’s headline writers.

Last Wednesday Kirstie Alley was revealed to be quitting as the face of a slimming firm after “piling on the pounds” AGAIN. The former Cheers star, 57, lost five stone in three years but her weight has ballooned again. Oh dear.

A couple of days prior to that, another daytime celeb was in the firing line.
“Hunky to chunky: Eamonn Holmes piles on the pounds” shouted the headline.
“As Eamonn approaches 50, it's not only age that appears to be catching up with him. The presenter was pictured out in London carrying excess weight and proving that TV really does pile on the pounds.” I don’t know.

Even the son’s of the famous get it in the neck – here’s the verdict on John Lennon’s lad from earlier this month…
“He is the walrus! As Sean Lennon tucks into a pie, it's clear he could do with going on a diet”.
Imagine that, John.

Uh, oh. No use hiding out on Radio Two as a January 30 story revealed “Why Michael Ball won't need a fat suit anymore”.
Michael Ball's last two stage roles have called for him to be a master of disguise – and don a fat suit – but now the singer appears to have piled on the pounds, and doesn’t appear to need the extra fake padding.

Losing weight is not good enough either. You can always be confronted with the tapemeasure of history, as seen in this festive charmer from Christmas Eve …”Little Britton: Fresh-faced Fern before she piled on the pounds”…

”TV star Fern Britton has famously dropped four stone from a size 20 to a size 14.But in newly-revealed photos taken in the 1980s, Fern is seen with a sensationally slim waist, after weekly work-outs in the gym.”

And for goodness sake, stay off the beach. That was a schoolgirl error in late November exposed in this story…”Holiday swim reveals Jennifer Love Hewitt has piled on the pounds.”
...”She was the inspiration behind former boyfriend John Mayer's hit 'Your Body Is A Wonderland,' but not even a famous muse like Jennifer Love Hewitt can escape a little weight gain.”

Not wishing to make a gag out of bulimia but stories like these just make me want to throw up.

• Tags:
• celebs
• Daily Mail
• Kate Garraway

"Obscene" British Gas profits

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 12:24 PM | add or read comments (1)

2.50pm update to this blog which was posted earlier today...
Energy regulator Ofgem has launched an investigation into the markets in electricity and gas for households and small businesses.

My second year history teacher Mrs Freer said I was an angry young man. She also had a few things to say about my handwriting but that's another story. Well here I am, 42 years old and with similar waistline stats. And I'm still angry.
I was hopping mad the minute I woke up today. So was Mark Brittain, our senior assistant editor.
We'd both started our morning with the news headlines proclaiming that British Gas has reported annual profits of £571m at its residential arm, up from £95m in 2006.
That's the British Gas which has just slapped a 15% increase on the gas and electicity bills for its domestic customers. I won't trouble you here with the complex mathematics the BG fat cats are offering in their defence. It's cobblers. You know it and they know it.
Consumer group Energywatch are on their case - they've clear evidence of the likes of BG failing to pass on savings to customers when wholesale energy prices are lower.
It has called for a Competition Commission investigation into the way the energy market functions.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, has got straight to the point. Today he called the increase in British Gas profits "obscene".

The grotesque circus of the Diana inquest is only serving to further fuel our rage. So I was delighted to see in The Times today that senior politicians and legal experts are calling on the coroner to consider ending the inquest.
"I think it's a total waste of time and money. The extraordinary performance of (Mohammed al) Fayed has turned the whole thing into a circus," said one.

I'll have to chill out if I want to emulate Enid Williams, who features on page 3 of today's Daily Post. She has just celebrated her 106th birthday at her home in Penrhyndeudraeth. She told ourt reporter that she'd avoided smoking and drinking all her life. I wonder if she also avoids the 7 o'clock news when she gets up in the morning?
Either way, penblwydd hapus, Enid

• Tags:
• British Gas
• diana inquest

First school closures of 2008 announced

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 2:37 PM | add or read comments (0)

And so it begins. It has just been confirmed that two Anglesey primary schools are to shut.
We're developing the story online and we will have lots more reaction from Ysgol Aberffraw and Ysgol Llanddeusant in tomorrow's paper.
The two schools have just 40 pupils between them. Many more schools, including 29 in Gwynedd, also face the chop. A review is underway in Conwy with other councils following suit.

That could well be the front page lead tomorrow. I am still waiting to see what else is shaping up at our 4pm conference. I'm slotting reporter interviews around this and will be announcing the names of two new reporters for the Daily Post in the next few days.
You will be seeing a lot of them in the paper and online.

Hope you enjoyed the sunny weekend (and indeed the sunny week - a real treat for half term). Llandudno was packed with holidaymakers and daytrippers on Saturday. And it wasn't just Labour Party conference delegates. I hope you appreciated us taking PM Gordon Brown to task on Saturday's front page over his willingness to stand by and let the axe fall on dozens of our post offices.
The fight goes on. Certainly the Welsh office and our new Welsh Secretary understand the strength of feeling over this issue. And the 40,000 Daily Post readers who signed up for our campaign opposing wholesale closures will have another chance to have their say in May - in the polling stations for the council elections

• Tags:
• Gordon Brown
• Paul Murphy
• post offices
• school closures

How sickening - the gorse fire was started on purpose

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 1:32 PM | add or read comments (0)

THIS is bad news - last night's massive gorse fire (see previous blog entry) that wrecked 20 acres of a hillside was started on purpose.

Here's what Terry Williams, County Safety Manager for Gwynedd, has to say on the fire brigade's website.

"Deliberately started fires cause the risk of injury to the fire setter, and also the risk of injury and death to the general public that may attempt to extinguish the fire and the fire fighters who attend the incident. The spread of this fire also shows that fire can move very quickly and be very destructive.

"It also causes a drain on resources - when crews are called to attend life critical incidents such as house fires and road traffic collisions, appliances are not diverted from a deliberate fire, they are the next available fire appliance.

"This may involve a time delay which could prove fatal.

"Tourism is one of North Wales' strongest industries. We have beautiful landscapes which are being spoilt by the ignorant behaviour of a few."

Well said Terry.

So if you know who did this tell the cops. Call crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

• Tags:
• fire brigade
• gorse fire

Fire above Penmaenmawr

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 10:43 PM | add or read comments (0)

A bit of late breaking news tonight which I nipped out to see as forty firefighters tackled a massive gorse fire on the hills above Penmaenmawr.
Myself, Mrs Editor, Max the dog and our Canon snappy joined a crowd to watch the burning ring of fire (see image below).
The fire was on Moel Llys mountain between Dwygyfylchi and Penmaenmawr. The police closed off the road through Dwygyfylchi.

The flames were up to 20ft high and we had calls to the office from Bangor and Anglesey as well as Llandudno and Mochdre.
How did it start? That's still unclear - at the time of writing the fire crews are still busy putting it out.

A full story is on page 5 with some much better pictures than mine. We also launch our fabulous £25,000 win a wedding competition. And of course there is the match report from Everton's Uefa victory.

Another terrible road accident in North Wales

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 6:20 PM | add or read comments (0)

We're just putting together the story of another terrible accident on our roads. This time a lad of 14 has been very badly hurt on the A494. We understand he was a cyclist.
The number of accidents on the roads of North Wales in recent weeks has been mounting and makes for some very grim reading.
This latest crash happened this afternoon and was first reported to us by one of our journalists driving in the vicinity who saw massive queues of cars and realised something was not right. The first official word has just appeared on the police website.
That's probably the front page lead for tomorrow. We will keep updating the story on the website. Also, we have the astonishing story of £1.5m worth of cocaine washed up on one of our beaches, the latest on the funding crisis threatening Rhyl Pavilion,and rugby reporter Rob Griffiths giving his take on the decision to replace Hook with Jones at outside half for the Wales Italy game.
And early warning for Thursday (Valentine's Day) - the chance to win a £25,000 wedding.

• Tags:
• A494
• James Hook
• Rhyl

Great day in Cardiff/Munich remembered

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 8:23 AM | add or read comments (0)

It's amazing how convincing three pints of lager and the best part of 70,000 cheering fans can be.
From my seat at the Millennium (and from my view of the big screen) I would have staked my mortgage on the legitimacy of Shane Williams' second try. On more sober reflection, and the evidence of further viewing, I am not so sure.
Having said that, who cares? It was a blistering break that deserved a try - and I was there to see it and the victory over Scotland (thanks to S4C for the invitation) and to witness Wales put themselves in the top tier of the Six Nations.
Showing a rare moment of iron will, I managed to drag myself away from licensed premises to enjoy Saturday night at St David's Hall and a breath-taking concert of Prokofiev and Stravinsky with the Philharmonia Orchestra. It certainly seemed to cheer up the man in the kilt in the row behind me.
Sunday morning completed a perfect weekend - just one tractor and not a single caravan all the way from Cardiff to Llandudno Junction with sunny mountain views all along the A470.

So no surprises about our sports coverage today with the national rugby side featuring prominently on the front page too. I am very impressed with the back page and the sea of red and blue scarves at Old Trafford during the well-observed silence for the victims of the Munich crash. Spare a thought for the other victims of the crash - eight journalists also died on that awful afternoon 50 years ago.

My curse over Welsh football is lifted!

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 10:20 AM | add or read comments (0)

There were moments in the first half when a shaky central midfield and a tricksy opponent in the form of John Carew had me wondering if my unwanted curse over Welsh international football had still not lifted.
My first sight of the national side in the flesh was at the Millennium late in 2006, and an unprecedented drubbing at the hands of Slovakia was the reward. It was so bad that then sports editor (and now acting deputy ed) Andy Gilpin suggested I watched future matches from the comfort of home.
So I was pleased but a little nervous when Andy proposed a night out in Wrexham.
Ah the relief, as Carl Fletcher showed a rare dash over the ruffled turf of the Racecourse Ground to slot home goal one. Ah the joy as Jason Koumas showed true class, and not a little earnest endeavour, to put the game beyond Norway's reach.
I shall go the Millennium on Saturday safe on the knowledge that if rugby team falter, then it's not my fault.

And the golden moment of last night? - the Norman Collier-ish tendencies on the microphone of the singer as he warbled through Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

Not a clue what's on tomorrow's front page yet (it's only 10.30) but we have changed the website already to follow up a great scoop in the North Wales Weekly News - a brothel raid on a posh street in Llandudno.

I'll post more later.

• Tags:
• Carl Fletcher
• Jason Koumas
• Racecourse Ground
• Wrexham

Should we publish stories online first?

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 9:56 PM | add or read comments (2)

I've just completed a moderately hellish four-hour car journey from Birmingham where editors gathered today for our quarterly forum. It's a fine city but throttled by traffic at rush hour when not a lot of rushing happens.
Anyway, there was lots of talk about the digital age, an age with its own language that's as tough to learn as Welsh.
- Hey Rob, is that a new digital platform you got there?
- Why it sure is.
- What kinda platform is it Rob?
- It's a Content Agnostic Platform.
- Woohee!

Much debate over the issue of whether you should publish stories online as they break without holding stuff back for the print edition.
We heard about some papers in Australia who push everything online then develop the story in the next available print edition. The good news is that these papers are seeing lots of web traffic and very healthy print circulation figures.
It's food for thought. We are certainly breaking a lot more stories on dailypost.co.uk and beating the BBC website hands down. But am I ready to put everything online first?
I'm still agnostic on that one.
What do you think - will "online first" hurt the paper or give you an appetite for more detail in print? And keep your comments coming on the previous blog - what's the Welsh Assembly ever done for North Wales?
I've published a couple of replies - one of them very to the point indeed!

• Tags:
• BBC
• editors
• online
• website

What's the Assembly ever done for us?

• Posted by Rob Irvine at 7:04 PM | add or read comments (2)

Well I hope the rather provocative headline on this blog entry caught your attention.
It follows from a media gathering held recently at the Assembly's offices in Colwyn Bay and hosted by Claire Clancy, chief executive and clerk of the assembly and presiding office Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas.
The "us" of the headline refers to North Wales. The case for the Assembly as a unifying force for Wales was offered by Dafydd and contrasted with some of the views expressed in, and occasionally by, the Daily Post,which argue that North Wales is getting a relatively poor deal.
It's not a simple question to answer in many respects. For one, this is not just a North versus South debate. For example, ask the good folk of Pembrokeshire how they feel they are faring and I expect you'll get a variety of responses.
So in the spirit of Monty Python’s Life of Brian (“What have the Romans ever done for us?”) I suggested we ask the same of the Assembly?
But this is not intended as an adversarial trial. The aim is to audit the changes brought about by the work of the Assembly and their relative impact – for better or worse – on each part of Wales.

I shall be giving the matter serious consideration as I drive for four hours across another country to get to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. I’d fly but there are no services to Cardiff from Anglesey at the weekend and my blood pressure can’t cope with sitting behind tractors and caravans on the A470.
Mind you, after last weekend, I’d crawl over broken glass to see the Wales v Scotland game.

So don’t be shy you lurkers on my blog. Tell me now – what’s the Assembly ever done for us?