Hello and Goodbye
By Eugene Byrne

There is nothing we Irish like better than a wedding, a chance to meet old friends, talk work, politics, sport… whatever takes your fancy, as you make your way to the bar after a good meal. Invitations aside we also like to wish newly married couples well in their future together and traditionally crowds of well wishers outside the church has become the norm. We only have to cast our minds back a year when in Glaslough, Co. Monaghan hundreds lined the street to wish Paul McCartney and his bride the luck of the Irish.

It is in light of this that the recent wedding of Georgina Ahern to Nicky Byrne of Westlife became so controversial, because like the Irish the French and particularly the villagers of Gallardon had not been afforded a glimpse of the radiant young bride and her new pop star husband, as they had sold all rights to the British magazine Hello for ¤850,000.
This was a wedding that captured the hearts of the public. The Taoiseach's daughter marrying a member of one of the most successful Irish bands ever.

The political and pop media were all interested in covering this event, fuelled by the fact that it was being held outside Ireland, giving it an air of secrecy. Media, who Bertie Ahern courts every day of the political week, travelled, confident of a story. The hot August sun that greeted them was about the only welcome they received. Confronted by burly security men employed by Hello magazine they like the people of Gallardon were treated like intruders and told to stay behind the cordoned off area and take no photos. Some who disobeyed orders were reportedly manhandled by sections of the French police and black suited bouncers.

The Taoiseach's usual spindoctors and public relations front men were nowhere to be seen as the Irish media were left high and dry. It is accepted that the wedding was organised by the women in his life . As he stated days later he had no input into the Hello deal and was just so happy to see his eldest daughter married. The deal reputedly worth ¤850,000 handed over all rights of the wedding to the magazine, even guests at the wedding were forbidden from taking photographs.
How could Bertie Ahern, the so called man of the people allow himself to become a player in this farcical show and shun the very members of the media he relies on so much back home for the sake of a free wedding? After all it's usually the father of the bride who pays for the wedding.

This was a very expensive lesson for Bertie and the government and will cost more than any magazine is willing to pay. In politics your private life is your public life and more than anyone Bertie Ahern should have known this, as his relationship (or lack of one, with Celica Larkin) has been public property over this last year. There is nothing more private than a wedding, but this was no ordinary wedding and it was naive on behalf of the Dublin government to think that their leader could slip away to France without even a sound bite to the media.

Public opinion since arriving back home has come down hard on the Ahern family, accusing them of being too big for their boots and Armani suits, with one newspaper stating that the Drumcondra brigade would be more at home in Croke Park instead of slipping under zipped -up tents or behind blacked out vehicles in Europe. What should have been a family celebration has turned into a public relations disaster for an Taoiseach. You don’t expect booing at your daughter’s wedding, or confrontations with the media outside the church, but when you allow a celebrity magazine to take control of security you are inviting trouble. To lay siege to any town for two days without even a thank you will have serious ramifications. Bertie might have got off lightly with the wedding bill, but I’m sure this is one tab he will lift on his own.

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