Hozier’s best-laid expansion plans in danger of going awry at Wicklow dwelling

Hozier has the planning blues. The musician with a social conscience applied for planning permission last year to demolish a series of outbuildings at his 18th-century home on the outskirts of Newcastle, Co Wicklow, and replace them with a two-bedroom, two-storey detached guest lodge and gym, as well as a separate building described rather cryptically in planning documents as a “recreation space”.

Last week council officials requested more information about the songwriter’s plans but not before warning they would be likely to be refused if not amended substantially. Hozier, who already has a swimming pool with a retractable roof at the four-bedroom house, was told by the officials they were “concerned” by the “scale and intended” use of the proposed new structures, noting the county development plan states that only ancillary buildings required for agricultural use are usually permitted in Wicklow’s more rural areas.

The planners also warned that the proposed guest accommodation and gym building would effectively amount to a “new rural dwelling” and would need its own septic tank, again contrary to the development plan, while they also questioned the appropriateness of its brick finish in a rural area.

Sounds like the rangy rocker may need to join a local gym instead if he’s intending to bulk up any time soon.

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One Cork, One Book?

One Dublin One Book, the Dublin City Council initiative encouraging people to read the same book every April, has been a real success since it was launched in 2006. The title chosen, which must have a connection with the capital, can expect to sell 3,000-5,000 copies on the back of its selection, with Dublin City Libraries usually buying about 1,200 copies. Understandably, publishers are keen to have one of their books chosen.

Having previously selected Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, Dracula by Bram Stoker and James Joyce’s Dubliners, the team that selects the book has favoured living authors in recent years, offering encouragement to less established titles.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show several publishers lobbied for the accolade last year before Louise Nealon’s Trinity College-set Snowflake was chosen. Among those who tried their luck were Tramp Press for Sara Baume’s Seven Steeples, which tells the story of a couple who cut themselves off from the world in a remote house in rural west Cork – quite a hike from the capital.

“It’s about Dublin,” the publishers gamely suggested “in that it’s about trying to build a life away from it.” Nice try.

Healy-Rae waffle not selling in Killarney

Hats off to the Healy-Raes on surviving 50 years in Kerry politics, especially for managing to do it while keeping post offices, filling stations, pubs, plant hire operations and property rental businesses ticking over. But is the next generation as shrewd? Jackie Healy-Rae jnr, a son of TD Michael, opened an American-style ice-cream parlour in Killarney in 2021 called Shake, Waffle & Roll.

Accounts for the company – ambitiously named Rockefeller Ltd – show a modest profit of almost €12,000 last year but with outstanding bank loans of €35,000. The business has been shuttered for several months now, suggesting the local councillor may have misjudged the local appetite for fancy ice cream.

Might be time to put his thinking cap on.

A mystery for a crime writer

People pinch the strangest things. An FOI request to cultural institutions about items stolen or lost in recent years shows the last item pilfered from the National Museum of Ireland was a scissors lifted from the folklife collection in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Castlebar, Co Mayo. The collection is also missing an apple corer from an earlier theft, the NMI said. The National Library of Ireland doesn’t catalogue waylaid books as stolen because they may well be in storage somewhere given it has 12 million items in its collection. But of those that can’t be readily located are four Roddy Doyles, three Darren Shans and eight Colin Batemans. As for the author with the most missing titles, it’s Ken Bruen at number one with nine missing titles. Could there be a kernel of a story in there for the crime writer?

Use your illusion museum

Dublin is getting its own illusion museum, similar to the ones you may have stumbled across in Paris, Madrid or Brussels. Keith McDonnell, who owns The Irish Whiskey Museum on College Green and operates the City Sightseeing hop-on, hop-off buses is planning to open World of Illusion over three floors at 2 Central Plaza beside the old Central Bank building. The attraction, which is due to open by the middle of the summer, will be similar to Camera Obscura in Edinburgh, known for head-spinning optical illusions, mirror mazes, vortex tunnels and spooky holograms.

Let’s just hope the tourists visit it before indulging in a few pints of porter at the Guinness Storehouse.

Fancy a job cleaning up Irish dancing’s tarnished image?

Are you good at thinking on your feet? Can you sidestep difficult questions? And are you an expert at spinning? Well An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha, the Irish dancing organisation that was rocked by allegations of feis-fixing over the past two years, may have just the job for you.

The governing body has advertised for a communications and marketing executive responsible for managing its image, creating social media content and answering awkward press queries from pesky journalists.

If it sounds tempting but you’re worried about the dress code, don’t drag your feet. There’s no mention of fake tan, sparkles or big hair in the advertisement from recruitment company Odgers Berndtson.

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