FUNNY story on the front page of the Sunday Independent. Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern’s popularity ratings have gone south lately, and the paper’s pollsters reckon that part of the reason stems from his break-up with his long-term girlfriend Celia Larkin last year.
“A year since their split, it appears that the taoiseach is desperately in need of a woman’s touch to boost his popularity, with opinion polls showing only around four in 10 people satisfied with his performance since the split,” the Indo reported.
Hmmm . . . that’s a curious theory, but it may have some merit. After all, Bertie and Celia were an item for a dozen-plus years, with his estranged wife Miriam, who he never bothered to divorce, in the background. Celia had to put up with a lot of guff from the media about Bertie’s domestic situation, and she handled herself with lots of class. She’s stayed out of the public eye since the split, but she’s poised to re-emerge in a big way via the reality TV route. Celia will star in a new series for Irish broadcaster RTE called The Restaurant, in which she hosts a dinner party for a group of well-heeled guests. (We presume her ex isn’t on the list.)
The show will air on Monday, June 14, and she’s on the hotseat. Celia plans the menu, organizes the chefs to cook it, serves it to her guests and then is judged on her performance by a panel of experts.
“I won’t tell you what happens but Celia copes very well,” said an RTE producer. “Afterwards she had a few glasses of champagne and went home very relieved.”
The beauty salon business she runs is also on the upswing. According to the Independent, which obtained tax figures, her Beauty at the Blue Door business is breaking even after two years in operation. And she’s taken a more active role in the company since she’s no longer traveling the world with Bertie.
But she’s still remaining mum on the reasons behind the break-up. “When things come up about my previous relationship it just opens a whole can of worms, and I will just be batting off questions again. To tell the truth I am sick of it,” she told the Independent in a rare interview.