Author Archives: Darren Byrne

About Darren Byrne

Blogger, writer, movie buff, amateur dramatist and all round nice guy. When I'm not spouting about on Culch.ie, I can be found Tweeting inanities @DarrenByrne or @Culch_ie. I am the admin behind Culch.ie and if you want to contact me for anything, drop me a mail.

What do you think of the trailer for Scream 4?

  By Darren Byrne | October 19, 2010 - 5:31 pm | Movies & TV, The Culch
1 Comment

Well, I have no idea what I was expecting, but I was definitely expecting something better than this. Maybe I was being naive, but it’s from Wes Craven!!! I thought he could do it again - revive a stagnating genre. He was the Prince of Horror in the 70s, the King of Horror in the 90s, but if this trailer is anything to go by, the king has gone the way of George III - he’s lost the plot. Update: The Weinsteins have removed the trailer from YouTube, but pop over to the Den of Geek and you can still see it there. Thoughts?

Culch.ie is going to the Culchie Festival

  By Darren Byrne | October 19, 2010 - 12:27 am | Events, Fashion, Featured Post, Performance Art, The Culch
3 Comments

Firstly, do you have any idea how hard it is for me to write the word Culchie without putting the dot in there? Anyway, that’s my problem, not yours. This weekend is the annual Culchie Festival, now in its 21th year. Yes, I did type 21th. Their website may be full of typos and look like it was designed by a farmer, but that’s irrelevant - it’s going to be a weekend full of craic and mayhem. Taking place in Mohill, Co Leitrim, from October 22nd-24th the first search for Super Gran begins, along with events such as the Culchie Fashion Show and the annual Honda Step-Thru Run. Think Father Ted only non-fiction. Culch.ie will be heading down over the weekend and, though Sinead would like me to try out for the King of the Culchies Competition, I’ll just be spectating. I may also have a drink or two before … There’s more →

The Apprentice Liveblog Week Five

  By Darren Byrne | October 18, 2010 - 4:45 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Movies & TV, The Culch, TV
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Welcome to the fifth of this year’s Apprentice Liveblogs. If you’re unfamiliar with liveblogs, it’s simply a place to chat about the show while we’re watching. It’s one big moderated chat room for The Apprentice. You can follow it below on Culch.ie or you can launch a stand alone window and follow it there. It’s simple and fun, so please come join us. Also, after the show, I’ll be announcing the winner of last week’s Apprentice competition in association with Ryobi. Yes, the competition is still open until the end of this week’s show. ENTER HERE! The Apprentice Ireland 2010 Week Five Click Here to Launch in a Separate Window

Competition Closed: Ryobi and the Apprentice

  By Darren Byrne | October 12, 2010 - 12:00 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Competitions, Movies & TV, Site News, TV
5 Comments

*** Competition Closed *** *** Congratulations to Eoin Moynihan who has won the Ryobi competition *** Week Four of this year’s Irish Apprentice began very slowly. There was little excitement as both teams spent an age discussing ‘strategy’ and not doing very much. They were tasked with selling Ryobi power tools in two Woody’s DIY stores. But before that, they had to record a product demo with TV3′s Alan Hughes. Jamie Moran was efficient if a little dull, while Barry Caesar Hunt was annoying, messy, confused……and surprisingly entertaining. The PM this week for Team Fusion, who were sent to Woodys in Bray, was Kieran Walsh. Team Elev8, based in Woodys Tallaght, had Dave Cashman in the lead role. It became clear that neither PM could cope with their teams in a task that was purely based around selling. The seemingly simple task of selling Ryobi power tools in a DIY … There’s more →

The Apprentice Liveblog Week Four

  By Darren Byrne | October 11, 2010 - 8:45 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Movies & TV, TV
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Welcome to the fourth of this year’s Apprentice Liveblogs. If you’re unfamiliar with liveblogs, it’s simply a place to chat about the show while we’re watching. It’s one big moderated chat room for The Apprentice. You can follow it below on Culch.ie or you can launch a stand alone window and follow it there. It’s simple and fun, so please come join us. Also, after the show, I’ll be announcing details of this week’s Apprentice competition in association with this week’s Apprentice challenge setter, Ryobi. The Apprentice Ireland 2010 Week Four Click Here to Launch in a Separate Window

The Apprentice Liveblog Week Three

  By Darren Byrne | October 4, 2010 - 8:45 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Movies & TV, The Culch, TV
1 Comment

Welcome to the third of this year’s Apprentice Liveblogs. If you’re unfamiliar with liveblogs, it’s simply a place to chat about the show while we’re watching. It’s one big moderated chat room for The Apprentice. You can follow it below on Culch.ie or you can launch a stand alone window and follow it there. It’s simple and fun, so please come join us. Also, after the show, I’ll be announcing the winner of last week’s competition in association with Unislim and Eurospar. The Apprentice Ireland 2010 Week Three Click Here to Launch in a Separate Window

Competition Closed: Unislim and The Apprentice

  By Darren Byrne | September 27, 2010 - 11:00 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Celebs, Competitions, Featured Post, Gossip, Movies & TV
1 Comment

*** Competiton Closed *** *** Congratulations to Aideen O’Flaherty and Jenny O’Connor *** Week Two of this year’s Apprentice saw the departure of Elev8′s Project Manager David O’Byrne. Elev8 had so much wrong with their task this week and with no strong leadership, he was the obvious choice. In this week’s task Unislim and TodayFM set the teams the challenge of designing an original and exciting healthy eating menu. They then had to plan a media campaign worth €10,000 and write and record a radio advert. Elev8 started very strongly but dipped in many areas, while Fusion were up and down throughout, but the team, led by Nagaite, won out in the end. Your very own Irish slimming club, Unislim, are the first weight loss club ever to appear on The Apprentice. Unislim have just launched their new website, Unislim.ie, and starting tomorrow, they will have prizes and goodies … There’s more →

The Apprentice Liveblog Week Two

  By Darren Byrne | September 27, 2010 - 8:30 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Movies & TV, TV
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Welcome to the second of this year’s Apprentice Liveblogs. If you’re unfamiliar with liveblogs, it’s simply a place to chat about the show while we’re watching. It’s one big moderated chat room for The Apprentice. You can follow it below on Culch.ie or you can launch a stand alone window and follow it there. It’s simple and fun, so please come join us. Also, after the show, I’ll be announcing the winner of last week’s competition and will be announcing this week’s competition in conjunction with Unislim, who are this week’s challenge sponsor. Unislim have just launched their new website and will have loads of prizes and goodies to give away from tomorrow to celebrate their launch and sponsorship of The Apprentice.. The Apprentice Ireland 2010 Week Two Click Here to Launch in a Separate Window

Friday Morning Music with Joe Echo

  By Darren Byrne | September 24, 2010 - 9:16 am | Movies & TV, Music, The Culch
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Check out this new video for Joe Echo’s Sink Your Teeth In. It’s a great track to begin your day. At the very least the video, directed by Declan Keeney, will get you in the mood for Halloween. OK, maybe it’s a bit early for ghosts and ghouls, but watch this anyway. I particularly love it when the dancers come in. Have a gander at JoeEcho.com for more on the artist. He has written, recorded and co-produced all of the original songs for Killing Bono, a new movie based on Neil McCormick’s memoirs of his years at school with Bono and U2 and his rather less successful rival band as they went through the 1970’s. Described as an “Irish music-based comedy”, it’s written by Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement the screenwriters of “The Commitments” and “Almost Famous” and stars Ben Barnes and Robert Sheehan. It will be released early next … There’s more →

Competition Closed: Carlton Hotels and The Apprentice Ireland

  By Darren Byrne | September 20, 2010 - 11:00 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Competitions, The Culch
25 Comments

*** Competition Closed *** *** Congratulations to Vinnie who has won the Carlton Hotels competition *** Well, with week one of The Apprentice down, we’ve said a fond fair thee well to Cahal Heapes. Personally, I think it should have been Niamh Humphreys going home, but what do I know? This week’s challenge for the contestants was set by Michael Carney, managing director of the Carlton Hotel Group. In this sales task they were charged with selling Carlton Hotel gifts cards. Team Fusion (consisting of the girls, led by Cahal Heapes) sold €870 worth, while Team Elev8 (the boys, led by Ciara McManus) sold €1,650 worth. A clear victory. For all of Monday 20th September, Carlton Hotels were running a sale offering 50% off all B&B rates. But don’t worry - if you missed out on this opportunity, Culch.ie is here to save the day. With thanks to Carlton Hotel, … There’s more →

The Apprentice Liveblog Week One

  By Darren Byrne | September 20, 2010 - 8:45 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice
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Welcome to the first of this year’s Apprentice Liveblogs. If you’re unfamiliar with liveblogs, it’s simply a place to chat about the show while we’re watching. It’s one big moderated chat room for The Apprentice. You can follow it below on Culch.ie or you can launch a stand alone window and follow it there. It’s simple and fun, so please come join us. Also, after the show, I’ll be launching a competition in conjunction with Carlton Hotels, who are this week’s challenge sponsor. Carlton are also running a 50% sale across all their hotels for today only. Check out Carlton.ie and go treat yourself. The Apprentice Ireland 2010 Week One Click Here to Launch in a Separate Window

The Apprentice Ireland Contestants 2010

  By Darren Byrne | September 20, 2010 - 5:00 pm | Apprentice, Apprentice, Movies & TV
11 Comments

Sixteen people began the battle to become Bill’s Apprentice this year. Here’s a brief run down of each. Who is your favourite and who needs to be Fired? Don’t forget to keep an eye on Culch.ie/apprentice every Monday night for the Apprentice Live Blog. From time to time, we will also be running Apprentice themed competitions. And if you need to contact Culch.ie for anything, just drop me a mail at [email protected]. Barry Caesar Hunt (32) Dublin, Entrepreneur Yes, his middle name is Caesar. I’ll give you some more details about him, but chances are, that’s all you’ll remember. Barry had his first job when he was 8 years old, delivering papers in the local area for 50 pence a day. He says he went from there to earning 1 million euro plus per year before losing it all. But he says he has never lost his hunger for business … There’s more →

Bill Cullen

  By Darren Byrne | September 20, 2010 - 9:00 am | Apprentice, The Culch, TV
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This is what TV3′s biography has to say about Bill Cullen. Born in the rough inner city slums of Summerhill in Dublin in 1942 Bill was one of fourteen children. By the time he turned six he was selling items such as fruit, flowers, Christmas decorations and match programmes on the streets of Dublin to help support his family. This is where Bill Cullen honed his sales pitch and learnt how to turn a profit on even the smallest item. At the age of 13 he left school and just one year later in 1956 entered the car industry as a messenger boy for the Walden Motor Company. His background as a trader on the streets proved to be a remarkable training ground as he quickly moved through the ranks to become the director general of the company within an astonishing nine years. He then went on to set up … There’s more →

Brian Purcell

  By Darren Byrne | September 20, 2010 - 9:00 am | Apprentice, The Culch, TV
4 Comments

Brian Purcell forms one half of Bill Cullen’s trusted team of aides on the show, alongside entrepreneur Jackie Lavin and is a partner with Insight Consultants, a full service public relations and communications company, where he serves as Director of Communcations Campaigns. So says TV3′s biography of Brian. He has over 14 years experience in the Irish Public Affairs/Government Lobbying sector where he has helped clients in the financial, healthcare, leisure, utilities and marketing/sponsorship sectors. As Senior Marketing Communications Director at the Glencullen Group he has become one of Bill’s most trusted advisors and his experience as Bill’s right-hand man will enable him to spot the right attributes needed to be The Apprentice.