SUBEDITOR - Irish Daily Star - Summer 2008 - Siobhan Pat Mulcahy

A quote from Richard Keeble's The Newspaper Handbook comes to mind: "Tabloids ...use over sensational, cliche-ridden copy...they cater to the less well-off, the less well-educated, those who don't bother to vote but who like to complain about the establishment, those who thrive on reading gossip, those whose attention span is limited; those whose main interest is soccer or sport, and finally, those who don't have the time or inclination to read a broadsheet on any given day." I guess Mr Keeble is entitled to his opinion! If celebrity gossip and premiership soccer are your thing, you can read the British version of the Daily Star here Twitter: @siobhanpatmul

SUBEDITOR - Irish Independent Group - Summer 2007 - Siobhan Pat Mulcahy

Question: How many subeditors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Answer: We can't tell whether you mean "insert a lightbulb" or "have sex inside a lightbulb. Can you reword it to remove ambiguity?"
Tony O'Reilly and son Gavin's strategy to "dumb down and celeb up" their range of newspapers in a quest to increase sales has worked in the case of the Sindo which is a curious but very popular mix of humour, gossip and top-notch opinion journalism. To read the Sunday Independent for free, click here Twitter: @siobhanpatmul

EDITOR & LAYOUT DESIGNER - Cecil Nash Autobiography - Summer 2005 by Siobhan Pat Mulcahy

Cecil Nash: A Life in the Roving Irish Theatre, (ISBN 0-9546896-1-5) 2005

Cecil Nash, travelling actor, wrote his autobiography aged in his late 80s. He put the 300 typed pages in a shoe box and these remained forgotten until several years after his death. Cecil's youngest son (and my best friend) Paul Nash, asked me if I could knock them into "something" and the above named book is the result. Read the first chapter of the book here.
"Cecil was one of the best comedy feeds in the business.. a wonderful old world artiste and a pleasure to work with." Fred O'Donovan, theatre producer/ director
"A gentleman who loved the sound of adulation."
Tony Kenny, Irish actor/ singer
"Cecil was a charming fellow and a typical old thespian. He had several successful appearances on the Late Late Show."
Gay Byrne, retired RTE broadcaster, chairman RSA

MEDIA COLUMNIST & FREELANCE JOURNALIST - Limerick Leader - 2004 to 2005 by Siobhan Pat Mulcahy

Interviewed Limerick "luminaries" such as Vincent Browne, Willie O'Dea, members of the O'Malley political dynasty and other newsworthy Limerick folk including a nun working for women's equality in Afghanistan. My weekly media column analysed how "stab city" was being covered across the national media. Now rumoured to be in trouble because of the financial downturn ... here's hoping the Limerick Leader survives as it's the best provincial newspaper in Ireland.
Read my interview with Vincent Browne here.
Read my interview with Willie O'Dea (just prior to his promotion) here.
Read Christmas in Afghanistan here.
Read about Paula Radcliffe's Irish sport's guru here.
Read how Willie O'Dea lashes Sinn Fein here.

Or just read the Limerick Leader free online here.
Twitter: @siobhanpatmul

BOOK AUTHOR - Heroes & Villains - 2004 by Siobhan Pat Mulcahy

A compilation of stories previously published in Ireland on Sunday in book format. Heroes & Villains: Forgotten Irish Stories (ISBN 0-954689-0-7)

Reviews:
"The Lola Montez story is worth the price alone," Tom Widger, Sunday Tribune
"A lovely new boudoir book,"
Eoghan Harris, Sunday Independent
"A very entertaining miscellany,"
Frank Hopkins, Evening Herald
"A great job of detective work,"
Limerick Leader
"A fascinating book," Munster Express
"Every Irish family has its back sheep, but Jack the Ripper is a whopper by anybody's standards," Down Democrat
Twitter: @siobhanpatmul