Latest news with #NoelleMcCarthy
Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Times
Gavin Lambe-Murphy: why I'm selling coffee and plimsolls on Leeson Street
He personified the high spirits, deep pockets and frenetic socialising of the Celtic tiger era. Now, more than 20 years after the self-styled It boy Gavin Lambe-Murphy disappeared from the Dublin party circuit and the social pages of every glossy magazine and weekend supplement, the 49-year-old is back in the media with his new venture, a concept store called Baggotonia. Located on Leeson Street Upper in Dublin, the bijou boutique/deli/exhibition space quietly opened in spring with its 'eclectic mix of stylish items', from pantry goods and plimsoles to perfume and ceramics, and is, Lambe-Murphy declares, his first 'proper job'. He's on the shop floor every day, he explains, though not nine to five mind you; from about 10.30am to 3pm you can catch the former poster boy for early Noughties excess selling Italian olive oil and Kinsale-made candles to Dublin 4 locals. 'It's quirky and it's different,' Lambe-Murphy says of the venture, which he established with his longtime friend and business partner Noelle McCarthy, owner of Blow hair salons and holder of the lease to the Baggotonia premises (it sits next door to Blow's flagship salon). While the idea of a concept store is not new to the capital, Lambe-Murphy's proprietorship and regular presence there appears to be a USP. 'People often come in and ask, 'Is Gavin here?' And the number of people who come in and ask for a selfie with me …' he says, laughing. Two decades after Ireland's boom and bust, there remains a fascination with the tall blond Malahide native, who went through his own personal, and highly publicised, rise and fall. From extrovert to addict in a few short years, Lambe-Murphy vanished from the merry-go-round of exclusive events and private parties he frequented and wound up in rehab for a cocaine addiction that at its height was costing him a reported €80 a day. 'I had to cut a lot of people out of my life and clean it up,' he says of that time. 'It was a very intense period. Today, everybody is a celebrity on their iPhone, but back then it was different.' Part of the healing process was leaving Dublin. 'I bounced around Italy, Spain and London with my partner, I wrote a book, I spent a lot of time in Rome,' he says. 'I just spent time doing what I needed to do.' • 100 things to do in Dublin — shops, walks, sights and magical secret spots Lambe-Murphy's mood is consistently lighthearted and affable, even when talking about addiction and recovery. He's at peace with his past and says he has no desire to shake off his former persona. 'It's part of who I was and who I am,' he reflects. It's only when the entrepreneur speaks about his mum that his tone becomes a touch more solemn. The former model died in April and he describes the past few months as a 'tough time' despite the initial success of his new business venture. 'Mum was cool,' he says. 'The only time she ever gave out to me was when I hit rock bottom. She simply said, 'Too far, darling. You've gone too far.' I feel blessed that I had a mum I could call up on the good days and the bad days. I do miss that. It's still very raw.' Lambe-Murphy says his 'on-again-off-again' partner of 20 years has 'really stepped up and been there for me in a genuine and sincere way' since his mum died. He's a cosmetic surgeon based in Monte Carlo, which means Lambe-Murphy is still a frequent flyer and his globetrotting has informed both his midlife style and the aesthetic of Baggotonia. 'A courier came into the store yesterday and said, 'Oh my God, you've got such good style. You look like an Italian.' I'll take that all day long,' he says, laughing. The shop has a similarly continental vibe, he reveals. 'Lots of customers say they don't feel like they're in Dublin when they're inside Baggotonia; it's more like a store in London or Rome. We're blessed that the building is so characterful with its exposed brick, but the carpets, perfumed air and lighted candles make people want to stay all day.' It sounds more like a Parisian salon and the ideal place to host a sell-out art exhibition, which Lambe- Murphy did recently. 'The artist David McDermott created a limited-edition print run of artist's proofs for us and they were gone in three days.' Baggotonia's bestsellers are jewellery, wine, art and pantry products. 'The plan is to run as is until the end of August and then decide if we need to tweak or streamline our offering,' he explains. 'Customers say they love what we do, but there's a lot of different angles going on in one relatively small space,' he says, confirming his own home in Dublin 2 is 'very minimal'. 'The great thing about a concept store is that you can do anything you want with it. We could stick an ice-cream machine in here and nobody would be surprised. It can keep evolving.' Just like its owner.
NZ Herald
23-07-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Cancer strikes three generations of family after French nuclear tests – Rainbow Warrior: A Forgotten History
She is one of a growing number of French Polynesians suffering from cancer and other illnesses linked to radiation poisoning that they believe has been passed down from generation to generation. As the podcast describes, it's Hina's story – literally the fallout of France's nuclear ambitions in the Pacific – that led Greenpeace to step up its protest campaign and then France's fateful decision to blow up the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland on July 10, 1985. 'I really felt that I had poison in my blood, in my genes,' Hina told Noelle McCarthy. 'I was a young mum when I first got diagnosed, and the first diagnosis was very bad – they thought that I had the worst leukaemia.' Hina's son was a toddler when she was diagnosed. Initially she thought she had only six months to live. 'The most painful feeling was to think that I didn't have the time to teach all I wanted to teach to my son. I really thought – how will he do things without his mum? It was the worst, thinking I will not be able to raise my child.' Hina has since gone on to have another child, but she says she knows many people in French Polynesia who choose not to have children. '[My husband and I] had a big discussion: are we allowed to have another kid? Is it responsible, now that I know I was poisoned? He also has a lot of radiation-induced cancer in his family: his uncles, his dad. We feel guilty. I think of many other people I know who've decided not to have kids and it's terrible." Noelle McCarthy (left) with anti-nuclear activist Hinemoeura Morgant-Cross in Tahiti. Growing up in Tahiti in the 1990s, Hina says she knew nothing about the French nuclear programme, except for the economic benefits. 'I remember my teacher telling us that, thanks to the French nuclear tests, we are a developed country. We have school, we have roads, the airport, access to TV, internet, all the goods in shops and at home. There was one small photo in our schoolbook and that was it.' But when Hina was diagnosed with cancer, it was her grandmother, her mother's mother, who made the painful connection between her granddaughter's life-threatening illness and the legacy of nuclear testing. 'She felt very guilty about my leukaemia – she thought she should have fought more against the nuclear testing in the 1960s, she should have protested more. I had to stop going to see my grandma because every time I visited her, she was crying.' A legacy of unspoken shame around the testing makes the connection between nuclear fallout and cancer hard to talk about, Hina says. At the beginning, she found it difficult to speak about her own diagnosis openly. 'I was ashamed to say I had leukaemia. It was a hard thing.' The "Licorne' French nuclear test explosion at Fangataufa Atoll in Mururoa French Polynesia, July 3, 1970. Photo / Alain Nogues/Sygma via Getty Images Hina's cancer turned out to be treatable. She takes medicine every day to manage it: on the day we speak, she is marking 12 years of living with leukaemia. Her illness is partly what started her on the path to becoming a politician – today she is a member of Tahiti's National Assembly, elected on a platform of anti-nuclear activism in 2023. She's spoken all over the world, including at the United Nations in 2019. 'General de Gaulle came to Tahiti in 1966 and talked to my people about a big development. What development? Miscarriage, handicaps, cancer, leukaemia? I finished my speech by saying that for 30 years, we have been the lab rat, the guinea pig of the French state.' French nuclear bombs were tested in French Polynesia up until 1996. In June the French parliament recommended the Government apologise and make changes to a much-criticised compensation law. The recommendations have not yet been passed into law. Rainbow Warrior: A Forgotten History is a six-episode true crime series. Follow the series on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released on Thursdays. The series is hosted and produced by John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy of Bird of Paradise Productions in co-production with the New Zealand Herald. Rainbow Warrior: A Forgotten History is supported by New Zealand on Air.
NZ Herald
09-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Telltale sign that gave French spies away – Rainbow Warrior: A Forgotten History
The six-part podcast series Rainbow Warrior: A Forgotten History tells the full story of how and why French spies bombed a Greenpeace protest ship in Auckland's harbour 40 years ago. In episode two, hosts John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy explain how the NZ police cracked the case so quickly. The
RNZ News
08-07-2025
- RNZ News
New insights into the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
history media 35 minutes ago In July 1985, French secret service agents planted two bombs on Greenpeace's flagship Rainbow Warrior resulting in one man's death and the sinking the ship, It's a pivotal moment in New Zealand's history. A new podcast from Bird of Paradise Productions offers new insights into how high up the conspiracy went in France and talks to one of the bombers about how the operation unfolded. Co-creator Noelle McCarthy talks to Jesse.
