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THE FINAL HOME for Rory Gallagher’s €1 million signature Fender Stratocaster guitar will be Cork.
That is according MD of MCD, Denis Desmond who was one of the people instrumental in purchasing the guitar at auction on Thursday in London and donating the guitar to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI).
The purchase was made by Mr Desmond’s joint venture with live music giants, Live Nation, Live Nation Gaiety Ltd.
The guitar, a 1961 Fender Stratocaster, was originally bought by Gallagher in Cork in 1963 for £100 on credit from the owner of Crowley’s Music Store .
A number of other guitars, amps and musical accessories from his collection sold for £2.3 million combined.
Gallagher was born in Donegal but raised in Cork and was a multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter who inspired countless musicians in Ireland and across the world.
During a career spanning 30 years, he played both as a solo artist and with his band Taste, and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
Gallagher died unexpectedly in 1995 following complications from a liver transplant.
In an interview today, Mr Desmond said that the guitar “is going to stay in Ireland and it will end up in Cork – that is important. We haven’t figured out where yet but we will.”
Gallagher is long time synonymous with Cork and Mr Desmond said: ”It will end up in Cork on public display. Down the road, it has to end up in Cork and its final home will be in Cork.”
The guitar sold for £700,000 and a premium placed on the item brought the total to £889,400 (€1.069m).
A native of Cork, Mr Desmond said that the €1.06m “is a good price. It is a fair price.”
H said: “We are happy with the price paid, let’s put it that way.”
He said: “We are very happy that we got it and very happy that it is staying in
Ireland.”
Mr Desmond said that the Live Nation Gaiety joint venture also purchased the guitar’s amp for £60,000.
On the guitar purchase, Mr Desmond said: “It is hard to put into words but I know to a lot of people this means a lot. There are tens of thousands of Rory fans out there who are very happy. There is a lot of love out there for Rory Gallagher and it is great to see. He is an icon.”
Asked how the purchase came about, Mr Desmond said that himself, his wife, Caroline and Mike Adamson (MD of Live Nation Ireland) “got talking about the upcoming auction and agreed it would be great to keep the guitar in Ireland”.
He said that the CEO of the global Live Nation business, Michael Rapino also got behind the planned purchase. Mr Desmond said: “Michael gets it and said ‘let’s do this’.”
He said that calls were made and the Minister for Arts, Catherine Martin and the National Museum came on board.
He said: “There were a lot of calls. Toing and froing but we got there in the end.”
The donation is being made to the NMI under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and Mr Desmond said: “Everything helps.”
Mr Desmond said that the first band that he ever worked with was Sleepy Hollow when they were a support act to Rory Gallagher in 1974.
Mr Desmond said that he promoted a Rory Gallagher nationwide tour in December 1983/January 1984.
Mr Desmond said that Rory’s brother, Donal “has done an incredible job in managing Rory’s estate and keeping the legacy alive”.
The Gallagher family have said that proceeds from Thursday’s auction at Bonhams in London will go towards projects to further Rory’s legacy and other good causes.
With reporting by Diarmuid Pepper.
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Philippines will sort them out in no time
How can other religions move to countries and not cause havoc and mayhem? Can you imagine scientologists blowing up and shooting innocent people? They’d be shut down in a heartbeat so why is the religion of peace tolerated? I’ll tell you why. You’d get labeled a racist by people who hate labels. Can you imagine Jews fighting for Nazi rights just as liberals fight for Islam. This is what happens when you get brainwashed people who swallow mainstream media with an agenda. Wonder why there are no bombings in places like Japan? A tiny Muslim population that’s why. World leaders in common sense and the blindingly obvious.
@SteveW: perhaps tolerated because it is not responsible, it is the social outcast(s) who islamized their radical view, Japan is not immune but western media coverage is more intense here and gives account in English language, you won’t see CNN Japan being tuned into when something happens in Tokyo or anywhere else for that matter
Red not being funny here but what on earth has media coverage or speaking English got to do with anything? What about other countries that have to put up with these large minority”outcasts” you’re defending? Burma, Kashmir, China, Thailand, Kenya, Ceychnya, Phillipines to name a few. And that’s not including Europe and US.
@Red Marauder: it seems like every country islam has settled in there is serious terrorism problem now south Philippines is exploding now into serious violence. south sudan south Thailand nearly all of Africa all across middle east there is major wars going … after watching primtime on RTE tonight on Islamic extremists i am becoming very fearful for my family future and myself and like all other irish people throughout the island of Ireland…..
@Bobby wilson: And that was on RTE , who had an article about everyones favorite troll Katie Hopkins being sacked for saying there is a problem with islam . https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2017/0526/878159-katie-hopkins/
@SteveW: it is simple to install fear you need widespread coverage, so they choose targets which will be in the news, it is repeated everytime, a mall, a concert, twin towers etc, the density of media coverage is highest in Western countries where English is universal
@Remy: everyone can quote the Koran, there is no central regulation, you not need to be a scholar for that, now how you sell it or interpret it is different, there are far more peaceful Muslims than what you hear about in the news
@Red Marauder: ”there are far more peaceful Muslims than what you hear about in the news” . Phew ! Thank god you said that , I was thinking it was the 75% were radical , Thank heavens it’s only the other 25% .
doing some basic math, we get that about 006625% not even close to your estimates
@SteveW: 110%
@Remy: people like you and your ilk are just part of the problem
”Tis gonna be a red Ramadan
This atrocity and outrage will be handled in the Phillipines but it will scare the wits out of us Irish and get us highly exercised.
Many Irish live in fear and terror although we are far from a prime target.
@Tony Daly: I actually can’t think of anyone I know who lives in fear of an ISIS attack. I do know plenty who agree we should do our bit to help those trying to escape the terror of these animals while also protecting ourselves by having proper checks on those entering our country.
@Tony Daly: As far I’m aware no one lives in fear of isis in Ireland , but it’s only right that we examine it’s core ideology . Prime time has a segment on isis in Ireland , which obviously doesn’t exist . Whaaaatt !
@Jane: I am taking lots of the alarmist comments at face value. It could be just posturing of course but after each atrocity the alarmism expressed is voluble and even hysterical.
@Ken Hayden: of course it may just be intentional alarmism and deliberate exaggeration of threat on the part of those who comment on Ireland as a target of ISIS.
I rember the hysterical and emotive comments after previous outrages in Europe predicting Ireland as the next target.
It may just be playing up by those who wish to stir up fear and hate or else the Irish are an especially timid nation.
@Tony Daly: And of course , it just might not be deliberate exaggeration .
It cannot be said enough , not all muslims are terrorists , but in among them , there are people who can be , and are radicalized . Denying there is no threat is not a solution .
@Tony Daly: it’s not fear. Tony or alarmist comments. It’s frustration that the empty vessels that make the most noise ie a small minority of do Gooders that get listened to because they shout racist and the pure frustration at the apologists that are so mind numbingly stupid that they get listened to by policy makers
@Tony Daly: why is their a constant down playing on all this Islamic terrorism across the globe by far left supporters by making out its western countries fault for making Islamic people angry.. Their is attacks on churches in Egypt /Nigeria /Pakistan /Iraq /Syria and many many more soon their will be no more Christians in the middle east except Israel…..
@Bobby wilson: 6 Things that cause islamic terrorism .
Intolerance .
Unemployment .
Poor quality council housing .
Not enough diversity on the BBC .
Islamophobic tweets .
Katie Hopkins .
Things that don’t cause islamic terrorism .
The ancient holy book which promises a blissful eternity in the afterlife for anyone who wages deadly jihad against the infidel .
I’m here in Manila. The chief of cops is on tv saying it was some lad trying to rob chips from the casino. Very much doubt it was ISIS related.
@Richie Kennedy: isis claimed responsibility?
@Jackson Bollovks: When the chips are down .
@Richie Kennedy: any more info Richie? My mum is on Negros at the moment but flying to Manila on Saturday to head home Sunday. Slightly concerned
@Maria ✏️: I’m living in Makati Maria, a city in Metro Manila. No updates but nothing to be concerned about. Might be some heightened security at the airport which is a good thing.
@Maria ✏️: Flights are delayed alright so she could miss a connection. The security in the airport is always tight so I wouldn’t worry too much. It seems to have been a lone gunman trying to steal gambling chips.
@Jackson Bollovks: I’d say they would claim responsibility for anything to sow fear. Doesn’t appear to be a terrorism incident based on the information available.
Casino Royal-Q’aeda
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