Out & About

Summer is here and I know you are all happy with that as I never hadseen so much rain in the month of June and I know that was not good for businesses around the city.

Now for some great news: The Irish Examiner newspaper is pleased to announce that we will be honoring Garrett Doyle, the President of the Emerald Guild Society, as the our Man of the Year for 2009.

I can tell you without exaggeration that he is a very hard working man for both his organization, the Irish Building Managers of New York City, and for all the Charities that he has helped with hard work and donations.

We are so proud that he had accepted this honor and we will make sure he is not one of the 'forgotten heroes' for the work he has been doing very quietly for a lot of charitable organizations here in this great city.

Good on you Garrettl you're going to have super night on Thursday July 23 at the Irish Consulate with a lot of your friends and colleges who will be on hand to congratulate you on a honor well deserved.

We paid a visit to Ashton's Bar and Restaurant (3rd Avenue and 50th Street) where the atmosphere is great and you never know who you're going to meet when you call in.

Pop there to see Cork's colorful bartender Bernard Scully who is a legend in the city of New York (for what I do not know, just kidding).

You might also get to meet the proprietor Pat Heraty and his lovely wife Eleanor as I did when I called in last Friday and Pat showed me his new store across the street which will be opening in the fall. Will Scully still be the head barman, I wonder?

I met with Eamonn Maher, of  Eamonn's Bar & Grill and PJ Moran's, in Ashton's for a couple of drinks and who was at the bar as usual? Only David Dymes who has a drink in between having a smoke outside the door; I wonder does he spend more time outdoors or indoors? This man is a fixture there and Eamonn and myself go back along way with David... Now we won't talk about that though.

PD O'Hurley's Beach Cafe (Riverside Park & 105th Street) is run by the man himself, Paul Hurley and his trusty manager Carol. It's a cool place to hang out as they serve dinner and brunch in a very friendly Irish atmosphere. You have to check it out.

We were down in the Financial District again last Friday night to visit Stone Street Tavern (the area is, as I may have mentioned, an Irish Rivera right here in New York). I will say that when I was down there last week I made a couple of boo-boos with some of my friends in the restaurant business: I had Ronan Downs of Beckett's, Stone Street Tavern, The Dubliner, The Waterstone Grill, his lovely wife Catletta down with the wrong name and I had Croine O'Halloran down as the manager of Stone Street Tavern when she is the owner... I'm not finished yet! I also had the bartender Olivea in the Dubliner Pub and Restaurant with her name misspelled I hope you will all forgive me. (See what happens when you're Out&About without a notepad!)

On Saturday we went to visit Ryan's Irish Pub (on 2nd Avenue between 9th & 10th Streets) which is now newly-renovated and looks great with its new design and outdoor seating.

We got to meet two of the proprietors, Gerry O'Donovan and Andrew DeCourcey. When you head there, don't forget to tell them that The Irish Examiner sent you.

There are some great concerts this summer, including The Beach Boys at the Capital One Bank Theatre at Westbury on Wednesday, July 29 at 8pm. Tickets begin at $56.50 and are available exclusively online at LiveNation.com, by phone at 1-877-598-8694 or from the Westbury box office and at participating Blockbuster® stores.  You can save 25% when you purchase a 4-pack of tickets (while supplies last). For membership information, visit westburymembership.com.

Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Wings fame will also be performing this weekend at Citi Field in Flushing, Queens with gigs on Friday July 17, Saturday 18 and Tuesday 21, if you're lucky enough to get a ticket that is.

To finish this week's column we have just been told that our great friend Frank McCourt, the world-famous actor, author and Pulitzer Prize winner for his book 'Angela's Ashes' is very gravely ill. We do send our sympathies and best wishes to his wife Ellen and his brothers Malachy and Alfie.

See you all next week.